• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Productive Flourishing

  • New Here
  • Momentum app
  • Books
  • Services
  • Blog
  • Free Planners
  • Quiz

What Are Your High-Value Activities?

By Charlie Gilkey on November 12, 2010 17 Comments
Last updated on August 29, 2019

High Value Activities //productiveflourishing.com/?p=6874

Efficiency is doing things right and effectiveness is doing the right things. – Peter Drucker

Effectiveness trumps efficiency. The ideal case is when you’re doing the right things right, but if you have to make a compromise, always do the right things, no matter how inefficient you might be at doing them.

The right things in your business are your High-Value Activities (HVAs). Your HVAs are the activities that either generate revenue directly or indirectly enable you to generate revenue. For instance, if you’re a web designer, designing and coding websites is an HVA that generates revenue directly, and showcasing your designs in a portfolio is an HVA that indirectly enables you to generate revenue because it’s a marketing activity. The more of your HVAs you do, the more effective you are, and the more effective you are at delivering to your clients and bringing them in, the more money you make.

Unfortunately, many of the activities we do during our workdays aren’t HVAs. As contrarian as this may sound, spending a lot of time on social media isn’t an HVA unless you’re a social media expert. Checking email to correspond with clients could be an HVA, but doing it to the exclusion of the work that you’re being paid to deliver isn’t.

If you want better results with less effort, replace low-yield work with High-Value Activities. (Tweet this.)

Think about your activities as you would an investment: your TEA (Time, Energy, and Attention) is what you pay, and the return is what the activity does for your business. The more of your TEA you invest in HVAs, the more return you get for your investment.

Action Steps:

  • Do an audit of your business activities to determine what your High-Value Activities are. If you’re not sure, ask yourself how the activity relates to cashflow, opportunity, or visibility.
  • Plan on doing at least one HVA per day.
  • Business development activities are HVAs that generally have a very high yield. Try to do something every week that expands your capability to deliver solutions.

Previous Post: What Are Your Core Activities?Previous
Next Post: %$titleNext

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jim Everett says

    November 12, 2010 at 11:48 am

    Charlie, I think you’re right on here. I also want to offer my perspective on the difference between efficiency and effectiveness.

    Efficiency usually describes how well or how quickly a specific task is being done. There’s an unquestioned assumption that the task is of value. So of course, more efficient must be better.

    To me, effectiveness almost always is in relationship to an external higher level objective than simply completing the task. What does completing this task help us to do better? And how much better?

    Reply
  2. Gabriele Maidecchi says

    November 12, 2010 at 12:20 pm

    One of the hardest task a freelancer/entrepreneur can engage in is actually prioritizing his own tasks and focusing on those that really are worth your time, while delegating the rest if possible, keeping on track and never losing the end goal.
    It’s definitely easier said than done, but once you got it right, all the rest follows natural.

    Reply
  3. Archan Mehta says

    November 12, 2010 at 7:45 pm

    Charlie,

    Thanks for this timely post.

    Successful and wealthy people know that “detail complexity” is a prison from which one should escape.

    In the early stages, these head honchos or top-notch professionals try to do everything on their own.

    Sure, the “devil lies in the details,” but those details need to be tackled by people you have hired.

    When you delegate the details to others, you have more time to focus like a lazer-beam on high-priority tasks which add value.

    For example, one of the major tasks of a CEO is networking. A CEO has to play the role of a boundary spanner. This is necessary for the growth of the business.

    Thus, traveling to Paris and attending parties are not frills and fancy things, but necessary to build and maintain contacts. By contrast, the details can be handled by other people in the home office.

    The insight here is to know the difference between what you have to do yourself and what you can afford to delegate to others. You just can’t handle everything by yourself. Otherwise, you are setting yourself up for failure.

    Reply
  4. Henway says

    November 15, 2010 at 4:54 am

    I technically dun own my own business, but as a 1-man internet marketer, and an employee, but high value activities are doing SEO for my websites, and brushing up my technical skills so I can be a more marketable employee

    Reply
  5. Steven says

    November 15, 2010 at 1:06 pm

    HVAs sound like a more intuitive version of the Pareto Principle. I try to increase my productivity by being more mindful of myself throughout the day, and occasionally stepping back and asking, “Is this getting me to where I want to go?” It’s a small but simple way to re-evaluate your HVAs.

    Thanks Charlie!

    Reply
  6. Christina Crowe says

    November 27, 2010 at 6:03 pm

    Charlie,

    I love this concept! For a long time I’ve been completing tasks that aren’t necessarily crucial to my online career.

    Categorizing each task is a good way to better manage my workload. I also love your suggestion to do at least 1 HVA per day.

    Definitely something to think about.

    Christina

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Tweets that mention What Are Your High Value Activities? -- Topsy.com says:
    November 12, 2010 at 12:19 pm

    […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Charlie Gilkey, MarieJeanne Juilland. MarieJeanne Juilland said: This qualifies as one of my top 3 goals – we're brain melding @CharlieGilkey "What Are Your High Value Activities?" http://bit.ly/baWPNv […]

    Reply
  2. Double your learning speed and cut your mistakes in half says:
    November 12, 2010 at 2:44 pm

    […] to connect with them so he can get a clear idea of the major steps required to be successful, or High Value Activities (HVAs) as my business partner Charlie Gilkey likes to call them. […]

    Reply
  3. Tweets that mention What Are Your High Value Activities? -- Topsy.com says:
    November 12, 2010 at 5:54 pm

    […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Adam King, Marta Costa- OBM, VA. Marta Costa- OBM, VA said: What Are Your High Value Activities? – http://is.gd/gZ8pq […]

    Reply
  4. Team Challenge: High Value Activities and Wielding a Small Stick | Escape From Cubicle Nation says:
    April 22, 2011 at 11:52 am

    […] 1-3 High Value Activities you want to accomplish for the week on this forum […]

    Reply
  5. Think in Projects » Blog Archive » Weekly Links 2nd May says:
    May 2, 2011 at 1:31 am

    […] What Are Your High Value Activities? […]

    Reply
  6. Weekly Links for 23rd of May | Think in Projects says:
    May 23, 2011 at 1:33 am

    […] What Are Your High Value Activities? […]

    Reply
  7. Superwoman Would Probably Have Help with the Kids | The Mogul Mom says:
    July 26, 2011 at 12:03 pm

    […] your own. No one else can do the client-, customer-, or partner-facing work that you can do. The highest value activities of your business comes from the work you can […]

    Reply
  8. Limits « A Rosie Conversation says:
    July 30, 2011 at 7:22 pm

    […] need to stretch my limits for activities that don’t add value.  As Charlie Gilkey calls it, High Value Activities.  Also known as HVAs, help your business, push you closer to your goals.  Keep you going in the […]

    Reply
  9. Stop Working Harder | kendrakinnison.com says:
    August 22, 2011 at 10:31 am

    […] can start thinking for a change, as John Maxwell says. You can identify your high value activities and focus on them. From Ramit Sethi and Tim Ferriss, you can learn how to get disproportionate […]

    Reply
  10. when the gremlins win, we lose. says:
    March 22, 2013 at 11:12 am

    […] & actually get stuff done). I set business goals, priorities, and milestones. I figured out my High Value Activities and Core Business Activities. I created spreadsheets to track money, metrics, and other fun stuff […]

    Reply
  11. What Is a Time Management Plan & How to Create One - Lifestyle Mind says:
    April 4, 2018 at 3:47 pm

    […] Next, it would be time to find out what tasks are the most important. […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Are you a visionary, designer, or creator?

Discover Your Productivity Persona!

Take the free Momentum Quiz
Our Recommended

Tools & Software

Join Us Today!

Free PF Community

Download Our Free

Monthly Planners

On the Blog

Don’t Confuse the Project with the Result

Read More →

May 2022 Planning Tips: Clear the Decks for Summer

Read More →

Why Getting Clarity About Our Care Work Is Valuable

Read More →

A SMART Goal Is a Meaningful One

Read More →

Footer

  • Podcast
  • Momentum app
  • Books
  • New Here
  • Contact
  • Press
  • Site Terms

Join our community on Mighty Networks

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2022 Productive Flourishing.  All Rights Reserved.

0 shares