It doesn’t matter who you are or where you are, you have 24 hours in your day. What’s more, you’re going to need about 8 of them for sleeping. That gives you 16 hours to get everything else done. It may sound like a lot when it’s written down. In the real world, however, it can vanish quickly unless you use it strategically. Here are some tips to help.
The Basics of Time Management
Time management essentially boils down to three key points. Firstly, you need to know what you need/want to be done. Secondly, you need to know (by) when you need/want it done. Thirdly, you need to know if you need to do it yourself. It also helps to know if you want to do it yourself. That is, however, not actually essential.
Once you know this, you know your order of priorities. You also know what tasks can be delegated, at least in principle. Of course, in practice, delegating isn’t necessarily as straightforward as it sounds. First, you need to find either an automated solution and/or a human to do the work. Then you need to get the system running and/or the human trained.
This means that, initially, delegation can actually work out more time-consuming and expensive than doing it yourself. The gains come over the longer term. If that isn’t enough to convince you, then the other point to remember is that everyone has times they just can’t work. Having a process in place to delegate tasks means you are prepared for this.
Time Management and Goal-Setting
Your ability to manage your time ultimately depends on your ability to prioritize. Your ability to prioritize ultimately depends on your ability to set relevant goals. Setting goals is a bit like choosing a travel destination. You need to pick your destination before you can work out the route to reaching it.
The bigger your goal, the more important it usually is to break it down into smaller parts. In business, these smaller parts are usually known as objectives. Objectives are very similar to steps on a path. The key difference is that it’s often possible to work towards more than one objective at the same time. In fact, in business, it’s very common to do so.
For example, a business might work on its strategic human resource management objectives at the same time as its research and development objectives and its inventory-management objectives. By working on multiple objectives in tandem they can significantly reduce the time it takes them to reach their overall goals.
This approach can work well for individuals and smaller businesses too. You do, however, need to be careful to avoid biting off more than you can chew. The more limited your resources are, the fewer objectives you should usually aim to work on at any one time. Remember that quality matters at least as much as speed.
Staying on Top of Your Own Time
The key to staying on top of your own time is to be clear about exactly where it’s going. This may sound like stating the obvious. It is, however, surprisingly easy to let time slip away without realizing where it went. That applies even when you’re busy. It often takes a bit of practice for people to get to grips with tracking their time effectively.
You can use automated tools to track your time. They can work very well for some people. The main problem with them, however, is that they can only track what you do when you’re at your computer (or mobile device). That in itself doesn’t necessarily work for everybody. The other issue with automated time-trackers is that they aren’t always very user-friendly.
Automated time-trackers often just record what program(s) you’re using at any given time. You then need to go through and analyze the results. This in itself takes time. It can therefore actually be easier and more effective just to track your time on paper. For example, you can create a schedule and then write down what you actually do alongside it.
The Strategy of Delegation
Once you’ve worked out where your time is actually going, you need to think about how much of your time is really adding value to the tasks you do. The less your knowledge, skills, and experience benefit a task, the more you should lean towards delegating it.
For example, if you’re a womanpreneur, you’ll be communicating with your customers. The chances are that at least some of this communication relates to questions even if they’ve been answered elsewhere. These types of communications are perfect candidates for various forms of automation such as chatbots, auto-responses, and text expanders.
By contrast, skilled tasks generally do benefit from human input. That input, however, does not have to be yours. In simple terms, if somebody else is clearly better qualified to do a task, it usually makes both financial and practical sense to delegate it to them.
For example, let’s say you have started a baking business. You run a blog as a key part of your marketing. You’re not a confident writer, however, so writing the blog posts takes up a lot of your time. What’s more, the results aren’t that great. The obvious solution is to hire a professional writer and get on with what you do best.
The Practicalities of Delegation
Once you’ve decided what you can delegate, your next step is to work out how you’re going to go about delegating it. As a rule of thumb, you want to start with the lowest-hanging fruit. This means either the tasks that are easiest to delegate or the tasks where delegation will save you the most time and/or money.
You then want to look for the easiest and/or lowest-cost means of delegation. If that’s not a reasonable option, then move on to the next easiest and/or lowest-cost option. Keep going until you find a solution that works. If you can’t find a solution that works at a price you can afford, keep on doing the task yourself until you can.
Here is a quick guide to your main options for delegation.
Automate
Automation should be your go-to option for all simple, repetitive tasks. That covers a lot of standard business administration. Automated tools are also great for scheduling tasks in advance. For example, you can create a month’s worth of social-media content and use automated tools to post it at the right times.
Many of the best automation tools are absolutely free. Even the ones that are chargeable tend to have very low rates, especially for their entry-level packages. These are generally more than enough for smaller businesses.
Use family/friends/contacts
Using family, friends, and contacts often makes a lot of sense, provided that you go about it the right way. In short, it’s generally unreasonable to expect people to give you services (or goods) for free over the long term. By contrast, it’s often fine to ask for some short-term help while you sort out a longer-term solution.
It’s also worth noting that you may be able to use a barter system with people you know directly. Obviously, this has to be fair to both parties. It is also likely to need to be recorded for tax purposes. In some cases, however, it makes perfect sense for everyone and is very economical.
Outsource
There are two ways to go about outsourcing. The first is to go through agencies and the second is to contract with people directly. The main advantage of using agencies is convenience. The main disadvantage of using agencies is the price. Essentially, agencies need to make a profit themselves as well as pay the people who do the work at a fair rate.
Some agencies may also offer the benefit of having a consistent point of contact. This person will get to know your needs and wants. They will then guide you as to how to deploy your budget to the best effect. This is, however, very variable. Some agencies, particularly lower-cost ones, just take the briefs you give them and get them done.
Hiring freelancers directly cuts out the agencies and hence can lower costs. This does mean that the onus is on you to work effectively with your freelancers. Effective work depends on effective communication. This means it’s important to ensure that your freelancer really does speak your language and can work to your schedule.
Hire
Your final option is to hire employees. This is quite a major step because it means you have to take on an employer’s responsibilities. The flip side of this, however, is that you can expect an employee to prioritize you much more than a freelancer would.
For clarity, the nature of freelancing is that you work with multiple clients. Freelancers often develop good relationships with their clients. They may well go the extra mile for them. At the end of the day, however, freelancers do not work for their clients. Employees do work for their employers.
Given the responsibility of hiring an employee, it’s advisable that you only do so when you’re completely sure that you have work for them. You also need to be sure that you can provide any training and equipment they need. Last but definitely not least, you need to be clear on employment law where you live and be sure to comply with it.
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