If you can do fifteen out of twenty things that you really have to get done in any given business day, you’re probably using your day fairly productively. However, it’s important to recognize that you’re still only taking care of three fourths of what you need to. Always running twenty-five percent behind is stressful, and it can interfere with your ongoing productivity levels. Here are some tips to improve your time management.
Do the Tough Stuff Straight Away
Even if you’re not a traditional morning person, you’re going to do your best work in the first part of your day. That’s when you should take on your tougher agenda items. Your wherewithal dwindles over the course of the day. Knocking the hard stuff off of your to-do list before the day is half over helps you get more done, and it can also make the whole day feel easier.
Plan Your Week in Advance
When a week is coming to a close, that’s the perfect time to start planning out your objectives and organize your schedule for the week ahead. Don’t wait until Monday morning to think about what you need to do because just the task of planning can take up a lot of your focus at a time when you want to hit the ground running.
Get User-Friendly Accounting Software
Your automated bookkeeping software needs to make it easy for you to find the facts and figures that you need to make key financial decisions. Ideally, you’d like a program that gives you real-time info about expenditures and revenues so you can budget accordingly. A record-keeping system that helps you stay organized can centralize and simplify all the information that you need to take care of basic business tax filing tasks.
Delegate Decisively
Small business owners almost always wear more than one hat in the course of a typical workday. Nevertheless, you can’t wear every hat all of the time. To avoid burnout, you simply have to be willing to delegate sometimes. Identify the stuff on your to-do list that you’re comfortable assigning to other team members. Give them clear instructions, and make them feel okay about checking back with you if they have questions. To manage your time efficiently, you’re going to have to help your closest team managers use their time efficiently as well.
Outsource HR
In the small business world, HR can be a time-consuming and challenging part of operations management. There are numerous compliance issues to stay on top of, and you also need your staff to know that you’re being attentive to what they need. Outsourcing is a good option for small business owners because it gives them HR resources and organizational tools that are comparable to companies’ big in-house HR departments without the expense of hiring a full-time HR coordinator.
For small business owners, obstacles to productivity can represent impediments to profitability. Making the most of your time will help you maximize the value of your time and keep your long-term plans for your business’ growth moving on course.