Effective Time Management Strategies for Small Business Owners

Chapter 01: Effective Time Management Strategies for Small Business Owners

Why Is Time Management Important for Small Businesses?

We are all chasing that elusive “life hack” where you can magically get 3x more work done and still have enough time in the day for family, friends, and hobbies.

These time management hacks are especially popular among small business owners because of the sheer number of tasks on their to-do lists. Entrepreneurs can’t afford to waste time on things manual, repetitive tasks. Instead, you need to spend your precious time doing things that matter most for your business.

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With strong time management skills, you’re able to prioritize the most important tasks, plan ahead, and know when to delegate. You can also make better decisions and accomplish more without putting in too much extra effort.

How Do You Maximize Time Management?

Many of the most common time management hacks are unrealistic and unhealthy — for example, you should not be cutting back on sleep to improve your productivity. Saving an hour or two a day should never trump your mental and physical health.

Luckily, with some simple changes in your daily routine and your mindset, you can accomplish more in less time (in a healthy way!).

Here are five ways to maximize time management:

• Eliminate distractions: Do you find yourself mindlessly scrolling through your social media feeds when you should be working? Take advantage of technology to help eliminate or reduce the time spent on these distractions. If you have an iPhone, the new iOS lets you set time limits for certain apps and blocks your usage when you reach that limit. There are also a number of web browsers and extensions that block distracting websites.
• Optimize your schedule: Organize your day to coincide with your peak levels of productivity. For example, start your day with the more complex tasks when your mind is fresh. Then, save the afternoon for meetings and emails when you’re more fatigued.
• Make a list: Get rid of your long to-do list that you could never realistically complete in a single day. Instead, each morning, make a list of the top two or three things you want to accomplish that day. This helps you focus on what matters the most without feeling overwhelmed by all the other, less important things on your plate.
• Take breaks: The Pomodoro Technique is one of the most popular time management techniques and it goes like this: work for 25 minutes and then take a three-to five-minute break. Repeat that pattern four times, then take a 15-to 30-minute break. Continue to do this until you’ve completed your work for the day. By building in break time like this, you give your mind time to relax and recharge.
• Delegate certain tasks: Don’t try to do it all. While you may literally be able to accomplish everything, the quality of work may suffer or it may add unnecessary stress. Save your time for things that you are uniquely positioned to accomplish and delegate or outsource things like bookkeeping and HR to the experts.

How Keap Can Help

Small business software that offers automation, like Keap, can also help maximize time management. Instead of spending time on manual, administrative tasks, you can set everything up once and forget about it.

You can also keep everything in one place, consolidating customer information, marketing campaigns, and sales pipelines in a single app. No more bouncing between tools or searching through your emails for updates.

Here are four ways that Keap can help with time management:

• Organize customer information in one place: A client management system collects data about your leads and customers and organizes your contacts to save hours of work. You can easily upload, store, and manage detailed individual records that include name, address, email, type of customer, purchase history, and more.
• Get paid faster: Create invoices and connect your bank with Keap to help you get paid faster and get out of the cycle of bill collecting. Using an intuitive invoice editor, you can upload your logo, choose which contact to bill, set the due date, and add line items. Then, when you connect your bank and use Keap Payments, you’ll be able to accept American Express, Visa, MasterCard, and Discover directly through our app.
• Eliminate back-and-forth scheduling: With Keap Appointments, you can set up your calendar, email a link with your availability, and your customer can pick the time that works best. No more back-and-forth scheduling via email and no more no-shows.
• Automate customer follow-ups: You can’t be relying on email threads or sticky notes to remind you to follow up with certain customers. Keap lets you track every customer interaction and then trigger automated emails to be sent based on those interactions and other customer behavior, like purchase activity, engagement with marketing campaigns, and more.

Stop searching for the too-good-to-be-true life hack and instead focus on simple ways to save time in your day. By investing in the right app, you’ll be more organized, spend less time on repetitive tasks, and finally have the time to focus on growing your business.

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