The ABC model is a simple way to audit how you spend your time so you can do more of the work that energizes you and less of the work that wears you down. You sort your activities into three buckets: A for irritating, B for okay, and C for fascinating and motivating. Then you estimate what percentage of your week goes to each today, decide what the ideal split should be, and shift your time toward the C bucket by automating and delegating the rest.
I learned this framework from Dan Sullivan, founder and president of Strategic Coach. Dan has more than 40 years of experience as a strategic planner and has coached thousands of entrepreneurs through the Strategic Coach program, which helps accomplished founders reach new heights of success and happiness. The ABC model is one of his foundational ideas, and it has shaped how I think about where a CEO's time should go.
Mike walks through the ABC model (2 minutes).
The Three Buckets
A: Irritating. The activities that drain you. You procrastinate on them, and you're often not even good at them. They take more energy than they return.
B: Okay. The neutral work. You can do it competently, and it doesn't bother you, but it doesn't light you up either.
C: Fascinating and motivating. The work where time disappears. It uses your sharpest skills, energizes you, and tends to be what moves the business forward. This is where you want to spend most of your time.
Run the Exercise
First, score where you are now. Walk through a normal week and estimate the percentage of your time in each bucket. Be honest. Many stretched-thin CEOs find most of their week sitting in A and B.
Then, decide where you want to be. The goal isn't 100% C; some A and B work is unavoidable. But the direction is clear: move your time toward the fascinating, motivating work where you create the most value.
Finally, close the gap. You get from your current split to your ideal split not by working harder but by handing off the A and B work. Automate the repetitive tasks software can handle, and delegate the rest to people who find that work energizing. Your draining A task is frequently someone else's C task.
This is what fractional leadership does. A fractional executive takes an entire function (the parts you find draining and the parts you simply don't have time for) and runs it better than you would, because it sits in their zone of genius. You get your week back, and the work gets done at a higher level. We can also work with you directly to identify your A, B, and C activities and figure out how to shift your time between the buckets.
If A and B work is eating your week, talk to our team about a fractional executive who can take a whole function off your plate. Talk to our Team.
For more on buying back your time, read Reclaim Your Freedom and Time by Delegating and Automating.
If you want the full framework from the source, look into Dan Sullivan's Strategic Coach program.