by Stephanie Haywood
Expertise in planning, task management, and communication is essential for a successful small business owner. These same competencies make for a more peaceful, fulfilling, and productive personal life, too. If you feel like you need to brush up on some of these skills, follow the tips below.
Where Does the Time Go?
Time management is hard to master in business and in life. It's no surprise that many business owners look at the clock to see that it's 3:00 p.m. and much of the day's to-do list is left unchecked. Managing time begins, not surprisingly, with making time to plan your month, week, and individual days.
Monthly, Weekly, and Daily Planning
Begin with a monthly calendar overview and note important deadlines, training, days off, and business events. Whether you have a digital or paper calendar is up to you. And, you may or may not want to have a separate calendar for personal appointments, school events, and family obligations.
Weekly and daily planning lists what needs to be completed for that calendar week or day. Also, note goals or milestones for upcoming projects. Generally, it's best to plan a week ahead and then make daily updates.
Prioritizing
Deciding what to do and when each day is best done with prioritizing your tasks. Group tasks by type, then deadline. Evaluate how much time is needed to complete each task and block out the required hours on your daily calendar for each job or personal appointment.
Delegating
In business and life, you may find yourself overbooked and overwhelmed. Look for ways to delegate responsibilities. If your virtual assistant has WordPress skills and is willing to update a sales page or blog, you should delegate! Ask the babysitter to start dinner. Look within your ranks for those with skills that may be underutilized and assign tasks accordingly.
Save yourself time by automating your customer service inquiries with a chatbot. Increase your sales with an automated sales funnel set up in your CRM software. Delegate legal matters such as forming an LLC. Filing the paperwork could take hours. Instead, hire a formation service like ZenBusiness.com to complete the task for you.
Communication
Emails, phone calls, and meeting clients and customers often interfere with your work and development time. A bit of pre-planning eliminates this problem.
Schedule a specific time each day or throughout the week to respond to communications or handle appointments. Depending on your call volume, an online scheduling service could help you by sending a link to customers and clients, and scheduling all communications at your convenience.
Relieving Pressure and Stress
Your stress level affects your productivity and efficiency. Therefore, it's better to be proactive rather than reactive.
Regularly plan time to get unplugged and out of the office. Take time away from phones and screens and do something that feeds your soul. Connecting with friends, spending time in nature, or pursuing a hobby are great ways to refuel and maintain a work and life balance.
Manage Your Life and Your Work
Task management, optimizing communication with clients, and managing stress are handled best with planning and delegating. Calendars and scheduling software help organize yourself and your business. Also, check out The Story Team and delegate copywriting to maximize your time and business operations.
Stephanie Haywood is our guest blogger this week, and I don't know about you but I am totally jazzed about these tips. Truly, who DOESN'T need advice when it comes to task management? Personal development and self-care gave Stephanie a boost when she needed it most, and now she's sharing the gift of self-knowledge, self-care, and self-actualization with you. Check out her website here.