When you are building a business time seems to get away from you. Knowing, or remembering, some simple time management techniques will help to put life in perspective. The following 5 simple hacks can help to manage your time well.
Prioritise Make a List.
Good managers know what they are going to do. Creating a list is the simplest of all the time management tips that you can use. It can be as easy as sitting down in the morning or evening and plotting down what you want to achieve today or tomorrow
Identify things that will create money for you and the things that won’t. Cut your list into two parts. Then arrange your list into the money making tasks and non-money making tasks. They might cross over – there might be some activities that are needed to be done in order to make money – stick them in the money-making list.
Do the Stuff You Don’t Like First
The hard stuff, the difficult call, the hard conversation, the washing up. If you learn to knock the hard activities, or the ones you dislike doing the most, first, then you will smash all the rest out of the park.
Good business managers, CEOs, directors, learn to take on the hard work front on and get them out of the way. The longer the difficult tasks linger the more they fester and grow.
Procrastination is the killer of time.
Create Specific Times for Emails and Online Communications.
If you have a bunch of emails to write, batch them together and send them all at once during your ‘online time’. So much time is wasted by once productive humans by spending excessive time waiting for emails. There is no need to sit and wait for emails to come in. Assign specific times to check your emails and view social media.
Make Time for Breaks
How many times have you worked through lunch without realising it? You jump on the computer at 8.30 in the morning and before you know it the clock has hit ‘gin and tonic’ time. Taking a break gives you time to clear your head and allows your mind a moment to rest. You will be more productive with your time. Things will still get done in time.
Set Standards.
This does not have to be complicated. You probably already have a business plan in place and in that you will have some long and short-term goals. Standards can be your goals or they can be separate items.
These are not just things that you want to achieve but more so, things that cannot be compromised. These items are not negotiable in the process of building your business.
For example, your contribution to the environment by not using plastic bags in your business. It could be your limit on spending time on Facetime. Standards are just the things that you will not move on.
Goals are flexible, standards are fixed. If they are clear to you, they will be clear to everyone and no time gets wasted discussing them. A simple time management technique to streamline your processes and procedures.
You probably already know these things. But sometimes we forget to do the basics, the simple things when we are under pressure or absorbed in our work. I hope this helps you to manage your time.
Please let me know what are your special hacks for time management. The more we share the better we can all do.
Some great tips here. I am terrible at procrastinating and putting off the stuff I don’t want to do until last and dreading it all day!
I also like your advice on setting standards. Sometimes I get caught up in all the things I could be doing and wondering if I should be trying something different or new. At the end of the day thought it all comes down to ethics for me and staying true to them.
Thanks for the useful advice 🙂
Hi Louise, I agree with you. Good ethics is the main standard we should all set. Hope the simple time management ideas are helpful.
Hi there, thanks for these tips, surely a must do list for people that want to be more effiecient. I would like to add another tip though, in order to be productive you can prioritize your to do task and manage them by using apps. Nowadays there are lots of great apps to help you schedule meeting, set reminders and so on.
Once we manage our priority, everything will start to fall in its place. Thanks
Great ideas there. You are so right, there are some awesome scheduling apps available that definitely make life easier. Thanks for your suggestions.
Hey JB!
Thanks for your advice here.
My biggest problem is that I find it difficult to get started with what really is important.
I have a plan but always end up watching video on youtube or surf on Facebook.
When that time I have set of ends. Am I really only waking up to create what I have set myself to do.
I will try to fix me a little into what you write about thinking about how I can make money. and then do everything else around it.
The periods where I feel I have created something that is where I put a stopwatch and then follow my plan.
But I want to ask about.
Do you have a technique that I can use to remove everything that I should not do in return to be more effective when I have to be?
Steen
Lol… Hi Steen, I think you have the same problems as most writers. I was a great one for checking emails all the time .. Id find myself spending half the day checking for mail. Silly, but it is just a habit. As with all habits you just need to commit to changing them if they are disruptive. I can’t say I have any special techniques for doing this other than setting specific times for social media, email , youtube etc .. but in saying that – I hate rules, so my schedules are always flexible.