As entrepreneurs we think we have to be financial planners, web designers, managers, purchasing agents, and much more in one person. We may also have many obligations for our families and friends and want to accomplish everything with perfection. Being everywhere and tackling every task that comes along our way will not always be possible and you may even feel you dug yourself into a hole. That is the time to reconsider your time management.
Once you realized that you can't possibly do everything you deem necessary ask yourself "how can I best use my energy and time today?" Take the time to make three sorted lists of all things you planned to do and check what a) absolutely needs to be done in order to not risk your business, b) and what you need to do to reach your long term goal and c) what is not absolutely necessary or only done to make you feel good accomplishing it. Do all things in list a) and at least half of list b) and one or two things of list c). Only when you are done with these you can tackle finishing the rest of tasks.
Another tactic is creating one list of all tasks for your week with sorted priorities. Select your five top priorities and start completing these first. When you are done reconsider the remaining tasks and complete the five next most important tasks next. The satisfaction of having completed the most important things on your list will give you the sense of accomplishment that will easily motivate you to continue checking off more items from your list.
By splitting up larger task into smaller more digestible junks you can also create some momentum for your day. Avoid writing 'complete budget' as one item. Rather split it up in manageable portions by assigning each budget heading a subtask. Don't answer all mail but answer the first fifth of letters, then the second and so forth. With this method you make sure you always have the feeling you accomplished something while you are into completing the main task. Whereas 100% of the time working on the main task you probably feel like you did nothing at all.
Low levels of energy are often caused by us not taking care of our physical and psychological needs. By being so caught up with our business we often alienate us from everyone and easily let ourselves go with the argument that what we do is more important than having fun with friends or working out. But nothing is more important than being healthy and sane. Thus, include high priority task into your time management from the social and health sectors. Make it a task to meet with friends, go for a romantic dinner and/or spend some extra (unexpected) time with your kids. All this will not only make sure you can regain some of the energy you lost but also keep your environment happy. An extra plus!
Setting boundaries is very important to make sure you don't burn out. One boundary can be a maximum number of hours you work per day or the number of hours you work without a break. Meaning that just when you reached these maximum numbers of hours you stop working no matter whether are done or not. When you are honest with yourself you know that at a certain degree of exhaustion or sleep deprivation you can as well stop working because it doesn't change your output significantly. That is actually one of the best habits in terms of time management of successful entrepreneurs. They know when it is enough.
Outsourcing of certain well defined tasks is another active measure of successful time management. Look at all the hats you want to wear and select those you can easily give someone else. And if it is just a friend or family member for a certain time, you will see that you are not always indispensable. And this is a very important lesson to learn. You cannot be everywhere and some people may actually be more talented in doing advertising, accounting, etc. and be worth the money spent.
Once you realized that you can't possibly do everything you deem necessary ask yourself "how can I best use my energy and time today?" Take the time to make three sorted lists of all things you planned to do and check what a) absolutely needs to be done in order to not risk your business, b) and what you need to do to reach your long term goal and c) what is not absolutely necessary or only done to make you feel good accomplishing it. Do all things in list a) and at least half of list b) and one or two things of list c). Only when you are done with these you can tackle finishing the rest of tasks.
Another tactic is creating one list of all tasks for your week with sorted priorities. Select your five top priorities and start completing these first. When you are done reconsider the remaining tasks and complete the five next most important tasks next. The satisfaction of having completed the most important things on your list will give you the sense of accomplishment that will easily motivate you to continue checking off more items from your list.
By splitting up larger task into smaller more digestible junks you can also create some momentum for your day. Avoid writing 'complete budget' as one item. Rather split it up in manageable portions by assigning each budget heading a subtask. Don't answer all mail but answer the first fifth of letters, then the second and so forth. With this method you make sure you always have the feeling you accomplished something while you are into completing the main task. Whereas 100% of the time working on the main task you probably feel like you did nothing at all.
Low levels of energy are often caused by us not taking care of our physical and psychological needs. By being so caught up with our business we often alienate us from everyone and easily let ourselves go with the argument that what we do is more important than having fun with friends or working out. But nothing is more important than being healthy and sane. Thus, include high priority task into your time management from the social and health sectors. Make it a task to meet with friends, go for a romantic dinner and/or spend some extra (unexpected) time with your kids. All this will not only make sure you can regain some of the energy you lost but also keep your environment happy. An extra plus!
Setting boundaries is very important to make sure you don't burn out. One boundary can be a maximum number of hours you work per day or the number of hours you work without a break. Meaning that just when you reached these maximum numbers of hours you stop working no matter whether are done or not. When you are honest with yourself you know that at a certain degree of exhaustion or sleep deprivation you can as well stop working because it doesn't change your output significantly. That is actually one of the best habits in terms of time management of successful entrepreneurs. They know when it is enough.
Outsourcing of certain well defined tasks is another active measure of successful time management. Look at all the hats you want to wear and select those you can easily give someone else. And if it is just a friend or family member for a certain time, you will see that you are not always indispensable. And this is a very important lesson to learn. You cannot be everywhere and some people may actually be more talented in doing advertising, accounting, etc. and be worth the money spent.
About the Author:
About the Author: Alex McRight runs a great blog (DarnOffice) about how to get more done with the right time management. Check it out!
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