When you’re running a business, the amount of work that needs to be done can be suffocating. Writing content, fixing your website, working on products, sending cold calls and cold emails, and applying for loans, all of these take up so much time. If you’re not careful, you will be consumed by all your short-term tasks and you end up creating the downward spiral you worked so hard to avoid.
Instead of surrendering yourself to an eternal backlog of work, take the time to organize yourself and follow these tips!
Set Business Hours
It is crucial for you to distinguish work time and personal time. Novice business owners think they can get rid of personal time entirely and focus their time on their work. The problem with this way of thinking is that you risk burnout. You are a human being, and that means you need rest. Instead, have an honest conversation with yourself about how many hours a week you can work and stick to it. We recommend you start early and save the evenings for yourself. Keeping those hours standard will allow you to most easily connect with clients and workers.
Set Goals
Your goals should be your starting point above all else. Your first step is to decide what your vision is. What is the end goal for your business? Be specific and think carefully about how you want to get there. Start long-term and break it down. And don’t forget to include numbers, having income goals is critical for your future and your health.
Once you have your vision and 5-year plan, then plan for the year, the next 6 months, the next month, all the way down to the next day. Set goals for each of those time periods that all relate to your vision. Once you have that down, you are no longer allowed to do any work that doesn’t meet one of your goals.
Create Your Schedule
Again, have an honest conversation about how long a project may last. We often take the fastest possible time it takes to complete a project, and calculate that as the average. Instead, do your tasks at a normal pace, time them, and find an average. You will discover that a lot of projects take more time than you may think, and you should always make room in your plans in case on project ends up taking more more time than expected.
Start your week by taking what you need to do, the amount of time needed, and negotiate that with your business hours and goals. Valuing your time is a habit, and while you may not be so used to this level of organizing, it will get easier as long as you keep at it!