Written by: Corey Harris & Julie Traxler, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
As small business owners, time is the one thing that we all share and what can separate the successful from the mediocre. On any given day, we all have the same amount of hours to work with, and there are no exceptions to the 1,440 minutes we are allotted each day. There are no favors from the time fairy, and no amount of political clout can buy you more. You can’t steal hours from someone else to add to your day, and you won’t ever come across an extra couple of hours hidden under the floorboards of your grandparents’ 100-year-old house.
We aren’t going to get into the outliers or play Devil’s advocate when it comes to the time we have. Yes, some people will live longer than others because of genetics or life choices. Yes, someone can “steal” your time by driving slowly in the fast lane. Yes, people who are well off financially can afford to pay people to do work they don’t want to do, essentially “getting more hours” out of the day. We aren’t talking about those excuses or exceptions to the rule. We’re talking about the 24 hours we all get as small business owners every day to spend as needed.
Over the course of consulting for businesses large and small, time has been the one factor that is always on the top of everyone’s mind and the one thing everyone wants more of. It doesn’t matter if you’re managing a nationwide technology improvement project or scheduling out your week for your online retail business. Time is always a factor. That’s where those who are better at time management rise to the top over those who aren’t. Since we all have the same allowance of hours, how those hours are used makes all the difference. So, how do you become better at time management?
Perform a Time Audit
You need to understand where you’re currently spending your time to know what’s adding value and what isn’t. You need to know what’s important to you in business and life and what you can delegate or live without. So, start with an audit of your time. Select a week if possible, but three days at least, to document everything you do throughout the day. Note what time you wake up, what you do before starting the day when your workday starts, everything you do throughout, etc. List everything you’re doing within each hour of the day and feeling ambitious? Break the day up into 15-minute increments.
Review and Bucket
Once you have at least three days complete, review what you’ve recorded and bucket everything into a few categories. You want to break the tasks (events, jobs, etc.) into work and personal buckets. Split those up into want and need buckets and then start to similar group things such as “morning activities” or “back office work.” You can categorize even further into any you’d like, but the goal is to create a list of everything you’re doing and begin analyzing why you’re doing it. You want to start thinking about things you can delegate or remove from your daily calendar and find those tasks that can be streamlined.
Set Goals
You should now have an idea of what you’re doing and where you’re spending your time. You have a benchmark for your time. You’ll need to set some goals for yourself and create a plan to achieve them. Your goals should be well-defined and easy to measure. This could be freeing up a certain number of hours a week for more time with friends or spending with key clients. It could be something like turning your laptop off by a certain hour every day. Whatever it is, a factor that into the day.
Maximize Your Time
Starting with work tasks, begin determining whether or not they provide value to the business. Ask yourself if the primary purpose of the task is to increase revenue, cut costs, or create efficiency. These are the areas where you want to focus your efforts. That doesn’t mean the other tasks aren’t important, but your focus should be on improving the value of what your business delivers.
If you aren’t using a planner, calendar, online scheduling tool, or something like that, we highly recommend you find one that works for you and include it into your routine. Block time off for hobbies and self-improvement, and hold yourself to that schedule. If you know, you’re a procrastinator or are easily distracted, schedule time for tasks and set deadlines. Get in the routine of only using the time you have delegated on your calendar for those tasks. Nothing else is done during that time, and you have to stop when the clock does. Of course, there will always be something that pops up, so make sure to block off additional time on your calendar to use however you’d like. This way, you’re using time you’ve already scheduled to catch up on something rather than working on it after the kids go to bed or over the weekend.
From there, you can start delegating, outsourcing, or removing tasks from your calendar. The key part to consider is to ensure that if you’re delegating or outsourcing the task, you’re either okay paying for someone else to do it, or the time you get back can cover that cost. For instance, if you want to pay a bookkeeper for a few hours every month to keep your books in order, that’s great, but what will you do with that time? Will you use it to increase sales? Will you spend that time at family dinners instead of working late the last week of every month? The choice is yours, but we recommend you don’t spend it binge-watching television.
Determine What’s Important and Don’t Forget About You
As entrepreneurs, we think we’re all workaholics by nature. We almost thrive on long hours, and working just for work’s sake seems like a hobby to some. But you need to stop to understand your goals in work and life. You need to know where you’re going, and you need to set aside time for yourself. And don’t underestimate the benefits of regular exercise, fresh air, and a good night’s sleep. The time spent on those affects everything else you do in and outside of work.
How are you going to spend your 1440 minutes today?
Connect with Julie Traxler and Corey Harris on their LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter or visit their website.
Julie Traxler and Corey Harris, Executive Contributors Brainz Magazine
Julie and Corey started their company, SB PACE, due to the 2020 pandemic to assist small businesses. Since then, they have expanded into helping start-ups, companies looking to improve, and small business mergers and acquisitions. They wrote the book on small business disaster preparedness and continued to help small businesses by leveraging their knowledge and experience working for Fortune 500 companies and Big Four consulting firms. Julie and Corey are the experts small business owners turn to when looking for sustainable, long-term success.
