We’ve all said, “I wish I had more time!” or “if only I could manage my time better”. But think about what you are really saying. You can’t actually manage time; it just keeps ticking away regardless of what you say to it. However you can manage yourself, and therein lies the secret.
How do we manage ourselves better so it appears we are managing time? It all begins with your own productivity; as in how effective you are with each minute of every day.
When you’re a small business owner, the success of the business depends on you. Only you can drive growth in your business. Regardless of what you delegate or outsource, it all rests with you. If you are not productive with your time YOU are slowing down your business and it’s growth. As much as you would like to blame other things, such as market forces, systems, competitors and the like, it is how YOU react to them and work through each issue that determines the sustainability and growth of your business.
So, why should you focus on being more productive as a business owner? Simple, you will drive your business forward and make greater profits.
How can you improve your personal productivity?
- Batching – complete like tasks together. Need to make lots of calls? Batch them and you’ll get into a flow
- Create a different focus for different days – designate client days, admin days, business development days etc and focus solely on that
- Schedule in advance – set regular appointments – business and personal – 12 months in advance. This way you’ll know exactly where you should be and when
- Learn to say NO to time wasters – whether that be people, events, places or your own internet surfing
- Outsource – stop working on tasks that do not generate revenue for you. Your focus should be solely on revenue generation
- Delegate – if handing over a task is difficult, develop a system and hand it over
- Stop being the bottleneck – if you are a perfectionist, stop holding up your team and get out of the way to let them support you
- Work at your best time – who said business should be 9am to 5 pm? Spend your best “focus” time working on revenue-generating tasks
Trust me, these techniques work. I’ve done it myself and my clients have benefited immensely as well. Start with just one – and you can thank me later.
