Being a business owner can be stressful. There are so many things taking up your time. Chances are your to-do list is getting longer by the hour. With this article, we are sharing with you 6 time-saving tips. These tips can make your life easier and they can make you happier. Managing your time will also give you more opportunities to achieve your goals.
Manage your energy – One of the best ways to manage your time is to manage your energy. You should work on your most important tasks when you feel most energetic. For some people, this may be first thing in the morning. For others, this may be late at night. Some of your tasks may not require as much energy. Do those tasks that require less thought and creativity when you feel less energetic.
Schedule everything – There’s an old saying that if you want something done you need to make sure that it’s in your diary. If you want to do something enough, you should schedule a time when you will do it. Break down your day into 30-minute blocks and lock everything in. It’s also worth scheduling in downtime. Make sure you build in some buffers as tasks may take longer than you initially expect.
Chunk time – There’s a popular time management technique called the Pomodoro Technique. The Pomodoro Technique involves breaking up your day into smaller time chunks followed by short breaks. You then aim to finish particular tasks within one of these time chunks. You do 6 “time chunks” in a row and then have a longer break. After this long break, you start your next Pomodoro. It also recommends batching similar tasks together.
Do the difficult thing first – Brian Tracy wrote a book called Eat that Frog. Its premise is that you should start your day by doing the most difficult or important task first. That way you can often be more productive as you won’t spend the rest of your day worrying about that important thing that you haven’t done yet. It’s a great book that will help save you a lot of time.
Delegate and outsource – One of the best time-saving techniques that you can learn is that you don’t have to do everything. There are some tasks that you should not be doing as a business owner. There are some tasks you should outsource. There are some tasks that you should not be doing altogether. There are some tasks that can be automated with technology.
Learn to say no – As a business owner, people will often go out of their way to monopolise your time. You need to get better at saying no to requests that shouldn’t be made to you.
Be realistic – A business owner’s to-do list can be incredibly stressful. For many, their to-do list just gets longer and longer. The best time-saving technique that many business owners can come up with is to be realistic. The sooner you realise that you are never likely to finish your to-do list, the less stressful your life will be. Your to-do list will require constant readjusting and reprioritisation.
These time management tips are a great way for you to help maintain some semblance of work-life balance. These tips will allow you to do more in less time. Work smarter, not harder.
