Are you an entrepreneur who feels like a hamster on a spinning wheel? How often do you wish the days had more time instead of mere 24 hours? Do you ever feel like you are so busy that you don’t have any time left for anything? In today’s ultra-fast, always “on” world, time seems to have shrunk and it continuously require us to do more and at a faster rate relating to the analogy of hamster on a wheel. Especially when it comes to businesspeople, the day couldn’t have enough hours.
With the advancement in technology, it is really easy to become an entrepreneur. Without the need of hefty degrees, huge capital and massive team, anyone and everyone can become an entrepreneur in today’s world. Whether you are the visionary type, adventurer, risk-taker, opportunist or the systemiser, one thing is common in most entrepreneur. They are all so busy, slammed, buried, exhausted, overworked and drained. In general, entrepreneurs see the world with rose-tinted glass with a conviction that only if they had more time, they would be able to change the world. What they don’t realize is a better solution is to get more done in the time they have, rather than wishing for more hours. More often businesses fail not because of the lack of vision but by not being able to utilize the time, after all in business, time is of the essence. If you are an entrepreneur and find yourself overworked day in and day out, packing in more hours than you can count, and getting pulled in different directions, know that it is not the hours that you put in but the quality in those hours. Read on to know how you can effectively manage time and stop yourself from burning out.
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The first thing to learn is not to confuse long hours with hard work. Generally, you may find yourself tempted to put in more hours and get more things done. Remember, you need to invest your time like you would invest your money.
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Don’t try to do everything yourself. It may be very tempting to do everything yourself, after all you started it. However, by trying to do everything, you may end up finishing nothing.
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Prioritize your work. Of course you may think everything is important but know that all the work cannot be done and sweating the small stuff would only put you off the right track. Just focus on things which are most important and get them done first and then focus on other lesser important things. By prioritizing your goals, you would be able to devote appropriate time on more important stuffs. If you are having trouble prioritizing, ask yourself a simple question on whether the work you are doing will take you closer to your goals. If the answer is ‘no’, leave or delegate that work to other people.
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Spend the first hour of your day scheduling the time for the rest of the day and have the discipline to stick with it.
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Have a schedule and stick with it. Have a realistic ‘to-do’ list and only add in the tasks which can be comfortably completed with the stipulated time. Invest in a suitable online program which can prompt you once the delegated time is up.
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Keep time for review for all important tasks. Drifting from one meeting to another does not help if you are unable to spend time to review and settle the course of work accordingly.
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In your schedule, keep time for interruptions. There would always be time when you would be required to be somewhere else. Not scheduling time for interruption will only disturb your schedule.
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Be organized. This goes without saying that organization is the key to time management.
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Be more efficient. Employ the use of technologies and experts if you think a particular task may take time. By being more efficient, you would certainly get more things done.
Remember true productivity is not counted by the hours you put in and by appearing too busy. It is by being able to move your business in the right direction every day. Time management is not a one-time thing but it is a lifestyle change. With these tips, you would be able to manage your time effectively and still be able to enjoy the thrill that comes with running of a business.
Do you have a favourite technique to manage time? Share it with us in the comments section below.
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