11 tips to use your time productively

11 tips to use your time productively

As a business owner, you may find yourself accomplishing numerous tasks and taking on different roles during a day. So you find that there are never enough hours in the day! While your employees are likely counting down the hours, wishing time would speed up so they can clock off, you wish you could pause time so you can catch up on things.

Unfortunately time can’t be paused, but these time-management tips will help you increase your productivity and feel like you’ve got some time in the day.

1. Recognise that ‘time management’ is a myth

No matter how coordinated we are, there are always only 24 hours in a day. Time doesn’t change. We can’t manage time; all we can really manage is ourselves and what we do with the time that we have. Think about it as ‘self management’.

2. Find out who/what/where you’re wasting time

Most of us are prey to time-wasters that steal the limited time that we should be using more productively.

Who, what or where are your time-bandits? Is it a customer who spends lots of your time talking chitchat? Do you spend too much time on the web, Facebook, news sites? Or maybe your time is taken up taking personal calls or doing simple admin duties.

Looking at your everyday activities will give you a good idea of where your time is being utilised. Being aware is the first step to making a change.

No matter how coordinated we are, there are always only 24 hours in a day. Time doesn’t change. We can’t manage time; all we can really manage is ourselves

3. Create some time-management goals

Time management is altering your behaviours, not altering time. Eliminate time-wasters by taking some of your time-bandits and set some goals to eliminate them. For example, you’re not going to take any personal calls during work hours.

4. Create a time-/self-management plan

After you’ve successfully reached a few goals, you then want to change your actions over time. Maybe the first month is eliminating personal phone calls, then the next month you work on stopping unnecessary chitchat.

Set longer-term plans to reach goals like increasing your productivity or reducing stress. Create a pathway and a plan so you can refer to it and see if you are on track to meet your time-management goals.

5. Use time-management tools

Whether it is a physical diary, an Outlook calendar or a time-management app on your phone, using a tool to organise your time is vital for success. You can plan how you spend your time. Rather than just acting reactively, you are proactive in your actions. Programs like Outlook let you schedule your calendar easily and set alarms and alerts for certain activities, which make time management much easier.

6. Plan & prioritise daily

Every day you should plan your day.

Look at what needs to be completed and schedule time for each task.

Prioritise them and ensure that the most important jobs are scheduled in.

You will find that often the least important tasks may not even really need to be done.

7. Delegate & outsource

No matter what size your business is, you should not need to do everything! To leverage your time and manage it effectively you need to pass some tasks to others to free up your time. Look at your own productivity and attribute a dollar value to each task you do. If you are a plumber and you charge $100 per hour, yet you are spending five hours doing admin work that you could pay someone $30 per hour to do, you are wasting $500 of billable time just to save $150.

Look at the jobs you are doing that would be better suited outsourcing or delegating to someone else, then make the shift.

8. Schedule regular tasks & stick to them

There are some tasks that need to be done every week or month, things like following up overdue invoices, updating social media, reporting, paying staff. The best thing to do is schedule these tasks into your calendar and stick to it – that way you don’t need to find time to do them.

9. Set time boundaries

It is important to set some boundaries with your time. For example, reading and responding to emails could consume your entire day if you let it. Instead, set aside a set period of time where you do just that task.

10. Systemise & organise

You may find yourself wasting a lot of time looking for a particular document on your computer? Or maybe you need to re-train a staff member on a task that isn’t documented. If you take the time to properly organise your files it will save a lot of time in the long-run. Also creating easy to follow systems allows you and your staff to carry out tasks with wasting time ‘figuring it out’ or asking for help.

11. Learn to wait productively

Whether you have a doctor’s appointment or you are waiting for a supplier to call you back, you can’t avoid having to wait. But you don’t need to twiddle your thumbs. Be proactive and have tasks that can be done while waiting – maybe you need to read a report, so rather than reading it at your desk when you could be doing more productive tasks, plan to read it during a waiting period. Take a pad of paper and brainstorm business ideas during your wait time, make those quick phone calls. Do anything rather than just sitting there.

If you follow these 11 time tips you will feel much more in control of yourself and you’ll get a lot more done in that short 24 hours we have each day.

Rueben Taylor, business mentor, businesswealtheducators.com.au