Owning and operating a small business is no simple task, and often becomes hectic. There are a lot of different aspects to running a business that take up a substantial amount of time. This includes everything from website management, advertising and marketing, customer service, to hiring employees. As the owner of a small business a lot of these tasks fall on to you, and having good time management is crucial if you want to stay on course for success and growth. But why is time management so important, especially for small business owners?
Create weekly goals
A good way to stay organized is by creating a weekly schedule for yourself so that you can stay focused. For each day, write down what absolutely needs to get done, and make sure they don’t overlap with each other. Each task gets its own block of time. This allows each task to get your devoted attention, which in turns leads to a better outcome.
If you have goals you need to accomplish each week you will be less likely to stray from that path and become disorganized. Disorganization will not only create confusion, but it will also create stress.
It is also important to be realistic with your goals. It is tempting to want to schedule a lot of things in a single week, but it is not always practical. Decide what is necessary to the week’s work output, and anything that is not put to the side. If you find that you have extra time after completing the other tasks then you can look at those extra tasks, but if they are not necessary don’t worry about them until they become necessary.
Set aside time
Another practice is to dedicate a specific time (or times) each week where you focus entirely on tasks you need to complete. Work schedules for owners become hectic often, and many times you may find yourself multi-tasking to get certain things done, but you should always have an “office hour” where you focus purely on individual tasks without worrying about trying to multi-task.
Schedule breaks
Breaks are very important to staying sharp and productive. Otherwise, you will run out of energy and your business will suffer. If you practice good time management skills then your business will grow because everything will be running smoothly.
Practicing time management not only benefits the you, the owner, but also benefits your employees. The last thing any employee wants is a lot of last minute emails about deadlines they can’t possibly meet, or multiple emails about the same subject. By organizing your time properly, you will make sure that you are on top of your communication with your employees. Your emails will be sent out on time, and will be more concise, which will allow your employees to see your objectives clearly, and give them the opportunity to finish all the objectives on time.
