Time Management: Use Your Time More Efficiently

Fellow small business owners – I feel your pain. We all found, in the early days of our small businesses there simply was never enough time. So much to do in so little time to accomplish everything is the reality of owning and growing a business. With everything else going on with our startup, time management was the furthest thing from our minds.

We thought having our own businesses would give us more freedom. Our time would be our own, not under the schedule of a boss at the company we used to work for. We would be free to take vacations anytime we wanted. There would never be a family event we’d have to miss. If we don’t feel like working on any given day, we wouldn’t have to. Having our own business was going to give us control.

Ah, yes… those were wonderful dreams. I used to sit in my workstation pondering how great having a business of my own would be. Those dreams suddenly slammed into the reality of actually owning my own business. Ka-Pow! Reality set in. My previous 40-hour work week was traded in on a 55 or 60-hour work week. But, we do love our businesses, don’t we? We’re passionate about our dreams. Remembering those dreams can help get us through our first year or two – maybe.

There always seem to be more clients, more work, more administrative tasks, more paperwork, and more financial records to keep. If we are lucky, we might find some time to use for planning our future growth. Yadda, yadda, yadda. “I need more time!” is what we scream out when realization kicks in that owning a business means we are pretty much on call 24/7. Not exactly what we planned, that’s for sure.

Limitations of Time Affect Every Small Business

The reality of time means there are still only 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week, 4-plus weeks in a month and twelve months in a year. That’s it. There are no variations or extensions available if you run out of time to get all of the work done that keeps your business growing. You don’t get any extra advantages when it comes to time. We are all in the same boat, floating on the same big sea of business.

There is no more time to be found for you or anyone else. We all have to operate within these same parameters. It doesn’t matter how much money you make, how skilled or passionate you are about what you do, or how influential you might be. You simply cannot get any additional time to achieve your goals and dreams of success.

What you can do is work smarter in the time available to us.

Time Management: 7 Ways to Work Smarter in 2019

Adjust your thermostat

Researchers have done studies that show workers being more productive when their workspace temperatures are between 69.8 and 71.6. Typing errors fell by 44% and typing output increased by 150% when temperatures were between 68 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit.

In many business situations employees can never agree on what the perfect temperature is for working. Some think it is too hot. Others think it is too cold. Kind of sounds like Goldilocks and the Three Bears, doesn’t it? At least in your own small business you have more control over the environment you have to work in.

Attitude Adjustment Time

Stop letting everything get you down. Negativity is never a reliable mindset that will influence positive results. Positive results occur when working with a positive mindset. Just because you fall behind doesn’t mean it is the end of the world. People who think positively are more productive. Being negative and gloomy distracts your mind from the important tasks at hand.

Prioritize

Do what is most important first. If you aren’t sure what tasks those might be, think in terms of what is going to bring in customers and increase sales. That way, you put your bottom line on an upward trajectory. Set deadlines for everything, even the little things that need done. We all tend to get things done quicker when there is a deadline looming.

Automate

With technology now available to everyone at pretty reasonable costs, automate as many routine tasks as possible. It is better for your computer or software to move day to day tasks forward than you. If you want potential customers to connect with you and schedule a free brief call, automate it so they can access the time you have available and schedule a time on your calendar to connect. Automate responses to things like welcoming new subscribers to your Blog. Create a FAQ page where visitors to your website can get immediate answers to questions most often asked.

Declutter and Organize

A disorganized work space full of clutter has a negative effect on your productivity. It is distracting and takes your mind away from the tasks at hand. Try these 5 Painless Steps to Eliminate Desktop Clutter from Entrepreneur.com. Clear your space and clear your mind for improved productivity. Clutter and disorganization are as distracting as is loud noise, like co-workers in a heated discussion or someone’s choice of music that is not your favorite genre. Your mind cannot stay in control, focused on the task at hand. Each time your mind switches over to focus on piles of folders and paperwork, or desk accessories, time – and money – are lost.

Stop multitasking

Multitasking seems like a good way to improve your productivity, but it simply is not. Moving your mind from one task to another and back again is distracting and not the way our brains are meant to work. Devora Zack, author of Singletasking: Get More Done – One Things at a Time, states that task switching can lower productivity by as much as 40%. And, multitasking also shrinks the grey matter in our brains. That’s kind of scary, isn’t it?

“When you overload your brain trying to get it to task switch, you shrink the grey matter in your brain.” – Devora Zack

Go back to nature

Not everyone has the ability to work outside, or the weather that would make you want to. But, tests show that productivity is higher in natural settings. So, create a natural setting within your workplace by adding plants, lamps with natural daylight, rocks, and trees. Nature has a soothing quality that makes even work seem more pleasant. Here are four ideas on how to incorporate biophilia (human beings innate tendency to seek connection with nature) in your workplace.

Each of the suggestions above can impact how you spend your time and how productive you can become. With just a few changes, you can regain control over your time management. Include improving time management in your planning for the New Year. And, the good news is: you will not only become more productive, but save money as well.

Forget about setting New Year’s Resolutions for 2019. As you do your planning for the coming year, set some attainable goals instead. Unfortunately, few people ever achieve their resolutions. Many are lucky to make it through a couple of weeks of changes, but then give up. Goals relate to a person’s specific ambitions. They represent clearly defined aims with specifically desired outcomes. Be more focused on specific goals with clear results in mind as we leave 2018 and begin anew on January 1^st for the coming year.