Finding an effective way to manage your time is the Holy Grail of successful business management. It’s time to shun the negative ‘I don’t have time’ self-sabotaging statements and create time.
5 Time Management Tips That Actually Work
The Facts
Regardless of the type of business you own, there are only three ways to spend time; thoughts, conversations, and actions. Your work day will be made up of these three items.
You cannot eliminate all interruptions and distractions; they’re a part of life, You can, however, control how much time you spend on these interruptions before re-focusing on the thoughts, conversations, and actions that will lead you to greatness.
1. Analyze your time
Color code your calendar for a week to work out how you are spending your time. This simple exercise will allow you to get tough on eliminating the unproductive tasks that are taking valuable time away from taking your business to the next level.
2. Schedule everything
If you need to take time out to brainstorm ideas for a pitch to a new potential client, block out some time in your calendar. Effective time planning helps us follow a plan for the day, keeps us on task and reduces time wasted on procrastination.
3. Plan your day
Before you wrap up your work day, take five minutes to plan tomorrow. Prioritize any unfinished tasks from today, and you’ll start tomorrow fresh without that overwhelm anxiety hitting you before your morning coffee gets to work.
4. Maximize your time
Take at least 5 minutes before every conference call or meeting to map out your objectives for the meeting to maximize your time and minimize time wasted on irrelevant topics.
5. Go offline
Distractions will continuously interrupt your workflow and throw you off your game. Turn off email notifications and schedule time every 2 hours to check your emails between tasks instead. You’ll save yourself SO much time. You may not be able to go as far as putting your phone on airplane mode, but you can put your phone on silent so that you don’t interrupt your focus every time someone breathes on your social media.
Which time management hacks changed your life? Tweet me @lorenridinger.
