7 Tips to Improve Time Management Skills for Business Owners
Time is valuable and limited. As business owners, you may feel stressed out because of the fear that you don’t have enough time to accomplish goals and grow your business.
If you’re overwhelmed whether the amount of work is huge or you lack the skill to control your time, you’ve come to the right place.
Today, Camelo is going to discuss time management and give you 7 tips to help you improve your time management skills.
What is time management?
Time management is the skill of organizing and making the best use of your time to complete tasks more effectively.
Poor time management can affect your quality of work, ruin your reputation, interfere with your work-life balance, and harm your mental well-being.
Benefits of time management for business owners
Improves performance
Good time management will certainly make a positive impact on your performance, which affects your business’ profitability. Having a clear timeline helps you and your team deliver products and services more consistently and promptly.
Handles unexpected situations more effectively
Having good control of time allows you to handle problems that come out of nowhere more calmly and effectively. You don’t have to struggle to rearrange your time every time something goes wrong.
Businesses that require consistent outputs need a structured schedule to deal better with unexpected situations. This reduces stress levels tremendously.
Enhances efficiency
According to Parkinson’s Law, the amount of work required expands to fill the time allotted. For example, if you plan to spend 2 hours on employee scheduling, you’re more likely to stretch the work to fill the 2-hour slot, even though you can finish it in 30 minutes.
By controlling your time properly, you can actually achieve more in less time. Instead of stretching your work to fill the time, try to re-evaluate the time required for specific tasks and adjust your timetable. This way you can finish tasks sooner and use your extra time for other matters.
Enhances focus
When you already know what task to do at a certain time, you can fully focus on it. This eliminates the hassle of not knowing what to do and the fear of not having enough time, thus increasing your efficiency.
7 tips to improve time management skills for business owners
1. Set specific goals for yourself and prioritize important tasks
You should set SMART goals as they are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Don’t use generic phrases. Make them as specific as possible. For instance, “increase monthly guests from 300 to 400 by the end of this month” instead of “increase monthly guests”.
Having clear and attainable goals enable you to estimate the time needed for certain tasks, thus improving your time planning skills and increasing your productivity.
Plus, measurable and attainable goals allows you to think about the purpose of what you’re doing. You may be distracted, unmotivated, and lost during your process. The goals and the purpose are what redirect you to your chosen path.
As business owners, you have to face all kinds of tasks, from tiny to huge ones. Knowing how to prioritize tasks the right way will keep you from spending too much time on unnecessary and petty details.
You can write down the tasks needed to be done each day, and rank them by importance. Make sure to complete the tasks on top of your priority list first, no matter how difficult they are.
2. Plan your day ahead
You know that things can get messy if you let things operate themselves. When you don’t have a specific plan for your time, you may either procrastinate or spend too much time deciding on what to do next.
Spend the time of your day when you feel most productive for the most important tasks. Small and minor tasks should be done when you’re least productive.
3. Create plans and timelines for projects
You should always plan for projects, create timelines, and discuss your plan with your team. This doesn’t only help you handle unexpected circumstances better, but also shows your employees you know what you’re doing.
Crafting a time plan can be confusing, especially when you’re at the beginning of your business journey. But that needs to be on your top priority list. To grow your business, you need to find ways to maximize the time of you and your team.
4. Delegate tasks if needed
Delegating tasks is not easy. You put your heart and soul into what you’re doing, and sometimes you refuse other people’s help. Maybe you want things to go the way you want, or you’re not good at assigning tasks to suitable people.
But admit it, you can’t do everything without the help of your teammates or employees. Learning how to delegate tasks can save you a huge amount of time from minor details.
5. Eliminate distractions
According to an article from The Telegraph, a third of employees are distracted for up to three hours a day at the workplace.
Whether it’s your smartphone notifications, chatty employees, or your window view, try to eliminate these distractions to boost your concentration and avoid wasting your time.
6. Do one task at a time
Multi-tasking makes you think you’re being productive and making the best use of your time. But your brain is actually switching between the tasks rather than focusing on them.
Do one task at a time and give it all of your attention. When you’re finished, reward yourself with a small break and then move on to the next task. You’ll complete your work way faster and actually get things done.
7. Use digital and automated tools
There’s a plethora of time management tools that you can utilize to make the best use of your time. You can use time-tracking apps, use a planner, or simply jot down the tasks on your notepad. The tools are endless, so you should try each one out to see what works best for you.
If you’re a big fan of digital tools, apps such as Camelo can save you a huge amount of time on time-consuming tasks such as employee scheduling or managing employees’ availability.
Conclusion
Time is a vital asset that affects the growth of businesses. Learning how to manage it properly not only boosts your business’ performance, but also gives you extra time for other important things.
