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To take hold of every single minute in your life, you must know what effective time management is and how to manage time.
By The Holiday Firm Manisha Holiday | Published June 13, 2022, 7:00 AM | Self- Improvement | The Holiday Firm Atlanta
Being an entrepreneur is exciting, but equally demanding. If you aren’t managing your time effectively, sooner or later you would enter into the state of pandemonium. As entrepreneurs, you are your own boss. It may sound exciting but honestly, it also means that you have to manage your resources and one of the most important resources that we often neglect is time.
For some entrepreneurs, delaying or postponing a task is sometimes because of the lack of focus or thinking that they still have plenty of time. But most of the time it’s just that you don’t want to start.
Before we dive into tips on time management, let’s first discuss why time management is so important to entrepreneurs.
What is time management?
Time management is the coordination of tasks and activities to maximize the effectiveness of an individual’s efforts. Essentially, time management is enabling people to get more, and better work done in less time.
Why is time management important?
Time management is important because it helps you control your workday so you can build your business without compromising your work-life balance. Learning the art of time management could yield a positive impact especially on your professional life where most of us suck at giving due time to each and every task. Now that you know the importance of time management, you also need to apply these powerful tips to manage your time wisely. Let’s have a look at 9 Rules for successful time management and tools for entrepreneurs to achieve massive success.
1. Stop Stressing on The Term “Time Management
Yes, you heard it right. Managing your time wisely is important but stressing over the term “Time Management” is not very helpful. If you think too much about the clock, it will probably become an unnecessary distraction and you will end up wasting more time than saving it. Stop looking at the clock over and over again. Just plan your time across your to do list and stick to that plan.
2. Start your Day Right
Don’t rush into the day. Take a few minutes to sit quietly and gather your thoughts. Remember what’s really important to you and prepare yourself inwardly to meet whatever the day brings.
3. Create a Daily Plan
Have a plan for what you want to accomplish. Plan your day before it unfolds. Do it in the morning or even better, the night before you sleep. Have a set of reasonable goals for what you will be able to do that day. The plan gives you a good overview of how the day will pan out. That way, you don’t get caught off guard. Your job for the day is to stick to your plan as best as possible.
4. Put A Time Limit on Your Time
Peg a time limit to each task, be clear that you need to finish X task by 10am, Y task by 3pm, and Z item by 5:30pm. This prevents your work from dragging on and eating into time reserved for other activities. Rather than letting sudden requests for meetings, unplanned conferences, and time thieves upset your day, embrace the uncertainty by putting a limit on your time invested in unplanned activities. Not more than 10 minutes on a call, not more than 2 unplanned meetings a day, these rules will always ensure that you remain on top of your daily work schedule and stay away from time wasters.
5. Block distractions, Get them out of your life
Whenever you are working on high-priority tasks, put that phone on silent mode and turn your data off. You would end up saving a lot of time and take your efficiency levels a notch higher. Phone calls, emails and social media messages are some of the common yet biggest distractions while working, you end up wasting 760 hours each year due to workplace distractions. All thanks to these distractions that a task that requires 60 minutes takes more than 3 hours to be accomplished.
6. Take Time to Invest in Productivity Tools
Smart entrepreneurs don’t have to spend manual laborious hours to get things end. They use technology to their advantage. Workflow tools are an excellent way to keep track of your project. It helps ensure that everyone is on the same page and on top of the latest updates. One example is Basecamp, a web-based project management with a to-do list to help keep small workgroups organized. A cluttered workflow can result in stress and delay. When it comes to clearing your mind of too many tasks, you can take help of some of the amazing time management apps.
7. Take small breaks frequently, Refresh and Rejuvenate
Taking regular breaks (10–15 minutes) between work can significantly improve your daily productivity.
Short naps can improve your productivity; it’s scientifically proven to help you perform better.
Even a 10-minute meditation session can help you recoup your energy and work productively.
You have to make sure that you maintain a good rest cycle so that you can recoup your energy and work productively.
8. Find inspiration, Quotes, Videos or Audiobooks
“Time = life; therefore, waste your time and waste of your life, or master your time and master your life.” - Alan Lakein
Tape those time-management quotes and daily affirmations around your desk. Watch motivational or TEDx videos or listen to audiobooks talking about time management tips at work.
9. Hire a Virtual Assistant to Get Some of Your Work Done
It’s alright for entrepreneurs to get the basic work done on their own when they’re on one-man missions. Slowly, but surely, you begin to realize that your time is more valuable than being spent on setting up meetings, balancing accounting entries, and proofreading marketing content. This is where virtual assistants come to the picture.
A virtual assistant job can span from simple jobs like social media manager, taking calls from clients, sending newsletter, assisting with coding, scheduling meetings to advanced ones like project management and business deals
10. Make Tomorrow’s To-Do List Tonight
The easiest way to avoid distraction is to hit the ground running. To accomplish this, I like to close out my workday by jotting down my to-do list for the next day in advance. I find that if I wake up with a clear picture of my key priorities for the day already in mind, I am infinitely more productive, not to mention more relaxed.
Final Thoughts
Entrepreneurs pay a secret price every day, and that’s linked to the stress they manage and face every day.
