Over the past two weeks, StaffWriters.com, my editorial staffing company, has gotten so busy that we need to hire more recruiters. Unfortunately, the new business hasn't yet brought in the resources to do so. That has left a vacuum, and I feel it sucking me in. The temptation is great to fill the gap myself. I'm fighting it, though.

It's a curious feeling. I've handled every detail of my business since I launched it a few years ago. For the past six months, though, I've tried to pull away. I realize that if I allow the business to use me as just another employee, I'll drown. It's impossible to think about strategy when you're simultaneously filling several staff roles. Extricating myself is crucial because I'm changing my business model and redesigning my Web site to match.

It's very hard to shift to a long-term focus. The standard management wisdom would be to make a long-term to-do list. I loathe to-do lists. Usually, I pointlessly jot down the things I know I'll never do. So I turned the concept on its head. A week or so ago, I began a diary of all the things I actually do. Then I realized that I was still mired in little tasks.

My diary showed that I spend half my time on computer problems, payroll, answering e-mail from our Web site, designing ads, and trawling through the Internet. Then there are phone calls, business meals, and miscellaneous interruptions. I also squeeze in a fair amount of recruiting staff for clients. Yet, I hired people to do all those things -- with the possible exception of ad design and calling back major clients.

Now I know I have no choice: I need to work more on my business model and hire more people.

I accidentally made progress on the first point last week. I was at the airport to pick up a relative -- and stewing in the cocktail lounge about all the time this was taking from my business -- when a key component of my new business model struck me like a bolt of lightning. Grabbing a napkin (the medium for most great business ideas), I feverishly wrote down everything my brain threw out. A day later, the model still looks workable.

Here I thought I was wasting time. Instead, stepping away made me more productive. I think I'm going to hang out at the airport more often.

George Giokas is the president and CEO of StaffWriters Plus, a specialty agency that places writers in temporary and permanent positions with corporate and other employers. It also provides editorial consulting work. His database includes 2,500 writers and editors specializing in more than 60 categories. His Web site is located at www.staffwriters.com, and you can E-mail him at george@staffwriters.com.