How to Effectively Manage Your Time When You Have Your Own Business
Read More: Time management skills are something that we all heard since junior high school. It was drilled into us that time management skills were very important to have if we were going to be successful. But time management skills were not effectively taught to us in a way that would set us up for that success that we were destined to have. Time management meant that you were doing the deeds that you were supposed to do in the time allotted for the deed. So if you were supposed to be home doing your homework then managing your time wisely meant you were not goofing off and talking on your phone, you were actually doing your homework. But that was not time management. When you got a job, your time management meant that the hours that you worked you did the job you were hired to do. You did not go and shop ‘til you drop or sit in the park all day. Depending on the type of job you had, you may have an assignment that had a deadline which meant you had to complete it by a certain date or time. But that was not time management. When you started your own business you thought “free at last”. You could put your time management skills to work for you, in your favor. So you create a task list and you start off to complete everything on that list for your business. But you find that you are actually working harder then ever and not accomplishing much at all or you are spending too much time at those “networking” lunches. That really is not time management.
Time management is effectively and specifically using your time to accomplish your daily tasks and goals. If you want to take your time management skills to another level and duplicate them within your organization than follow these steps that have helped me and my clients most:
1. PLAN – one day a week set aside some time to map out your tasks to complete for the following week. Your tasks should include God/spirituality, spouse/significant other, children, work, personal activities. Write down what each task is and the days that those tasks will take place
2. COLOR CODE – choose a color to represent each one of the above tasks. You should be working with five different colors. Immediately, using the appropriate colors, highlight on your calendar, only for the next week, the events and appointments that you know are already planned with the start and end times. So if you choose the color green to represent work, for Monday you would write using that color for the work tasks to be completed. If your child has a sports activity that you need to attend, color code that in your calendar, as well as date night with your spouse/significant other, the time you spend daily with God/spirituality and whatever volunteering or personal activities you may have.
3. CALCULATE - set specific start and end times for all of your tasks. When you have your tasks color coded in your calendar, decide how much time you will devote to each task. You may have time slots that are in increments of two or three. Be mindful of the start and stop time, follow it as closely as possible. Remember to color code time out each day for meals and color them whichever color you choose for personal activities, unless the meal is business or spouse/significant other related.
4. EVALUATE – once you are completed, review your weekly calendar, look ahead and make sure you do not have a future task that requires preparation that you need to do in advance that will fit in your upcoming weekly schedule.
5. BALANCE - make sure that your schedule is balanced daily with time allotted for all five of your categories or four or three depending on what does not pertain to you. The more balance you have in your day, the more accomplished you will actually become.
The color coding is very helpful in achieving true time management. You already know what you need to accomplish, this is the road map for you to get it accomplished. It takes time management to the next level because you will know how much time to devout to each task. This system works well with a paper calendar and outlook on your computer.
At the beginning of each month you can code in the things that you know you will be doing everyday in advance, as future appointments are set you can go months ahead and put them in, just put little reminders about them earlier on in the month prior so you know to prepare for it. But for you weekly planning you must stay focused on the week ahead so the planning can be quick and efficient and not overwhelming.
This time management technique has enabled me to accomplish more in less time professionally and personally. When you have it laid out and follow it accordingly you will have more balance and clarity in your life which will lead to your success.
Sherri Jones, Marketing Coach
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