When starting up a home based business, time management is an aspect of business management usually overlooked or ignored.
Sure enough, everybody knows someone in small business who races at it like a mad dog all day, seldom enough hours in their day, all they do is rush and get worked up – maybe this person is you! At the day’s end, when the pace settles, what have you completed? Do you replay the day and wonder “what happened to the hours, I didn’t get as much done as I planned to do. If this reads familiar, then you may just have an organisational and time management problem.
Successful people never appear to rush, they seem composed and unflustered. The difference between them and the others is they possess time management.
What is time management? It is merely planning minutes in your day in an organised and efficient way. Before we can really take on how to time manage our day, we first need to decide for ourselves what we are planning to achieve today, this week, this year and possibly even ten years from now. This is “Goal setting”.
The top key in my perspective to achieve goals is to write them down. You might reflect on all your goals at points to make sure that they are purposeful and realisable but not so simple to do that you don’t have to put in the hard work to achieve them otherwise what is the point of your goals in the first place?
From the start of a working year you should sit down and think about what you hope to complete this year. It might be that you need to raise your profits by 20%, you may decide to move into other premises, you could desire to take down your debt finally. From the beginning of every new working week you might write down on a note pad or in your diary the important jobs that need to be done this week, and review them on each day to check that you’re making progress and hopefully polish some of your tasks from the list.
You could place the list on your desk or in a spot where you could be constantly reminded of what has to be accomplished throughout the week. Your list might be in order of priority so that the most important chores at the top of your list get accomplished early. All jobs not finished this week need to be carried through to next week on a higher priority, this should demand it gets completed.
The next thing you might not be doing is having yourself a daily list of chores to accomplish. This can assist keep you focused throughout the day. Again, this list might be put where you are able to repeatedly see it and wipe off the jobs done. Wiping off the items will allow you a sense of a job well done and let you reflect on how you are going across the day. Always adhere to this list where possible and try to continue working from top priority to the lower priority. I know things can turn up through the day that might throw the whole day out, but you need to either take care of the situation and then get back to the list or if the sudden chore isn’t as serious as some of the tasks on your list then put it after these on your list and continue with the job you were doing.
Each item you hope to do could be written down for a multitude of reasons. Firstly, so you don’t forget to do it and secondly, so you keep each day organised and you get your daily goals. Be alert to starting chores and not finishing them. This will become tomorrow in a plethora of half finished jobs and could cause “list blowout”.
You will end up with your list a mile long and you will give it up in despair and revert back to those habits of getting yourself in panic during your day and accomplishing nothing.
Remember every day you accomplish your goals and tick off all the jobs on your list, you will be a bit closer to finalising your weekly and finally your yearly and long term goals.
A few pointers on Time Management:
Do it once and do it well, it’s pointless coming back to the chore and needing to redo it.
Learn to nicely inform people when you’re working and that you can return to them some time later.
Learn to give out tasks that really don’t demand your direct involvement.
Don’t go on wild goose chases.
Don’t fizzle away time with phone calls that are not going to take care of something.
Don’t procrastinate.
Look back on your list of chores to do often throughout your day.
“Map out your day” in the car and make out your daily list the second you arrive at work. Accomplish what you list.
Prioritise all your work, always take care of tasks in their order of priority to you and the clients.
Avoid time wasters, people who would only decide to chat all day, and if they are employed by you, set them straight, or get rid of them.
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