Do you find it hard to manage your time during your business day? or Does the day seem to get away from you before you realize where the time has gone? If so, what you need is to know these 31 time management tips for business owners.
Time management for business is one of the most popular topics of discussion today for business owners.
Most especially for those who struggle to get everything done during their workday.
If you research this topic, you’ll find that most entrepreneurs struggle with managing time.
Time goes on as it always does and at the same pace.
No matter how we choose to spend our time, we can neither stop time nor speed it up.
Therefore, since we cannot control the speed of time, we must learn to do more work or at least better work within the time that we are given during an average day.
We’ve scoured the web and watched some videos on this topic from strong motivators and entrepreneurs to help you learn how to better use the time we have in each day and move toward your business goals.
The following are 31 time management tips that business owners can use to achieve business success.
31 Time Management Tips For Business Owners
1. Create Forced Deadlines
There is a saying that states, “Work expands to the time we allow.”
This premise assumes that we are more in control of time than we think.
We can demand more of ourselves if we try.
Even with projects that do not have a set deadline, we can force a deadline on ourselves or our staff by announcing when you expect the project to be done.
This can save a lot of time that might be wasted if people thought they had all of the time in the world to finish it.
2. Do Mental Work During The Non-productive Time
Another great idea is to use “downtime” to come up with new ideas.
Examples of non-productive time might be driving in your car on the way to see a client, late at night while looking over sales ledgers, or during a quiet lunch alone in your office.
3. Focus On What You Do Best
If you focus on the tasks that you are the most proficient at, you will be able to use your time more wisely and stay more productive.
Spending time on tasks that are too challenging or those that don’t utilize your best skills may be time wasted that you could use on other things.
4. Outsource Less Skilled Areas
For those tasks that you are less adept with, consider outsourcing these skills to people who specialize in these areas.
It will save you time and may not cost as much as you think.
5. Write Your “To Do” List The Night Before
You should start your workday by immediately focusing on your important tasks.
Writing your “to do” list the night before helps you to focus on what you think is vital for the day ahead without stealing precious time from your morning.
6. Manage Yourself
Rather than managing time, you should think about the idea of management regarding yourself instead.
You have much more control over yourself than you have over time.
7. Set Goals And Establish Rewards
The use of basic psychology is important to stay motivated and increase your productivity.
It is important not only to set goals that are slightly above your current level.
Also, create desirable rewards to reward yourself for a job well done.
8. Prioritize Job Tasks
If you are going to utilize time in such a way that you will reach your goals, you should prioritize your job tasks according to the most important ones to the least important.
Make the urgent job tasks the ones you tackle first so that you will make sure you always accomplish these.
9. Delegate To Staff Members
For tasks that you won’t have time to do yourself, delegate these tasks to staff members.
You can hand out errands to people who have more mobility in their position within your company or delegate tasks according to abilities.
10. Make Small Tweaks To Your Schedule
It’s a good idea to have a schedule.
Stay open to changes since you never know what a day will bring.
Also, the slight differences in your plan may help you to vary your pace and make things more interesting.
11. Take Short Breaks
Research shows that taking some small breaks between difficult or challenging tasks can help recharge your batteries.
It can also help you renew your strength before beginning a new task.
12. Use Tools Like Trello To Organize Tasks
Trello is a nifty app that allows you to organize your creative tasks into neat, orderly units. You can even include pictures, notes, and the names of collaborators.
13. Focus Rather Than Multitask
Some people have the mistaken idea that multitasking will help you get more done.
Research shows the opposite is the case.
Multitasking reduces your focus and also may degrade the quality of your work when you try to do more than one thing at a time.
It’s best to pick and choose what you will focus on and move from one task to another so that all of them will be the best quality possible. (Psychology Today)
14. Spend More Time On Actions That Are Linked To Goals
One of the ways that time gets away from us is that we spend too much time on actions that are not related to our important goals.
From now on, aim to only focus on tasks that will lead to the accomplishment of your goals.
15. Block Out Distractions
If we could all get back the time we lose from distractions that we face every day, we could achieve a lot more in our workday.
Write down the things that distract you and see if you can cut out these factors as much as possible.
16. Avoid Social Media Except For Business Posts
Social media is a great tool for business.
But you should avoid it during your workday unless you are conducting a business transaction or marketing your business.
It’s easy to spend hours on Facebook or Twitter only to discover that much time has been lost using these platforms.
If you do post during the work day, schedule the time you’ll spend for marketing purposes.
Avoid going back to it during the workday.
17. Say “NO” To Projects That Don’t Help You Reach Your Goals
This may include your financial goals or general goals you have for your company’s future.
Spend time with the tasks that are aligned with your dreams for your business or you are missing the mark.
18. Don’t Try To Be Perfect
Perfection is a concept that only exists in a make-believe world.
You will often never reach the level of perfection you are aiming for.
You may get too caught up in minute details that may distract you from the more important goal.
Instead of striving for perfection, aim for being better than you were before and reaching higher standards for your clients.
19. Complete The Most Important Tasks First
This is one of the most popular tips when it comes to time management.
One entrepreneur referred to this as “eating the frog.”
The things you dread starting the most are often the longer, more difficult projects.
If you start this project at the beginning of your day, you will make progress early in your business day, and you’ll feel good about the progress you make.
20. Use The Pomodoro Technique
If you have never heard of the Pomodoro technique, you should check it out.
It involves a system using a tomato timer.
It focuses on getting as much done as possible with a focused task for 25 minutes.
Following the 25 minutes of efficient, focused work, you are allowed a 5-minute break before beginning the next Pomodoro task.
You can download a Pomodoro app or get a widget for your desktop.
Alternately, you can buy a real Pomodoro timer or egg timer to try this technique.
21. Organize Your Workspace
Even though many people say that they work fine in clutter, it is always better to have a clean, organized workspace.
This allows you to easily find important documents, avoid distractions from misplaced items or lost numbers, and stay more focused.
Neater workspaces encourage a higher level of focus in your work and maybe more mentally relaxing.
22. Stay Ahead Of The Paperwork
If you are in an industry that involves a lot of paperwork, try to stay ahead of the paperwork as it comes in.
If you wait until it piles up on your desk, it will be harder to manage and get ahead of.
You can organize paperwork by acting on it immediately and filing things the same day they come to your desk rather than putting them aside for another time.
23. Avoid Going After Trendy Products Or Items
As a business owner, you’ll sometimes be bombarded with the latest, greatest products, services, and trends that companies promise will make all of the difference in your revenue stream.
It’s fine to try out new tools, and some of them may truly be beneficial to you.
Once you find a tool is not what you need, unsubscribe or cancel it before they bill you again.
This means you will have to keep up with all renewal dates.
Use a digital calendar for this with reminders so you won’t forget.
24. Remember The 80/20 Rule
The “80/20” rule has long been considered one of the best concepts to keep in mind when it comes to time management.
This principle states that 20% of your efforts will produce 80% of your results.
This means that you work on highly productive aspects of your business and spend less time on those things that don’t bring the best results.
25. Look At The Big Picture
Running a business is a detailed process.
Detail is important, but don’t let it override your need to look at the big picture.
Keep your broader goal in mind and let the details be the vehicle you use to get there.
It helps some business owners to put a picture of how you want things to work on the wall above their desk to inspire them to keep their eyes on the mark.
26. Protect Your Time From Time Hawks
As a business owner, you need always to be aware of those things that steal time from our day.
Phone calls, social media, office banter, and employee complaints are all examples of potential time hawks.
One trick to avoid this is to avoid having a chair in front of your desk so that people cannot sit down when they come into your office and get too comfortable.
This may seem inconsiderate, but it communicates that you don’t have time for idle chatter and keeps people from overstaying their welcome.
27. Update Your Business Plan And Pick Tasks From This
To always know you are on the road to your goals, you should update your business plan periodically to include the most important goals you have for your business.
Categorize your goals according to the tasks they involve.
Then use your business plan to create your yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily “to do” lists and schedules.
28. Exercise Often
When you exercise, your brain releases endorphins, a natural opioid chemicals that make you feel better and can inspire positive thinking.
While you are walking or working out is a great time to brainstorm new ideas and think about how to be more productive.
29. Keep A Work Journal
Some business owners find that keeping a work journal helps them to keep track of their progress in their workplace.
It also helps to stay on track to reaching their goals.
You don’t have to write in it every day.
But just once a week can bring some order into your thoughts about where you want your business to go from here and to analyze your progress.
30. Reward Yourself Often For A Job Well-done
Once you have finished a difficult task, reward yourself in a big way.
It may be a day off, a walk in the park, or a new work tool that you’ve been wanting.
Use caution with this so that you don’t overspend and cut into your new profits too much.
But do reward yourself when you accomplish what you wanted to.
This is also a good idea to use with your creative or sales teams as well to inspire them to go forward with bigger goals.
31. Change Scenery
Staying in one place too long such as in an office or a computer desk can make you grow stale.
You need to move around to keep the heart pumping and the blood flow going.
Step away from your desk once in a while and step outside and watch the squirrels play.
Squirrels don’t worry about anything, but they have an endless source of energy.
Watching them is very therapeutic and can calm you down from a stressful time.
Be Original
Now that you have gone through these 31 time management tips for business owners, Whatever you do, be original.
In addition, try to find methods and tools that work best for you.
There is no “magic bullet” for success as a business owner.
You are the captain of your ship and what works well for one “captain” may not work best for you.
Learn from others.
Use any of these ideas that prove fruitful for your business to help you work toward the goals you have set for yourself.
Only you can define yourself, your time, and your business in the way you think is best.
No one can do that for you.
Those who are most successful learn from others.
Ultimately, apply what they learned in their unique way to create their business in their way that best utilizes the time they have.
A famous entrepreneur once said, “You can always get more money, but you can never get more time.” (Peter Voogd).
This is a great principle to remember when in the chaos of a busy day, you forget which task you should focus on next.
We hope this article has proven worthy of your time and that you can use it to increase your results immediately!
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