Having an effective time management system is important for everyone, but if you're an entrepreneur it's absolutely critical.
As the founder and manager of multiple businesses, you're responsible for every aspect of your various projects and finding a way to allocate your time effectively often means the difference between success and failure.
In this post, we'll be looking at 4 strategies that you can use to better manage your time.
Note: While each of these tips is right for someone, they might not be right for everyone. We encourage you to experiment with the strategies on this list to find the techniques that work best for you and your work style.
Take Advantage of Just-in-Time Learning
Just-in-time learning is the concept of only consuming content that relates directly to the next task you're going to tackle. It's all about balancing how much you learn with how much you actually get done.
Whether we're talking about blog posts, podcasts, live seminars or videos, they all demand attention, and if the content isn't in line with your future task, the truth is it's a distraction.
Now this strategy doesn't mean cutting out research or not pursuing new ideas, instead it makes sure that you are doing those things at a time when you can be most efficient.
For instance, if you come across interesting content that can be useful for another task, save it, set it aside, and come back to it when that task is your focus. And when you’re in the mood for some deep diving into a particular topic, you’ll have a healthy list of resources and links to get you started!
Pace Yourself
As an entrepreneur, you're always going to have a lot on your plate and if you're not careful this can get overwhelming very quickly. To make it to the finish line on any project, you're going to have to pace yourself. Going full throttle right out of the gate without a sustainable plan for how you will maintain momentum almost always leads to exhaustion.
A useful method to help with this is to ask yourself "what is good enough?" for each project you're working on. Overthinking and striving for perfection on insignificant tasks wastes valuable time and is often not necessary for success. Keep it simple. Focus on doing good work and then move to your next task.
If Your Tools Aren't Broken, Don't Fix Them
While this approach doesn’t work in instances where adopting new software and technology is necessary to keep up with the market, you shouldn’t change a reliable time management strategy just for the sake of it.
Trying out new organizational and project management tools can actually be one of the biggest time sinks for an entrepreneur and in many cases the time required to learn that tool just isn't well spent.
If you've identified a specific area that you need support in or any area of weaker performance, and a tool promises to help, then by all means give it a try, but if you've got a system that seems to be working just fine, don't complicate your life by changing up, or by adding several tools to your workflow that can quite simply be performed by just one.
Consider Attention Management Over Time Management
This strategy is about reframing the way we think about managing your time. Think about it this way, if you allocate time to a task but you’re thinking about something unrelated, that time isn't going to be used effectively.
Try to be conscious of the task that should be occupying your attention and channel energy into it to get more out of your hours. It's important to realise that better time management isn't just about finding ways to work more or harder, it's about finding ways to work smarter.
Do you have any time management tips that have changed the way you work? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!
