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Running your own business is time-consuming and hard work. You can't add extra hours to your day, sadly, but with the right game plan, you can make more of the time you do have. This article discusses time management tips and how you — as a business owner — can incorporate them into your plan of action to take charge of your business days and boost productivity.
Time Management and Its Importance to Business Success
As an entrepreneur, you need to possess skills that will help you achieve the success you dream of. From communication skills to the ability to think outside the box and the know-how to understand relevant analytics, entrepreneurs need to tap into the expertise they learn along the way.
With that said, should entrepreneurs have good time management skills as well? Absolutely!
With proper planning and the use of quality time management tools, deadlines are met with ease and better results are achieved, work can be more enjoyable, and your staff will feel less stressed and anxious about unfinished tasks.
Your business can become like a well-oiled machine that achieves unbelievable goals and makes it look easy!
How Can Time Management Skills Help Small Business Owners Grow Their Businesses?
As a small business owner, you depend on efficient working and task management for growth. Despite that, a lot of time is still wasted by management as well as staff. According to research, more than 88% of workers admit they waste time on the job doing tasks not related to their work. This is a time you can’t get back, so it’s best not to waste it from the outset. A big benefit of effective time management is that your decision-making is improved. You won’t have to make decisions at crunch times or in a hurry, so you’ll make more informed and better-researched decisions.
Benefits of Better Managing Time
- Improved work-life balance. When your business hours are better planned, you won’t have to ‘take your work home’ all the time, leaving you with an improved balance.
- Time freedom. You’ll be able to focus your time on achieving more goals if you’re managing it efficiently.
- Higher productivity levels. When you’re making the most of your time, you and your staff will be a lot more productive and get more tasks done.
- No procrastination. A team that knows what they should be doing and when to do it is far less likely to procrastinate or waste time on irrelevant tasks.
- Less distraction. By managing your time better, you’ll be less prone to getting distracted and more concentrated on your tasks. You’ll get to urgent tasks before they become time-sensitive.
- Lower stress levels. You and your staff know exactly how much time is allocated to each task. As a result, you will all feel less stressed out.
8 Time Management Strategies For Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs
1. Define Your Tasks and Goals
You must have a clear definition of every task and goal and the steps involved in making it happen. The details of the tasks and goals should be laid out in an easy-to-digest language. Add examples and step-by-step instructions if that will make things clearer.
2. Know How Much Time You Spend on Certain Tasks
Are you spending too much time on a certain task? You should calculate how much time is currently spent on routine tasks and how much of that is necessary. Plus, figure out what time of the day you feel the most productive and make use of it wisely. Some feel more creative in the morning, but you, for example, might focus better as a night owl.
3. Try the Covey Time Management Matrix
You can use the Covey Time Management Matrix to improve how you spend your time.
Basically, you focus on four categories that tasks are put into. They are
- Urgent and important tasks
- Not urgent but important tasks
- Urgent but not important tasks
- Not urgent and not important tasks
You’ll then finish the tasks in the No.1 category first before moving on to the next one.
4. Say “No” to Multitasking
Multitasking has no place in any environment where time is managed correctly. Instead, focus on doing one thing at a time rather than doing multiple things poorly.
5. Create Focus Sessions
Focus sessions mean you work deeply on specific tasks in an amount of time set without any distractions from phone calls, social media, and email notifications. To do so, you need to stay away from your phone, turn off your notifications, and save answering emails for later.
The easiest way to create focus sessions is by using Clock — the time-tracking app on your laptop.
6. Set a Schedule Every Day
One of the oldest — and most highly recommended — tips to implement in your business is setting a daily schedule. This helps you create a habit of using time effectively every day.
7. Take Advantage of Business Apps
You would be surprised at how much of a difference business apps can make in how well you manage your time. There are many apps, such as ClickUp and Google Calendar, that can help you schedule tasks and set goals.
These apps often cost money, so consider applying for a business line of credit from Idea Financial so you can buy the best money you can get.
8. Remember to Take Breaks
Don’t forget to take regular breaks and give your staff time to relax as well! Even something as simple as a 15-minute walk or meditation can do wonders for your productivity and lower your stress levels significantly.
Use Idea Financial For Your Business Needs
Now that you have all the time management tips you need for improved productivity, you can focus on actually being productive. We know that running your own business isn’t easy, and we can support your company’s growth with our flexible financing options. Take a look at our solutions and get the funding you need today.
Finally, we touched on this above, but not all of us are effective managers at all times and in all circumstances. The following are recommended readings to further study decision making and time management:
