When you look at your long list of things that you have to do, take the time to prioritize it. Evaluate how long it will take you to get a specific task done, how your mentality throughout the day will affect your productivity and the task, and what is the immediate need to get done. Once you are able to evaluate your different tasks on your to-do list, you can then prioritize what needs to be done immediately and what can be left to do later in the day when you might be losing some steam. Prioritizing is crucial to your time management skills.
With the assumption that you have employees that work for you, delegation of tasks can easily put you in a place where your to-do list can shrink. Make sure that whoever you delegate these tasks to has all of the needed information to complete the task to your expectations. Successful small business owners may have few employees but they can be trusted to complete important tasks, which then helps you free time up to focusing or improving the business.
This may sound a little weird at first, but schedule time in your calendar to work on specific projects. Do you need time to review budgets or those analytics reports before that important meeting? Then block out time on your calendar and schedule it like an appointment to get those important to-do's done. Managing your time through appointments will not only hold you accountable to getting those tasks done, but will help your employees respect your space when focus is needed.
Stop for a moment and envision a single work day. How many interruptions from your employees, clients, vendors etc. do you have? Mind you these interruptions are sometimes necessary in order for your business to function. But notice the trends. Do you have an influx of phone calls between the hours of 8am-10am? Set yourself up for success and know what your schedule looks like and slowly make changes to help get your to-do list done.
Time management systems will vary from person to person. Try different methods to find out what is best for you. If you aren’t good at keeping a paper planner, then you might want to try something digital. Find your groove, set goals, figure out your weak spots and always strive to improve. Once you perfect your time management skills you will be one step closer to having a successful small business.
Are you interested in other ways to create a successful small business that is full of passion and provision? Take a glance at our blog to learn more about what we do and how we do it. If you are interested in small business consulting then we want to help you reach your goals and steer your ship in the right direction.