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Top 10 time-management mistakes for business owners
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As a single mom and ambitious business owner, I’ve certainly found myself without enough hours in the day. As a business coach, I guide other business owners to avoid the top mistakes we all can easily make. You might be astounded by how quickly you can regain control of your day. Here are some of the common time management mistakes we all make:
#1 Mistake: Being a slave to your email or cell phone (and now Twitter):
You know you have become a slave to your various messaging systems when, almost every time it rings or buzzes, you jump and answer it. Our numerous messaging systems can be wonderful tools, but only when YOU decide when and how you will pick up and answer. Otherwise, they can become a phenomenal time waster eating up to several hours each day! By learning how to manage these tools, you can often reclaim a full hour of productive time every day.
#2 Mistake: Fighting fires
Many business owners tell me they feel overwhelmed by the constant “emergencies” they face in their work and home life. In other words, they have to take care of the things that scream at them the most, leaving less urgent tasks until finally they simply have to be addressed. Which, in turn, become the new, pressing emergency. When you take care of tasks before they become emergencies, they often require less time, energy and resources and turn out better, are more creative and even more profitable than they do as full-fledged emergencies.
#3 Mistake: Not using an effective task list
In my years as a business owner, I’ve done everything from using no task list at all (“it’s all in my head”) to building daunting lists 10 pages long. An effective task list, adapted to your needs and style, is an extraordinarily powerful tool to save time and increase your productivity. Quick example: A colleague was faithfully creating a prioritized task list every day, only to set it aside within a couple of hours of the start of her work day. Unsurprisingly, crucial tasks were left undone until they became emergencies. After a simple re-tooling, her to-do list suddenly became their favorite tool to organize their day, made her productivity sky-rocket and even took less time than it did before.
#4 Mistake: Ignoring your personal time management style
Just as there is no one solution to any business problem, there is no such thing as one-size-fits all in time management. You most likely learned your current time management skills from books that taught you generic concepts. But if that program doesn’t take into account your own personal learning styles, you probably aren't able to effectively apply those techniques. Knowing your learning style (visual, auditory, kinestetic) will allow you to develop tools and strategies that actually work for you.
#5 Mistake: No contingency planning
None of us are immune to experiencing some kind of natural emergency sometime in our lives. One of my business colleagues found this out the hard way when she was forced to evacuate her home office for a hurricane. It was like packing her entire house! She had to quickly gather key information and find a handy way to store it for the emergency move. Even when life’s smaller emergencies strike, it’s often the same disaster. What if you child gets sick the evening before an important meeting? Having a backup plan, allows you to immediately spring into action and deal with the emergency effectively and quickly. Then you're better able to move on without stress or unnecessary expenditures of time, money and energy.
Read more...Click here for mistakes 6-10
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