For those of us listening to a million podcasts, reading endless blogs, and asking the question in your favorite online communities…”How do I get “all the things” done in my business and still have a life outside entrepreneurship?” This is yet another endless blog post about just that. Finding ways to better manage time spent on activities in our businesses that support our desired outcomes.
Time Management Is Complicated
What I mean by this is simple…time management alone doesn’t predict your success or failure. Instead, your ability to do the right things with your time is the secret that moves the needle towards success.
In essence, this means time management is complicated and somewhat of a false promise! We are often sold the illusion that managing your time well leads to positive results. However, it is possible to manage your time well but be doing all the wrong things!
Therefore, it takes discernment, analysis, and strategy to put time management to good use. Before we discuss how to manage time better, what that time is spent on needs to be decided first.
Making Decisions That Matter
If you are working towards a goal in your business, you should be spending time on strategy and the steps it will take to achieve it. This is why strategic planning is so important in your business.
Each year, take time to plan goals and action steps. Personally, I love to plan goals quarterly in by business. First, I list off the various categories I am going to create goals around. Then in each category, I plan what steps to take in each quarter of the fiscal year that move the needle towards completion of those overarching goals. I check-in with my plan each quarter and document my progress.
I find it incredibly motivating. I also feel a sense of accomplishment when I reach the end of a year and I’ve achieved the goals I had planned. The key take away is to be descriptive and specific. You are much more likely to achieve a goal that is well thought out and has detailed steps than you are by making generalized statements without a clear strategy or plan.
Income Generating Activities
On top of mind for most entrepreneurs is generating revenue and income for their business. That is why careful consideration should be taken to spend your time working on activities that generate income for your business.
To figure out your income generating activities, you first need to pay attention to your business analytics. Data is power and can help you see trends you may not notice without a broader vantage point.
Consider This
Here is an example to consider…Imagine you are overwhelmed keeping up on all the different social media channels and you have been struggling to keep up. You really want to increase traffic to your website, but things seem to be just status quo. Soon you are feeling burnt out and hate filling up your social media cues each week knowing you’ll just keep repeating these steps hoping for a break-through.
Do You Relate?
Most of us can relate to the example above because we’ve been there. So, what separates those of us who give up or stay the course from those who achieve the goal of increased website traffic? Those who figured out how to increase website traffic reviewed analytics and data! When the data was reviewed, it became clear that the top two sources of website traffic were Pinterest and Facebook.
After finding out which traffic sources are the best, the successful entrepreneur spends more time doing what is working and less of what doesn’t. More time was spent cultivating pins for Pinterest and there was a focus on growing the audience on Facebook. It became easy to let go of what wasn’t working and not be on every social media channel in existence. This created space for the entrepreneur to focus on what was important to them and avoid burn-out.
What is good for your business may differ from someone else. Every business is unique, so take time to get to know thy numbers. You won’t regret it!
Workflows Are Essential
The perfect workflow can be a godsend! The detailed steps of how you get specific tasks completed in your business. Providing structure to your various business functions with a workflow can provide much needed time management.
A few examples of workflows could include:
- To Do Lists
- Launch Planning
- Content Calendar
- Blog Post Creation
Personally, I use Trello to organize all my business workflows. You can grab my Weekly Workflow for free and implement it in your business.
Wrapping Up
In this blog post, we talked about how time management is only one facet of entrepreneurial success. Spending your time on the right tasks is also a big part of the equation. Take the time to determine what activities move the needle in your business and create the income you desire.
Once you find the balance you need to keep your business thriving while living the life you desire, maximize your efforts with workflows that serves your business needs and goals.
Don’t forget to get started with better time management today and grab my Trello Weekly Workflow.
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