Proper Time Management is critical to any business but it is life or death for a small business and yet many entrepreneurs just don’t know how to manage their time – so I am going to be very direct here.
Most of the people I work with want help sorting out their time – it is the single biggest problem for many entrepreneurs. Unless you get your time sorted out you will not be able to focus on marketing, product development, client development or your cashflow and your business will stagnate or shrink and you will not have that free time we all enjoy. It really is that clear cut for most small businesses.
Some of the core areas to address:
- Know what your business priorities are and have them written down. Things like marketing, client or development time, admin, research, training etc
- Have clear goals and write them down
- Have a weekly or monthly schedule drawn up – create a schedule to block out your time into manageable chunks
- Use To Do lists – with your tasks in order of priority and assign time blocks
- Integrate your To Do list into your schedule
- Remove anything from your To Do list that is not likely to be done – don’t give your energy to things you are unlikely to do or you will procrastinate
- Schedule some personal time to recharge
It is a fact that if you have a problem with your Time Management you will be very unlikely to fix the problem alone – or you wouldn’t have a problem in the first place. Good questions to ask:
- How much is it costing me now?
- If I don’t change then how much will it cost me in the future?
- What am I missing out on doing in my business and personal life?
If you work for yourself or run a small business you need a system in place so you know what you are doing and when you are doing it. You are an expert at delivering your product but you cannot be an expert at everything – so get help before it gets worse.