As a business owner, my goal is to maximize my staff’s time without wearing them down to the bone. Time management is often overlooked and very rarely do we take the time to actually manage our employees time. Yes, we manage efficiency, but there is much more to time management than making sure they are in the right place at the right time. If you leave it to the employee to manage their time, chances are they choose the “most fun” job to do over what may be necessary for the company.
Time Management
When managing time, the usual focus for a service business in logistics. How can I get you from point A to point B in the most effective way. We seem to overlook other aspects of the job, like checking emails, returning phone calls, chatting with other employees, the snacks in the breakroom, smoke breaks, personal calls, etc. We need to account for life! When I say “life” I am taking about traffic, tardiness, inclement weather, the dog has to go to the Vet, etc. With some simple time management techniques, all of that can change. Below are a few easy tips to help with time management.
STEP 1
What do you do all day?! Have you ever stopped to think about how you spend your time? Figure out where your time is going. Try logging your time for a week or more by tracking your daily activities. This audit will help you:
- Determine how much you can actually accomplish in one day.
- Identify thing that suck up your time
- Focus on activities that will provide the greatest returns.
STEP 2
Create a schedule that you can follow. Do not make it unrealistic. If you do that, you will miss your goal and give up. Make yourself an organized list of thing to-do before you even start your day. This will help you make the most of your time. If you can, do it the day before and make sure you write out your list first thing in the morning. You’ll find that the time you spend creating a clear plan is nothing compared to the time you’ll lose jumping between tasks when you lack such a plan.
STEP 3
Categorize. You want to classify your tasks as Important, Urgent, Important but not Urgent, and Not Urgent and Not Important. This will definitely help you realize where you time is going and where it should be. The same thing happens when you document spending money! Once you see it in writing, you start to realize where all your money is going.
Managing your time depends on you and how much you put into it. It will also involve you following the plan once you create it. The organization in your life will keep you feeling productive and fresh! Give it a try!
