Time Management Tips for Busy Entrepreneurs
One of the biggest challenges for solo entrepreneurs is making time to work on your business.
If you have a full practice, marketing may not be your top priority, but it should never be neglected, as your situation may change with little or no warning. Tasks such as invoicing and bookkeeping not only must be performed on a regular basis, but generally become more time-consuming as your business grows. There’s no question that these things have to be looked after, and other business activities such as professional development must be considered as well.
So how can you get it all done?
When planning your activities, it helps if you have SMART objectives:
Specific: What are you going to accomplish? If you don’t decide this in advance, you may waste valuable time weighing your options instead of getting things done.
Measurable: How will you know when you’ve accomplished it? It’s difficult, if not impossible, to complete an entire project in one sitting, so instead of planning to write content for your website, plan to write one or two pages.
Attainable: Is it realistic? Do you have the resources you need? If you don’t have the necessary skills, consider delegating or outsourcing the work to someone who does.
Relevant: Does the task or tasks fit in with your short-term and long-term goals? If not, scratch it off your list or postpone it to a later date, and work on something that is a current priority.
Time-specific: When are you going to get it done?
The best way to make anything happen is to schedule it on your calendar. For you, the best time might be first thing in the morning, at the end of the day, or on the weekend. The important thing is to make a schedule and stick to it. If you wait until there’s a lull in your client work, you may fall behind on these other tasks that are critical to keeping your business functioning.
Self-discipline is definitely an asset!
Being accountable to someone else can also help. Several members of the Golden Horseshoe Virtual Assistants Group have teamed up to become accountability partners. Through this program, colleagues give and receive support to help one another other set and achieve their business goals. So far the results have been remarkable!
If you’re struggling to find the time to work on your business, consider the benefits of hiring a virtual assistant. Even if you’re a VA yourself, you may have a colleague with different skills and interests than your own.
Photo: © PhotoXpress / Adam Borkowski