4 Time Management Hacks for Business Owners Who Want to Master Their Time
There are tons of ways for business owners to achieve more effective time management, but these four tips and tricks go beyond simple time management hacks.
1. Automate, automate, automate
Automation is one of the most effective ways to master your time.
But how do you know when to automate a task? There’s no one-size-fits-all rule, but it can be helpful to automate a task when:
- It needs to be completed frequently or on a set schedule.
- It’s repetitive and requires the same steps each time (bonus points if the task is repetitive and annoying).
- It requires moving data between applications. For example, you could automatically create new leads in your CRM tool whenever someone fills out a form on your website.
- It prevents you from working on higher-value tasks and projects.
Automation can be complicated, but tools like Zapier and IFTTT make it so that virtually anyone can use this powerful time-saving technology.
2. Master the three essential time management skills
To truly become a master of your time, you need to learn how to become a better time manager.
According to research summarized by the Harvard Business Review, there are three specific skills that determine whether someone will fail or succeed with time management:
- Awareness, aka realistic thinking and understanding that time is a finite resource.
- Arrangement, or how you design and organize goals, plans, schedules, and tasks.
- Adaptation, which refers to how you monitor your use of time while performing activities, including how you adjust to interruptions and shifting priorities.
All three skills are equally important, but people often struggle most with awareness and adaptation. If time management has always been difficult for you, it will be worth your while to learn more about these valuable skills.
3. Schedule tasks based on how much brain power they require
When it comes to strategic and mindless tasks, there’s a big difference in how much energy and mental bandwidth they take to complete.
For example, it’s difficult to deliver high-value, creative solutions day in and day out. You’ll eventually feel “brain dead” and burnt out. You might be tempted to push through, but it won’t be an efficient use of your time.
When this happens, switch to tasks that don’t require quite as much brain power. Eventually, you’ll learn how to schedule projects in a way that maximizes your mental bandwidth. You’ll also develop better arrangement and adaptation time management skills in the process.
4. To save time, outsource as much as humanly possible
The advice to outsource and delegate is repeated often, and for good reason — it can be a great way to get more time in your day.
But let’s kick that advice up a notch: Think about all of the things that you can outsource, both personally and professionally.
Here are some examples:
- Outsource time-consuming personal tasks, like cleaning your house or doing laundry, as soon as you can afford it.
- Don’t stop at cleaning — check out TaskRabbit to find affordable local help with a wide range of personal tasks.
- Hire a personal trainer to automate your fitness routine. Some busy professionals also work with nutritionists to stay as healthy as possible.
- Hire a virtual receptionist who can take over customer service, handle all incoming calls, and more. A virtual office provider, like Intelligent Office, is the best place to find someone who can function as a member of your own internal team. Not all providers are created equal, however, so be sure to do your research.
This list barely scratches the surface, so I encourage you to spend more time brainstorming potential tasks to outsource in your professional and personal life.
If you need some extra help determining what can be outsourced or delegated in your business, don’t hesitate to connect with us at Intelligent Office — our local business experts are a wealth of knowledge and they love to help.
You can tell us a bit about your business and its needs using this form or chat directly with our team using the chat feature in the bottom right hand corner of your screen. We just might have the exact time-saving solution your business needs!
