Time Management for Small Business Owners

As a small business owner you might be forgiven for thinking that there are not enough hours in the day—sleep is over-rated anyway!—but the key to the problem is simply improving your time management skills by utilizing some time management training tips.

• Use a planning tool—for example software like Outlook, or similar. These are great for scheduling any appointments or key meetings with clients. They can even send you reminders if necessary.
• Be honest about where you are wasting time during your day. Most of us idle some time away reading the news or checking email—if this is you, decide how much free-time you can afford and then be firm with yourself about unnecessary procrastination.
• Be ruthless about your priorities. Make a list of all your tasks at the beginning of the day and then prioritize them in order of importance. Anything that can wait, drop it to the bottom of the list. Tick of all the others as you complete them—this will remind you how well you are doing!
• Learn to delegate—no man is an island after all. Presumably you have competent employees at your disposal—so use them! If you can’t delegate, consider outsourcing some tasks.
• Establish regular routines for the way you run your office. If certain jobs are done on specific days, then if unexpected chaos suddenly reigns, it will be easier to quickly find some semblance of order again.
• Set time limits on certain tasks. Some jobs like answering email can take over your life if you let them. So don’t.
• Make sure your admin systems are in good shape. If your filing is so archaic that it takes you three days to locate a client file, you know it needs an overhaul.
• If you have dead time in your day—for example a long train journey to meet a client, or perhaps your client is late for a meeting with you—make sure you have something to fill that time usefully. Always take some work with you, for example a report to read.

Thankfully, technology is a great asset these days and hand held devices like Blackberry’s are great for aiding your time management skills. Even if your flight is delayed and you are stuck at the airport, you now have no excuses not to answer emails. All is not lost—with some effective time management training, you will soon be back in charge of your day.