How To Prioritise And Plan In Your Business
We live in a fast-paced world. Life and work live side-by-side in this busy world, and because of that, effective planning and time management are more crucial than ever. As a society, we need to balance multiple tasks with tight deadlines while maintaining a healthy work-life balance around our lives and families. We’re constantly being bombarded with excessive information, digital or otherwise, yet are expected to stay alert and at the top of our game in work and business.
How do we do this without burning out? How often do you lie awake at night thinking about everything you must do for the day or week ahead? If you’re constantly chasing your tail and dealing with many priorities and deadlines, this blog aims to help you set a few goals and habits to gain perspective, prioritise, and manage your time better.
Prioritise And Plan
If you wake up with a head full of your to-do list, it’s a sign you need to get everything out of your head and on to paper. If you find yourself drifting off with easy distractions during the working day, scrolling through social media instead of working, that’s a sign you need some goals and priorities in place.
Running a business is hard. While doing what you do as a business may be easy, doing all the admin, finance, and finding CEO time can be very challenging.
Do a brain dump – get everything out of your head, and onto a large sheet of paper or a whiteboard if you prefer. List everything you need to do for work from emails and other admin you need to do, even if each task seems unimportant. Break down your business goals into headlines and list your priorities – from the school run and the weekly shop – to getting to the gym and walking the dog. You might want to write a list with headings or subheadings. Need a special book for it – then look no further than my book.
Mind maps – are creative ways of getting ideas out of your head and onto paper so you can see the bigger picture. You can see some methods here, and have a go!
https://www.twinkl.co.uk/teaching-wiki/mind-map
One space – one place – by keeping your brain dump & ideas in one place (or by writing it all out into a large book, planner or diary) you can refer to it at anytime as part of your planning process. This will also help you declutter your brain, so you need never spread chaos all over your workspace ever again.
Track how you spend your time – the first step in improving your time management is understanding how you currently use your time. For a week, try getting into the habit of tracking how you use your time. You’d be surprised to discover how much time is spent on non-productive tasks or interruptions. You can identify these as “time wasters” and use this as the first step to better time and task management.
Use the timer on your mobile phone—or use one of the many free timers out there. Toggl (https://toggl.com/) and Clockify (https://clockify.me/) are two great free tools for tracking your time accurately. Give each task a title and see how you spend your time.
Create a clear workspace and one place for everything – working in a cluttered space is going to have a detrimental effect on your headspace. Clear that clutter! Get your paperwork in order and all the things on your desk. There are some great cost-effective storage solutions out there so take a look at what you can do.
Prioritise – prioritising tasks is crucial once you understand how you’re spending your time. Not all tasks were created equal – some are more urgent or significant for your work. Take what you’ve brain-dumped and start to prioritise from there – you could use the Eisenhower Matrix to help you with this.
Tackle the most challenging task first – by doing this, you will get what has probably had you procrastinating the most out of the way, making those other tasks much less daunting. If you’ve heard the term Eat That Frog [https://www.briantracy.com/blog/time-management/the-truth-about-frogs/] you’ll know that the author, Brian Tracy, has a great story behind the title of the book.
Be intentional about what needs to be done first – and what can be put aside by dividing tasks into four categories: urgent and important, important but not urgent, urgent but not important – and not urgent or important.
Batch up similar tasks – if you’ve heard of the batching method, you’ll know that by doing this, you can prioritise tasks in the same or similar batch and focus on doing them in a set time of focus.
Set reasonable time limits and give yourself a break – several methods work in a way where time limits are set for specific tasks, so you focus time on each task – break – then return to the same task (see the Pomodoro method below *)
Avoid multitasking – although your list may be quite long (from your brain dump), trying to do too many things at the same time will be counterproductive.
How do you set your goals?
Another critical aspect of time management is goal setting. What goals do you have for your business? These could be to achieve sizeable business achievements or to complete training for self-development. You may also have financial goals you want to reach within a particular timescale.
Do you work in increments of quarters (3 months at a time)? By doing this, you can list exactly what you need to focus on in the next few months and break the time down into chunks where you need to focus on managing and growing your business over three-month increments.
When setting goals, remember the acronym SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. SMART goals provide clear direction, making it easier for you to manage your time effectively. The key is setting clear goals and taking action.
https://www.ppd.admin.cam.ac.uk/files/people_development_-_smart_objectives-1.pdf
How good are you at saying no?
Often, we find our schedules overloaded simply because we have difficulty saying ‘no.’ If you’re a people pleaser like so many business owners are, then it’s hard to say ‘no’ when we want to do the best we can for our clients. It’s important to remember that each ‘yes’ to a new commitment means a ‘no’ to something else. Assess whether new tasks align with your priorities before agreeing to them. It’s okay to respectfully decline if it doesn’t fit into your schedule or goals.
Look at how you can put some simple suggestions, methods and tools in place to help you get into a much better way of working. Try one or two of the tips suggested in this blog to help you achieve that elusive work-life balance we all dream of having. While we may not always be able to achieve it, putting tools in place to keep us focused and productive will help us achieve so much more in our daily lives and businesses.
Use Tools and Technology
As I’ve illustrated in this blog, there are lots of tools and tech out there designed to help with time management – as well as the traditional pen and paper method. From digital calendars to project management apps, CRMs, use tools that will help keep you organised and on track. Experiment with different ones and find the ones that work best for you.
In summary – tips, methods and tools to help you prioritise and plan for your business success and to gain much more peace of mind:
Take Regular Breaks
Contrary to what you might think, regular breaks will improve your productivity. The Pomodoro Technique, for instance, suggests that you work for 25 mins, then take a break for 5. This helps maintain a high mental agility and reduces the risk of burnout. Find something that works for you.
https://www.pomodorotechnique.com/ *
Delegate When Possible!
Delegation is a crucial time management skill, particularly for leaders – which is anyone running a small business. If tasks can be done effectively by someone else, delegate them if you can – this is where having a VA will be crucial to your business. This will help you to focus on specific tasks requiring your expertise and attention. If you don’t have the budget for outsourcing (many of us don’t, especially in the early days), keep an eye on those tasks you might like to pass on in future, even if it’s a few hours at a time. Don’t let these kinds of tasks dominate your headspace.
Take action
The only way you’ll start and complete tasks that are part of your business goals is to take action. We have all experienced that feeling of procrastination, if we’re avoiding doing something because it’s too hard, or urgent or boring – but by doing nothing, your mindset will be affected.
Practice Mindfulness
Lastly, practice mindfulness. Being fully present in your work can help you focus and complete tasks more efficiently, reducing the chance of making errors and wasting time.
Sleep
Getting good quality sleep is essential to how you function on a daily basis, so ensure you get enough sleep at the right time each night. A lot of us suffer from poor sleep, so try to ensure you have a good bedtime habit before climbing into bed for a good night’s sleep.
Time Management is something that can be learned and refined. Understanding your time usage, prioritising tasks, setting SMART goals, using methods like the Eisenhower Matrix, saying ‘no’ when necessary, utilising tools, taking breaks, delegating, and practicing mindfulness can all greatly improve your productivity in the workplace. Remember, the goal is not to fill every moment with work but to make the work you do more effective and fulfilling.
Getting into better habits takes time and practice, so take the time to do a brain dump and work from there. Embrace these strategies, and you’ll turn from merely surviving your workday to genuinely thriving. Here’s to better time management and a more productive, less stressful work life!
If you’d like help implementing these tools into your daily work and personal life, you can book a Get what you need call with me. Together, we will determine how you can instil new and productive time management skills into your daily life.
If you’d like to find out more about what it’s like working with me, get in touch for a discovery call:
