Time management, the art of organizing and scheduling one’s day to develop efficiency and increase productivity, is important for every business owner. Ultimately, it will affect the realization of your goals. Africa Report is giving you few essential tips to help you manage your time effectively.
Tip 1. Create goals
In order for you to go through the day without ending up running around and not completing any task, you will need to know what you are heading for. What is your destination, what do you want to achieve? And in order to answer these questions, you will also need to identify what is lacking, what would prevent you from achieving your goals.
Are you always late for a meeting or in delivering reports? Do you never have enough time to complete your tasks? If you can reply yes to those questions, then you need to list your goals and prioritize them. Once you have a better idea of what you need to achieve, you will be able to establish the different steps to reach your goals and give them a time frame.
Tip 2. Plan your day and carry a schedule
You know the saying: ‘Fail to plan, planning to fail.’ This works for any important decision you will make but it also applies to your time management. Before the start of each day, plan what you intend to do and how it will be of use to your business. Important meetings are better at times where your mind is sharp. Are you a morning person? A socialite? Plan your meetings according to your effectiveness. If signing contracts over a meal is what you are the most efficient at then, book your lunch and dinners for work and have some time off in between. Keep a track record on times and places. Make sure that you have gathered enough details about your next appointment so that you don’t end up looking for an address, or getting lost at the last minute and… running late.
Tip 3. Prioritize tasks
After drafting your daily ‘to do list’ take a second look to evaluate your tasks. You can then prioritize them: what meetings are crucial, what reports need to be sent out immediately? Prioritizing your tasks will help you put your energy where needed and ensure efficiency.
Tip 4. Delegate
When you have too much on your plate you can delegate to colleagues and employees. This will give you some time to focus on something more important and will show your employees that you trust them to do the work. Alternatively, you can have your employees do the tasks as you undertake a supervisory role, guiding them where you think they may be going wrong. Sharing the work load has double benefit; it will free up some time for you to work on something else and it will allow someone else to learn and grow.
Tip 5. Work smarter not harder
Do you work early and leave the office late? Do your colleagues murmur ‘workaholic’ and wonder aloud whether you have a life outside the office? It is time to consider how much you are getting from the extra hours in the office. Working long hours does not necessarily mean you will complete many tasks or that you are effective. You can start evaluating your effectiveness by noting down how much you do in the extra hours and the quality of the service you deliver. If it is not worth it, then try to see how you can improve your work in less time. Sometimes the key lies in a better organization.
Tip 6. Have a healthy lifestyle
Another common saying is that “all work but no play makes a Jack a dull boy.” Spare time for sports, networking, watching movies or just enjoying some you-time outdoors. Ensure you also get enough sleep. Having a refreshed body and mind will help you concentrate at work, hence be more productive.
Tip 7. Avoid distractions
Want to get work done but you just can’t stop the distractions? You can put a ‘Do not Disturb’ sign on your office door as well as block phone calls and visits. You can also put off things that can be distracting to you, such social networking sites, emails, music and newspapers. Twitter and Facebook – and the new comer Google + – are powerful medias that one can use effectively for business purposes. Yet “surfing” the flow of information and constantly trying to keep up with it can quickly make you lose time and focus.
Schedule half-an-hour slots where you check your social media pages and then log of so your mind is not interrupted by new messages coming through.
So get your pen and paper, your iPad or a good calendar and pinpoint for each hour of the day, what you need to achieve. This will be your backbone to an efficient and productive day.
