July 12, 2021
5 Prioritization and time management tips to empower your business
One of the things I love most about being an entrepreneur is creating my own work schedule. No one checks to see if I’m at my desk by 9 am – or if I’m still hard at work at 4:30 pm. But, when you’re working for yourself, you also have to be self-accountable. Prioritization and good time management skills are must-haves.
When you’re starting out as an entrepreneur, there is so much to do! It can be tricky to get clear on what are the most important tasks of your day. Especially tricky if you’ve always been employed by someone who set the rules for you.
While it’s wonderful to be the boss, your level of success now rests squarely on your shoulders. Managing your time effectively and keeping a laser focus on your priorities is going to impact that success!
Find your balance in business with prioritizing and time management
Do I ever slack off sometimes? Sure. It’s one of the perks of being an entrepreneur, but when your success is solely up to you, it can be tempting at times to let an entire day – or days – slip by without accomplishing much.
Or, maybe you’ve taken on too much work without thinking through how much you can really handle at a given time. Burn-out is not pretty!
The devil at work here is lack of prioritization and time management. These two can create a lot of damage in the form of missed deadlines, unhappy clients or customers, and unnecessary stress.
Top techniques for time management and prioritization
Managing your time effectively will help you be more productive. With that you can focus better on the work that is most important to grow your business.
Start with planning
- Prioritize and plan your work before your day, week, month, and quarter start.
I know that planning too far ahead in business can be an exercise in futility. Priorities and circumstances can change quickly. I’ve always found it helpful to take 10 or 15 minutes at the end of every workday to review what I need to get done the next day.
The same goes for early Friday afternoons. I plan what I need to get done the next week and schedule it on my calendar. That includes scheduling down time! Doing this same exercise toward the end of the month to prepare for the upcoming one.
Toward the end of every quarter, I take a couple hours to go over what I’ve accomplished over the past few months. Have my efforts been effective? If not, I make changes to improve my performance moving forward.
Of course, you don’t have to stick to a quarterly plan. Maybe you want to do a 60-day check-in. It’s up to you. What’s important is that you follow through on these short- and long-term reviews to measure how you’re doing, revise any approaches if necessary, and adequately prepare for what’s coming up.
Managing your time and priorities
- Manage your windows of time for massive productivity.
I’m a morning person being mentally sharpest between 9 am and noon. This is when I prioritize creative thinking or heavy problem solving within that time slot. As the day goes on, I try to do less taxing work in the afternoon.
Sometimes, though, you just have to learn to pace yourself.
Recognizing when you’re most productive for certain types of tasks on any given day helps you work smarter. The level of energy you bring to your business is crucial. Treat it like the precious commodity that it is.
- Get an accurate handle on your priorities and when you’ll do them.
I’m a list maker. I don’t use any fancy technology to do that. Pen and paper work just fine.
What’s important is that I prioritize the items on my lists. Like – non-negotiable tasks that must be completed by a certain time or date or, things that are important to complete but not urgent.
I like to divide highest priority items for completion throughout the week, with leeway built in for the unexpected. That way I’m not knocked sideways when a day doesn’t turn out as expected.
There’s something very satisfying about checking off my to-do list at the end of every day. Prioritized lists with a commitment to follow-through are the key to entrepreneurial sanity.
Track your time and lose the distractions
- Track your time to manage and waste less of it.
Parkinson’s Law states that people usually take all the time they allot (and frequently more) to accomplish a task. Unfortunately, I’ve found this to be true, especially when I’m working on something that I don’t like to do very much.
Tracking the time you invest in tasks and projects can be a major productivity driver.
First, you gain an awareness of how long it takes for you to do a task, especially one that you know will be repeated. That, in turn, helps you plan your time more realistically in the future.
Second, tracking your time encourages focus on that task. Often, greater focus can lead to faster completion and a recognition of efficiencies that can save time.
Third, if you bill your clients or customers by the hour, tracking time provides a good barometer of what you’re earning per hour. If you find that per-hour rate is uncomfortably low, you know you need to make some changes!
- For ultimate productivity, batch work and minimize distractions.
Like checking off items on lists, batching is a satisfying activity that makes you feel like you are getting so much done. (And, in reality, you are!)
Whether it’s processing invoices, scheduling social media posts, or sorting through your supplies to order everything at once, batching is one of the most efficient ways to get similar tasks done.
I also am a firm believer in minimizing distractions as much as possible. Doing that may be as simple as silencing notifications on your phone or computer.
Distractions are sinister time suckers. When they limit you from managing your time effectively, you suffer in so many ways, not to mention loss of focus and momentum with a good dose of irritation baked in.
With one, two, or more distractions, what should take you a half hour leeches into an hour or more. Compound that scenario throughout your day, and you get an idea of how damaging distractions are.
The biggest ‘why’ behind time management and prioritization
I have found that a big part of the enthusiasm and even joy I experience in my businesses is when I’m effectively prioritizing and managing my time well. I’m excited about what I accomplish, my enterprises excel, and my clients are happy. Everyone wins!
The beauty of entrepreneurship is the freedom that comes with your day-to-day activities and the level of success you can achieve. But if you let them slip out of your control, you could lose that freedom. Experiment with different techniques to see what works for you and your business.
These techniques are not one-size-fits-all. Entrepreneurs who consistently focus on managing their time and prioritizing the important things put themselves on the right track to create their vision of business success.
Do you have questions about how you can succeed in your business and accelerate your journey toward reaching your goals? I invite you to learn more about From Startup to Success coaching packages. Begin with a no-cost 30-minute consultation to discuss where you are with your business and where you want to go.
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