Time is everything for a small business owner. Learning to manage it is essential to your long-term success.
That may sound easier said than done, especially if you are juggling so many tasks you can’t even list them all off the top of your head. If you are feeling the stress of a schedule that’s just too full, it’s time for you to take a step back and look at how you manage your time.
Know Where You’re Going
You can’t prioritize tasks until you understand what your goals are. This is the number one biggest problem. You probably had some ideas of your goals when you got started, but this is something that needs to be revisited often as your company grows. Your goals may change. This is okay. You just need to keep sight of what they are.
Once you know, you can make business decisions much faster. As new opportunities arise, you can ask “Does this help us reach our goals?” and if the answer it out, you have one less task you need to tackle.
Learn to Delegate — Even If You Are Doing This Solo
The old cliche is true, time is money. The ways this saying applies can sometimes be surprising. It’s not just that the time you put in has a direct result on your income, but how efficiently you spend that time.
What is an hour of your time worth? If you are doing the work that only you can do–the top level stuff–what is that hour of time worth? Is it more than it would be to pay someone else to do some of the other tasks taking up your time?
If you have tasks that are high value that need your attention, why would you give your time to something you could delegate to someone else?
Often, the answer is that you have a “I can do everything myself” mindset. If you’re running your business alone, this can get even tougher. If you want your business to grow, there will be tasks that aren’t worth your time. Even if you run your business alone, you can hire out for specific jobs to save you time and ultimately make you more money.
Keep Away From Distractions
In the modern world, this is a much more difficult and therefore much more important
time management tip for small business owners. Again, this may be easier said than done, but you need to figure out how to make it work for you.
Can you avoid looking at emails for the first several hours of your day? Getting things off on the right foot can improve your focus and productivity.
You can also use an app like Freedom or SelfControl to block certain websites and apps during particular hours of the day.
Letting the people close to you know that you won’t be in communication during certain hours can cut out the guilt and keep you distraction free.
Set Business Hours
Small business owners hate doing this. They don’t take the steps to separate their business from the rest of their lives. They come home and they go right back to work.
If you don’t have some time to yourself, you won’t be as focused during your business hours. Your mind needs time to rest. You need to connect with other people outside of work. This is how you avoid burnout in the long run and do a better job overall.
Learn more about Aaron Symank by visiting AaronSymank.net