For successful entrepreneurs, every minute counts. Assuming that you sleep an average of 8 hours per day, that leaves you with 16 hours to do what needs to be done. But it’s not just business-related tasks; you have personal obligations to honor, tasks needed for self-care, and of course, the in-between time-wasting moments, like city traffic and elevator rides. To help you better manage your time, here are three tips to follow:
Overdo Scheduling
You should schedule every possible detail of your day-to-day routine. Nothing should be left out, whether it’s a planned lunch with a longtime friend or the half an hour spent to pick up laundry after work. Even if you can trust your memory to remember every minute detail in your life, it’s a resource best reserved for more important matters. Make it a habit to carry around post-it notes or download a Notes app on your phone to immediately write down tasks and times when they pop up.
Use the Two-Minute Rule
Essentially, you allocate two minutes of your time to a task that you are having a hard time completing, whether it’s due to the task’s complexity and depth or procrastination and laziness on your part. For example, if you are having a hard time completing your resume, start writing two to three lines in two minutes. Eventually, you’ll find yourself finishing the resume. Only use the two-minute rule on tasks that aren’t time-sensitive.
Create a Priority Plan
Priorities vary for entrepreneurs and their businesses. But in the day-to-day grind, they often get tunnel-visioned and focus on tasks that bring short-term gains. Albeit important, these deadlines, quarterly returns, and marketing campaigns are trees in the proverbial forest. You should have a priority plan that also reminds you of the essential parts that bring long-term value. Big picture issues usually include, but are not limited to, how the market perceives your brand, how your product/service impacts consumer lives and the environment, and how you are building meaningful relationships with both customers and employees over time.
Time is the ultimate equalizer amongst entrepreneurs. Mastering time management can help give you a competitive edge in whatever industry you operate in. Start with the three tips aforementioned in this article.