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Starting your own business is a dream come true for many people. However, when you actually get started you may quickly find the reality is very different from the dream. One recurring theme for many small business owners – particularly those who also need to work part time – is time management.
Below are 10 tips that business owners may find useful in order to manage their time and energy more effectively:
1. Work off a plan. Working up a plan and working to it allows you to “budget’ your time, work in breaks and keep an overview. It also prevents you having to hold too many tasks in your head at any one time. An effective plan is one which gives a separate time “slot’ to all your key business tasks, but is flexible enough to allow for the unexpected.
2. Start early. This helps keep stress and hence energy levels in check. It also helps to keep you in control, and assists you to think more creatively about how you use your time and energy to develop your business.
3. Allow 2-3 times more time than you need to carry out tasks. Be realistic about what you can achieve, particularly if you are a Sole Trader. Business activities (such as marketing and promotion, finance, dealing with administration etc) generally take 2-3 times longer than we think. This is partly because our energy, concentration and motivation are in play, partly because of interruptions and partly because we may (particularly in the early days of business) underestimate the time we allocate tasks. Build in time in your day to respond to emails and post, phone calls, emergencies and the unexpected.
4. Break large tasks down. This prevents overwhelm in the case of very large tasks and helps you stay in control as your business develops.
5. Start it now! Stop it now! Where possible start tasks immediately. This helps simply to break the back of your task and give you a feel for the complexity of the task. Similarly stop when you say you will stop. Don’t get bogged down. Stop and move on to something else in order to keep on top of everything.
6. Work at a steady pace. Avoid an all or nothing approach. Work at a steady pace. Work steadily to prevent your energy levels from spiking needlessly then plummeting. Undulating energy levels will have a negative knock on effect to your ability to manage your time effectively. Conversely, a steady approach will help you keep a better track of your time and keep you motivated.
7. Time yourself. A good skill to develop when negotiating deals and contracts is the ability to say “this task will take me “x’ amount of time’. This comes about by timing everything you do and developing a feel for both your rate and pace. When calculating your costings for a particular contract, incorporate a cost not only for the length of time you take to prepare and carry out a “job’, but also a “hassle factor’ cost: this is a cost that takes into account the level of difficulty a piece of work took to complete.
8. Let go of what you do not need to be a) doing right now and b) thinking about right now. If you are a Sole Trader it is only you and you need to be able to focus, so plan what you need to do and when then let go of everything else apart from what you are focusing on right now.
9. Consider outsourcing routine tasks that may cost you valuable time - such as telemarketing. You have at your disposal a certain amount of time, energy and money. In the early days you may decide to trade your time, energy and effort to save money. Long term, however, you may reach a stage in your business where you need to trade money in order to save on time which can be better used elsewhere.
10. Enjoy your business! This is your business so keep things enjoyable and engaging. Avoid stress, worry and desperation in your business – this will put you in a negative mindset, may stifle your business and could slow your progress. Maintain a creative, light-minded approach in order to keep your ability to manage your time, energy and motivation high |
