HOW TO MANAGE TIME IN YOUR BUSINESS AND GAIN AN EXTRA 10 HOURS A WEEK

Written by Miss Samantha Elizabeth

Wondering how to manage time efficiently now that you are running your small business? It probably did not take very long for you to start hoping there was a magical 25th hour in the day to get a little more done.

Unfortunately, there is still only 24 hours in the day but with these tips on how to manage time efficiently as a small business owner, you will feel like you have gained an extra 10 hours a week.

TIME MANAGEMENT TIPS

DOUBLE DUTY

A great way to manage time effectively is to multitask. Even if you think you are not great at multitasking, trust me it can be done and is not as hard as you think!

Throughout the day there are sure to be times when you are stuck waiting around for something. Whether it be on public transport, driving, waiting for an appointment or picking up your kids. Use those wasted times and get something productive done.

Systematize Your Business With the Right Systems

to allow you to streamline your the back end of your business with ease!

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    Use those times to listen to a replay of a webinar, revise a blog post or get another huge time waster out of the way…looking through emails. I am a firm believer of only looking at your emails twice a day AT MOST because they really are a huge time waster. So while you are waiting 30 minutes in the doctor’s office use that time to read through your emails. Since you will be sitting and wasting time any way wondering if your doctor’s office has any concept of how not to schedule 3 patients at once, get something productive done!

    PREPARE YOUR TO-DO LIST IN ADVANCE

    To become an expert on how to manage time efficiently, preparing a to do list in advance is key. There is nothing worse than going to your desk knowing you have 101 things to do and not know where to start. You then end the day getting only 2 things checked off the list because you spent the day scrambling and getting a bunch of subtasks completed.

    Pick a day every week that you will stick to and plan your work week out. If you feel your schedule changes on a whim often, even planning your next 4 days ahead will do wonders. This will set you up for success every morning when you start your day and gives you a game plan with tasks to tick off.

    My schedule and plans change constantly. So every Sunday, I plan my Monday to Thursday in Asana. I leave Friday open as a “Catch Up Day” and transfer any tasks I do not get done in the week to Friday and finish them up then.

    Often client calls and projects run longer than expected. So although I do not plan my Friday to do list at the start of the week, by the time the end of the week comes around, I have a solid game plan for when I wake up on Friday.

    SELF CARE

    One of the best time management tips I have ever received was to “make time for you”. Ultimately yes it means taking time away from your business but the end result will no doubt help your business.

    If you are not looking after yourself and your own health, it will eventually show in some aspect of your business. Take 30-45 minutes every morning before diving into work for you, something you enjoy and that does not involve your phone or laptop. Enjoy your coffee outside listening to the birds, go for a short walk with your dog, do some yoga or go for a quick surf. Whatever it is do something that makes you happy, focused and ready to conquer the day.


    Even though it may not seem like it, self-care is crucial in how to manage time effectively in your business. If you are personally happy, focused and start work with a clear head, it will surely rub off on your team and how you run your business.

    AUTOPILOT YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA

    Probably my favourite tip on how to manage time efficiently would be to put everything you can on autopilot, especially social media! A true time saver is being able to automate your social media. Being able to sit down for a few hours to batch and schedule your Instagram content and then not having to think about it again for another 30 days is glorious!

    If you are only going to use one of these time management tips, use this one. Carve out a few hours only ONCE a month to batch content and create your posts for the upcoming month. Schedule your content in a social automation software like Later, Buffer or Hootsuite and you literally do not have to think about it for the next 30 days.

    You will save so much time of not having to wonder every other day on what to post, and how to edit and then caption it. Get in the zone and do it all at once, saving you the agony and 30 minutes every other day of “figuring” out what to post on Instagram.

    TEMPLATES

    Do you notice that a lot of your email responses are you repeating yourself just too different people? Then write it out once, save it as a template and then copy and paste from there, saving you LOADS of time.

    Make a list of common emails you send out more than once a week. Create a template for those types of emails and save them in a notepad like Evernote or as a document in Google Drive. Now whenever you get those typical emails asking if you have a rate card or offer guest posts opportunities on your blog, you have a template you can copy and paste.

    It may take some time to make the templates at first. But in the long run, it will save you so much time and allow you to manage time more efficiently in your business!

    OUTSOURCE

    Whatever your not an expert in, outsource! If you do not know how to put your logo on your WordPress site in the header and footer sections, why waste 10 hours trying to figure it out yourself? Outsource it to someone that is an expert in WordPress or in website development. Sure it will cost you a bit of money but it will save you those 10 stressful hours and is a much better way on how to manage time in your business. Use those 10 hours to get something done that you are truly good at.