Better time management makes for a better business and a better you. Here are some tips to achieve it.
- Know The Amount Of Time You Have Available
The very first thing that you need to understand is the amount of time that you have available to spend in a day. Be honest. How much time do you spend checking your emails and replying to them? How much time do you spend in meetings as part of your regular daily schedule? Do you really need to take a two-hour break?
After you have determined what your limits are, you can start allocating the amount of time that you are going to need to spend on various parts of your business. That might sound simple. However, this simple step is overlooked by many people. You can save yourself lots of heartache by planning ahead.
- Value Your Time
Like the old saying goes “time is money,” so it is time to place a price tag on your time. That will not only help with your startup’s overall costs but help you manage your workload better as well. Your business will be able to reap the rewards if you price properly. If you under-price, on the other hand, you could end up spending too much time on low-value tasks. Time is a very expensive and limited resource. One of the most difficult parts of operating your own business is managing your time.
- Prioritize
All of us have experienced it: that nagging and annoying job that is a top priority that you don’t want to start. Well, guess what? It is not going to go away. That is what you need to find your courage right now. Suck it up. Tackle the task head-on and get it done.
Although a majority of small businesses are naturally fairly good at multitasking, it is shown by research that better time management through prioritizing can help you keep things under control. Are you have a hard time motivating yourself to prioritize things? Try to use a personal reward system to see if that helps.
Each time you achieve an important task or do a great job, give yourself a small reward. A great place to begin is to reward yourself for achieving reasonable goals.
So yes, we are giving your permission to buy yourself a bottle of wine as a reward.
- Make To-Do Lists That Are Reasonable
There is nothing worse than staying busy with hundreds of jobs that need to be done with no end in sight. Make to-do lists that are reasonable while considering your time limitations. You will great every time you get to check off each task that you complete.
Don’t worry if you don’t have a mile-long list. It is actually better to have a shorter list. When you break big projects down into smaller parts you will be able to make clear progress. Use a work schedule maker to manage your tasks effectively and efficiently. This will help to motivate you as you continue moving forward toward the completion of your project.
If you set unreasonable goals constantly, it will just end up slowing you down. The negative feelings that come with always having a list that is unfinished can seriously harm your self-confidence. That is why it is essential to create reasonable to-do lists for yourself.
- Be Decisive
Every day prioritize your goals in order of importance (by volume of work, deadline, etc.) and then stick with them. If there are other people working in your office, avoid having any unnecessary conversations until your task is done. Don’t talk on the phone for a long time when there is an important deadline coming up. For email, write polite, short responses to keep the lines of communication open.
After you have determined which tasks need to be done, move on. Second-guessing is nothing more than procrastinating.
- Stay Focused
Try to not get distracted. When you own a small business start-up it is key to stay focused on a specific job. Stay focused for 20 minutes or other short time periods, and then before you go at it again, take a short break. When you are mindful of the amount of time you have to spend on each task and it will help you stick with your timeframes.
According to Alexander Cohan, it is very easy to become distracted by items that arise that appear to be urgent, especially if you know how to deal with them already. For example, questions come in all day long from customers that you could quickly answer with the specific perspective you want on the response. However, you shouldn’t. Instead, you should focus on less obvious, but important tasks that you have assigned to yourself for the day and allow the customer’s manager to handle the question instead.
- Take Advantage Of Time Technology
Tons of online time management tools are available these days such as Toggl and ClickUp. There are apps you can use to monitor the amount of time you spend on specific tasks, there are apps to block procrastination websites, sprint timers, and much more.
Article by Born Realist