Being an entrepreneur and managing a company is tough. You have to manage client deadlines, deal with the workforce, and make sure all the business operations are running the right way.
One of the most valuable assets that can help you in this regard is time management. As an aspiring businessman, it is important to make sure that the right amount of time is allocated to the right tasks to improve productivity.
If you’re struggling with time management as an entrepreneur and want to learn more about it, this article will be a goldmine for you. Here, I’m going to cover every major aspect of managing time that you should know about in order to make your business successful.
📊 Key Time Management Stats
1. 20% of workers waste time just because they are bored.
2. 82% of people don’t have a specific time management system at all.
3. Almost 57% of the work time is spent on mere communication.
4. 41% of people believe that the top reason for time waste is chatty employees.
5. Around 50% of professionals believe that most of the time they spend on work is unproductive.
What is Time Management?
The phrase time management used to sound very simple to me. However, as I started studying it in a deeper sense, I understood that it is one of the most versatile phrases.
In simple words, time management isn’t just about using working hours the right way.
It’s a lot more than that.
Whenever you make a choice to improve your productivity, it counts as management. For example, waking up early and planning the day ahead comes under the umbrella of time management.
So, in simple words, whatever you do to save the time you have and utilize it to improve productivity is known as time management.
Common Myths about Time Management
👉 There’s a definite formula for time management. (Believe me, there’s not!)
👉Multitasking saves a lot of time. (It doesn’t. It only creates messed-up and low-quality work.)
👉 The schedule should be packed to use the time in the best way. (No. A packed schedule will only exhaust you.)
👉 You should always find time for personal activities. (Sometimes, it’s just impossible. Especially for new entrepreneurs building a brand)
👉 The more tasks you complete, the more productive you are. (Not really. Completing one quality task is sometimes better than completing 10 mediocre ones.
How Time Management is a Key to Success?
For entrepreneurs, managing time major brings tons of benefit. Some of those are next in the article in details.
1. Better Productivity:
Increased productivity is one of the most obvious benefits of time management. As entrepreneurs, people always need to be productive so that they can complete tasks with focus and quality.
It can’t be done if there’s no time management. When a person has an organized schedule, they allocate time slots for every important task. In this way, each task gets its maximum time and is completed with productivity.
2. Better Decision Making:
One thing I’ve noticed about time management that not a lot of people know is that it improves your decision-making ability.
A clear schedule clarified which tasks need to be handled first and which tasks require saying “no”. When you master the skill of identifying tasks that need priority and the tasks that can be delayed, you train your brain to think strategically. This thinking ability ultimately improves decision-making skills over time.
3. Better Leadership:
Strong leadership is extremely important for a company’s success. As an entrepreneur, your leadership skills can make or break the business.
Managing time properly improves leadership as well. When you’re completing tasks on time and with great quality, you become an example for the employees.
They look up to you and try to adopt all the management habits to become more productive as well. This leadership factor makes the workforce more productive and obedient, which can result in the company’s ultimate success.
4. Improved Finances:
Better time management usually leads to improved finances. By adding financial management to the schedule, entrepreneurs make sure that the cash flow of the company stays smooth.
Besides that, a smooth schedule gives people time to think about better revenue-generating strategies to improve the company’s financial health.
Top Tips For Time Management
I’ve mentioned earlier that there’s no exact formula for time management. However, the following tips can be followed in order to improve the way you manage time:
1. Set Clear Priorities:
One of the best things that can be done in order to improve time management is setting clear priorities. Entrepreneurs have to handle dozens of tasks every day. However, not all of those tasks are equally important.
Some tasks require immediate attention, and some can be delayed without causing any harm. So, make sure to identify and set business priorities. It will help in making sure the completion of every task on time.
2. Create a Daily Schedule:
In most cases, managing time is usually impossible without a daily schedule. A daily schedule is a timetable that includes the details of tasks and the time they need to be completed.
Many successful entrepreneurs have a daily schedule, and they try to stick to it. So, you should also give it a try. If you’re unsure of how to create a schedule, the following points can help with it:
- Try to keep the schedule flexible
- Sort each task according to the time and priority level.
- Write down all the tasks that need to be completed in a day.
- To get the best results, make a separate schedule for each day.
- Try to add additional notes that will help complete tasks in a better way.
3. Use The Time Blocking Technique:
Another thing that you can do to manage time in a better way is to use the time blocking technique. It involves creating time blocks for each task in your schedule. A time block is actually a specific duration allocated to a certain task.
In that duration, you do nothing but focus completely on the task at hand and complete it with efficiency. It’s a pretty decent technique that makes sure each task gets its required time to get completed.
How Does It Work?
- Make a simple to-do list by adding all the important tasks.
- Now, assign a specific time block/slot for each task.
- Focus on the specific task within the assigned time duration.
- Keep on doing this for the whole day until all the tasks have been completed.
4. Add Break and Buffer Time:
Adding time for breaks in the schedule is extremely important. It is physically Impossible for a normal person to keep on continuously. If you work without any breaks, chances are that you’ll face burnout, which will affect your productivity.
Another important thing to focus on is adding buffer time for each task in the schedule. Sometimes, tasks can be delayed, and having some extra time is helpful for completing tasks before the actual deadline.
5. Utilize The Technology:
As an aspiring entrepreneur, you shouldn’t shy away from using technology. There are many apps and software solutions available out there for time management. Each solution offers different features to help people make the best use of their time.
Some of the biggest examples in this regard include Trello and Asana. These time and project management tools are designed to help companies become more productive. So, make sure to have this type of solution in your company and handle projects and individual tasks easily.
6. Review The Day:
Reviewing the day’s activities is one of the most underrated techniques for better time management. Let’s be real. We’re not perfect. We can make mistakes over the day that cause a lot of time to be wasted.
Reviewing the day at the end helps identify what went wrong in this regard. It allows you to identify time-wasting activities so that they can be eliminated easily. Besides that, it also allows you to spot patterns or activities that are actually helpful for improving time usage.
How To Do It?:
- Make a list of all the activities you performed.
- Separate the activities that wasted your time.
- Do the same for those that were helpful for time management.
- Set a specific time to review the day (evening or night is preferred).
- Try to avoid time-wasting activities and focus on time-saving activities the next day.
The Summary
Well, that’s it. Time management isn’t difficult at all. It just needs a better understanding of the day’s schedule and the tasks at hand.
As a starting entrepreneur, it is the best skill that you can install within your system. Keep in mind that there’s no exact formula for managing time. Just keep on following the discussed tips, and you’ll start mastering the day’s activities more efficiently.
People Also Ask
1. What Does Time Management Mean?
It means being able to prioritize, organize, and manage tasks according to the time at hand for better productivity.
4. What are The 4 Ps of Time Management?
The 4 Ps of managing time are planning, prioritizing, pushing, and partying.
3. How to Manage Time?
There are different things you can do to manage your time. For example, create a proper schedule and set task priorities. Also, adding break and buffer time helps with it as well.
2. What is The Importance of Time Management?
Time management is extremely important for entrepreneurs. It helps prioritize tasks and make better decisions. Besides that, it also helps with becoming a better leader.
