Working for yourself is great. It gives you the freedom to work how and when you want. But for that to happen, you need to effectively manage your time. Here are our top 10 tips for making that easier to achieve!
#1: Keep on top of your admin
Administrative tasks may not always be exciting, but they’re essential for your business. Many busy entrepreneurs push admin tasks to the back of their to-do list, for this reason, leaving them to pile up. But this can quickly become overwhelming. Spend a few minutes catching up on your admin or blocking off an hour each week to do it, and you’ll easily stay on top of it.
#2: Set your boundaries in place
If you want to effectively manage your time, you need to set clear boundaries. This is for the benefit of everyone around you as well as yourself. This includes clear working hours and communicating expectations to clients and colleagues.
#3: Eliminate distractions
Social media is one of the most distracting elements of working online, followed closely by email. So turn off notifications and shut down any open computer tabs. Whilst you’re removing distractions, look to also turn your phone onto silent mode and, if possible, close your office door too!
#4: Plan out your day (and week) in advance
When you plan your schedule, you know what to expect. You can create a program that works for you, and you can also ensure you have everything to hand to complete the tasks scheduled. Check out 7 steps to creating the perfect work schedule for you for more help with work scheduling.
#5: Set yourself time limits for tasks
Time can be funny. If you set yourself no time limit for a task, you’ll find it takes forever to complete. Whereas, when you set aside a deadline to complete it by, you’ll get it done in that time! So always set yourself time limits for tasks, so you have a time limit to work to.
#6: Know what’s important to you
Are you being consciously productive with your time? It’s easy to get swept up by tasks that aren’t important to you. These tasks not only eat into your time, they also often aren’t the best use of your skills and talents. Know what tasks are important to you and focus only on them.
#7: Track your time
If you want to effectively manage your time, you need to know where it’s currently being spent. Tracking your time enables you to see where your time is going and what tasks are causing you to lose the most time. You can then work to remedy the situation by either automating, delegating or ditching tasks.
#8: Outsource tasks you don’t need to do yourself
This tip is one of the quickest ways to manage your time better. The vast majority of the tasks you do yourself are ones that should be on your to-do list. The only tasks that you should be focusing on are those that need your expertise and attention. This includes 1:1 client work and those tasks that are within your zone of genius. Everything else can easily be outsourced, so why not check out our Services page, to see the different types of tasks we can take off your plate!
#9: Use automations wherever possible
If you want to effectively manage your time, look to automate mundane, repetitive tasks wherever possible. This includes things like automated emails and sales funnels, scheduling tools and customer onboarding.
#10: Look after yourself
Finally, if you want to effectively manage your time, you need to look after yourself. If you’re not in the best of health, things will take longer and you’ll find it more of a struggle to do your best work. You are essential to your business success, so look after yourself and take the breaks you need, whenever you need them. This includes holidays, time away from your desk and work, along with regular lunch and tea breaks, to stretch your legs and rest your eyes and mind.
Have you grown your business to the point where you can no longer handle all the administrative tasks effectively? If you’re looking to free up your time and feel more organised and in control, let us step in and take care of your administrative tasks for you. Simply book in a free discovery call and we can discuss your needs and available options.