As a new business owner, the time you have is just as valuable as the profits you make. Ensuring you use your time efficiently, especially on your core business needs is crucial to starting and maintaining a successful business.
But with the hundreds of choices, tasks, and distractions in front of us day to day, time management feels a lot like an uphill battle. Yet it doesn’t have to be! Consider incorporating the following tips to support your business and boost your productivity game.
Solid Routine
One of the most effortless ways we can add more time back into our day is by sticking to a simple schedule. A solid routine helps us power through choices that would otherwise take up mental energy and time.
Are you consistent with when you get up, start and finish your workday, and head to bed? Do you have a system for how each action is completed? Aim to keep your main tasks of the day around the same time consistently. Sticking to your routine will help you have more time between the big shifts in your day.
Time Blocking
To further support your schedule, consider timeblocking. This organisational technique works by taking blocks of time you use to dedicate to certain activities.
For example, if you own a bakery, you may dedicate 6 am - 8 am for preparing pastry dough to put in the oven before opening at 9 am. Maybe you have a startup agency and you set aside 11:00 am to noon for answering emails.
Whatever your preferred timeframe, you can create strong, productive bursts throughout the day by using this method. To bring this schedule to life, try using free tools like your phone or email calendar to colour code and manage your blocks throughout your day.
Delegation Is Key
Always delegate your tasks if your time could be better served on bigger projects or client engagement. The easiest way to do this is to either automate the task or assign the task to another employee or colleague who has the time and skills to complete the task effectively.
Hiring third-party services to manage the basic functions of your physical location could also be beneficial. For example, rather than relying on yourself to manage utilities like a business’s wastewater or recycling services, consider hiring a trusted provider to take care of this for you.
Try A Technology Assistant
Utilising technology to your advantage will save you a ton of time in the long run. Have you automated simple tasks like scheduling marketing emails? Could you integrate AI or chatbots to help with customer queries? Do you have efficient software that holds clients' records or important business documents?
Using innovative technology to do the heavy lifting of simple duties will allow you to get to the more important functions of your business.
Beat The Clock
There are plenty of popular techniques for creating a flow state and focusing on your work. Consider trying one of the three most popular tactics below:
- Pomodoro Technique - Using a stopwatch or timer, set aside periods of work and periods of rest directly after so they add up to the total time you’ll spend on a task.
For example, preparing for a big meeting may take one hour, with two cycles of 25 minutes working and a 5-minute break after.
- Eat The Frog - This is the age-old strategy of doing the hardest task in your day first so that it’s out of the way and leaves the rest of your day freed up for other responsibilities.
The hardest task could mean anything to you. It could be the longest, most draining, or biggest task you’ll likely be avoiding or putting off until you have to deal with it later.
- Eisenhower matrix - This method is similar to ‘Eat the Frog’ in that it puts tasks in order of priority. This ensures you spend time only on the most important tasks in your day.
Using four blocks, you write down ‘urgent’ and ‘not urgent’ tasks in two columns. From those two columns, you decide if the task is something you need to do now, do later, delegate to someone else, or remove from your list altogether.
Simplify Communication
Connecting with your team can be chaotic if you don’t have a communication platform established for virtual meetings, instant messaging or emails. Use software like Microsoft Teams or Slack to help streamline all company communications, making documents and interactions easier to track.
Distraction Detention
Finally, the ultimate boost to your everyday productivity and time management is to keep your distractions in its place.
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Set aside a spot for distracting objects, like your phone and leave them in their spot until your allotted time to complete a task is up. This could be on a high shelf across the room or charging in the living room away from your home office.
Be sure to silence emails and put social media notifications on “Do Not Disturb” when working within your productive time block.
Conclusion
With a little planning and determination, you can create the perfect environment for a meaningful workflow that supports your business and its goals in thriving over time.Want more tips on managing a business? Check out our other blog posts here.
Related reading
- Why You Require Custom Software Development for Your Small Business?
- 3 Benefits Of Hiring A Local Video Marketing Service For Your Business
- 5 Decisions to Make Before Starting Your Business
- Rise Up with Startup: 10 Essential Tips to a Successful Business Venture in 2021
- how to start an online business
The short version: Time management for first-time entrepreneurs isn't about doing more, it's about protecting your focus on what moves the needle for your business. Start by identifying your three key priorities each week, and treat them as non-negotiable commitments to yourself.
Related reading: What is License Compliance Management: A Complete Guide.
Frequently asked questions
What's the biggest time management mistake new entrepreneurs make?
Most first-time entrepreneurs try to do everything themselves and end up scattered across too many tasks. You need to be ruthless about saying no to activities that don't directly contribute to your core business goals, and you need to get comfortable delegating early.
How do I know which tasks are important?
Ask yourself: "Does this task directly generate revenue, build my customer base, or move me closer to my business goal?" If the answer is no, it's probably something that can wait, be delegated, or be eliminated altogether.
Should I use time management tools?
Tools like calendars, task managers, and project management software can be helpful, but they're not the solution on their own. Start simple with a basic system you'll use, a spreadsheet or simple app, before investing in complex tools that might slow you down.
How much time should I spend on planning versus doing?
Spend 30 minutes to an hour each week planning your priorities, then spend the rest of your time executing. Planning is important, but execution is what builds your business, so don't let planning become procrastination.
This builds on my main productivity guide, my main guide on the topic.
Related reading: Can You be an Accountant and an Entrepreneur at the Same Time? and Essential Guide for First-Time Crypto Investors.
