How business owners manage their time

The ability to manage your time is critical for business owners to succeed. As a business owner, you know, time is your greatest commodity.

Business owners juggle from one task to another, meeting client deadlines, making payments⎼the list goes on. Effective time management is one of the essential skills business owners must harness. The good news is the ability to manage your time is a learned skill. Learn tricks and habits that work best for you.

Why is time management essential?

Business owners lead by example. Values and work ethics displayed by a company’s decision-makers can make or break a business. Having excellent time management skills will help improve effectiveness and efficiency. Time management is a skill that business owners must continuously work on developing and growing.

Benefits of time management

Time management is a skill most people struggle with. As a business owner, you can’t manage to lose or waste time. Having excellent management skills come with immense advantages. A business owner who manages time effectively is better positioned to deliver better products and consistently.

Excellent time management skills enable a business to solve problems that arise. Companies with proper time management will quickly solve issues impacting day-to-day operations. A business which relies on increasing ROI should have appropriate time management skills. As a business owner, you should thrive on cultivating a workplace that values time management.

Know when to delegate

Business owners should divide time according to the big picture and day-to-day responsibilities. Knowing when to delegate tasks to other team members saves time. You can also motivate your employees with challenges and responsibilities.

One way of knowing what should be delegated and shouldn’t is to estimate the time taken to complete the task. Will the job involve extra training? Will you spend more time reviewing their work than when you do it yourself? Make sure to ask these questions before you make the delegation decision.

Plan ahead

Planning saves you time and unnecessary stress of tomorrow. An essential aspect of planning is being realistic. Don’t become overly ambitious with set deadlines. Ensure you have enough time to deliver high-quality products and services. Not meeting deadlines can discourage clients and employees.

Prioritize

Prioritize each item on your to-do list. Prioritizing helps business owners to stay focused on achieving the set goals. Make sure you are clear on what needs to be done by the end of the day. One way business owners prioritize is by ranking each item by deadline or importance. Make sure you start working down your list. If anything pops up during the day, business owners feel better tasks are complete.   

Set achievable goals

Business owners must set measurable goals for themselves and their employees. Having clear goals helps users measure the success of work. It also helps to track the progress of handled tasks. Ask questions such as “Where do you want to be next year at this time?” These questions will help you set measurable and tangible goals.

Business owners know time management is not just being productive with time but also in achieving your goals.

Minimize distractions

Distractions can make business owners lose track of time and give up on set plans. Make sure you control your business environment by restricting specific access and avoiding distractions. Personal distractions include reading emails and answering unnecessary phone calls. Regaining composure after an interruption wastes time. One way of blocking distractions is locking your doors and putting your phone in silent mode.

Clustering similar tasks

Business owners save time by organizing related tasks together. Make sure you set time to deal with employee problems, listening to messages, and reading emails.

Apply the 80/20 rule

An effective way of determining where you should spend more time is the 80/20 rule. 80% of the results are as a result of 20% of your effort. Make sure you increase your efforts each week. Make sure to keep applying the rule every week until you get the desired results.

Business owners embrace apps

There are endless tools which are designed to take charge of workflow and work schedule. Apps such as Harvest help track time on each task. Tracking time on a shared interface allows business owners to demonstrate teamwork and transparency. Rest assured these shared work apps make employees know what to expect from them. Apps also help business owners to ensure employees are pulling equal weight towards business success.

Evaluate your capacity for stress

Make sure to start with the most worrisome tasks. Doing so reduces anxiety and stress levels associated with meeting deadlines. Taking care of stressful projects first helps improve your performance. Business owners ensure they take small breaks if they feel they are about to overload. A short period away from your workstation is an effective stress reliever.

Taking regular breaks between activities helps you align your progress with your business goals. Go out, get some fresh air, and make sure to relax for a few minutes. Relaxing can bring some groundbreaking ideas that you can implement in your work.

Create a long term road map

Creating a long term road map allows business owners to focus better. Make sure your new tasks are in line with your goals. Business owners are known to revise business plans and set some KPIs. Make sure to list repetitive activities and group them accordingly. Defining well-known duties critical for your success can bring huge success.

Improve your strategy from time to time

Business owners always improve their strategy no matter their efficiency. There is still room for improvement; learning never ends for an entrepreneur. Keep an eye for tasks that take too long to complete. Jobs that take your complete attention should be noted and ensure you optimize or simplify them.

Insert flexibility into your schedule

The time you have with your family and friends depends on the flexibility you have with your schedule. It helps to have proper backup resources and a network of friends and professional colleges.

Finding the best solution for a sufficient time management plan takes a bit of trial and error. What works for one business owner may not work for another. Business owners are encouraged to try out different methods that will help them manage time better. The more efficient you use every minute, the more you will be better at managing hectic days.