Most entrepreneurs will tell you their most precious asset is time. As after after all – time is money.
Running your own business is far different from the 9-5 grind. Tight schedules, working across different time-zones and that one client who thinks its alright to call you at 2am can mean being an entrepreneur is often a round-the-clock job.
While it can be daunting and stressful, with a few tips you can realise, as Nathan W. Morris puts it:
“It’s not always that we need to do more but rather that we need to focus on less.”
From the office, here’s our top eight:
1. One task at a time. While we’d all like to consider ourselves competent multi-taskers, trying to do several things at once is distracting. Focus on one task – if something pops into your head, take note and come back to it later.
2. Planning, at the start of your day make a list of your tasks, then – order them by importance. With your priorities clear, you’ll be way more productive – trust us.
3. Logout of your social media, without the distraction it’ll be a lot easier to remain on task. If you use it for business, set a specific time of the day to maintain your pages – using scheduled posts on Facebook is a great way to plan your content in the one go.
4. Set time aside for replying to your emails. Jumping in and out of your inbox throughout the day is often time wasted.
5. Before every conversation or call, spend a moment jotting down your aims and objectives. Being clear on what you want to achieve, allows you to get to point faster.
6. Take notes in your conversations. Missing key points just wastes more time further down the line. A few quick notes will ensure clarity and make it easier to get the job right first time.
7. If you can, when you’re working on your most important tasks keep your phone silent and out of sight. Whilst you might not jump to every text or notification, it’s been found that even the faint noise or hum is enough to take your mind off track.
8. Organise your workspace, a clean, clutter-free desk is a desk free from distraction. Keep your most important tools to hand and you’ll fly through your workload.
In short, plan your day, prioritize your tasks and clear distractions. It works. Lastly, remember, it’s ambitious to strike through a full list of tasks each day. Apply the famous 80/20 rule, and don’t fret about the hindering tasks that can wait until tomorrow.
