Great time management is an invaluable skill when it comes to owning and operating a business. Sometimes the juggling act with a owning a business does get hard to pull off especially when you add in factors beyond your work like furthering your education, spending time with your family, and taking well needed breaks. Here are a few tips to manage your time better and not get overwhelmed.

Prioritize

Prioritizing is important no matter what aspect of your business you are focusing on. When it comes to prioritizing your time, you need to make a “To-Do” list and from there pinpoint which tasks have the most urgency, and do those first and work your way down from there. Doing this will allow you to accomplish tasks before they need to be done so that you do not fall behind.

Learn To Say No

Sometimes saying no is harder than it should be. You may feel obligated to shoulder certain burdens that aren’t necessarily your responsibility and those can really eat up a lot of your time. They can be simple things like going on a coffee run or attending an event that doesn’t align with your schedule, or bigger things like doing work for somebody else or taking a long trip. Whatever the question is, if it is not comfortable or feasible for you to do, then you should simply say no. Your stress levels and your schedule will both be much more manageable when you stop doing things simply because you feel obligated to.

Schedule

Creating a solid, yet flexible, schedule is a key step to manage your time effectively. Flexibility is important, because as well all know, life happens and things come up. Do not over pack your schedule to a point where if as small, or big, inconvenience comes up, that the rest of your day, week or even month is now completely off track. A few key features in an effective schedule are:

• Breaks: It is always important to step away from work and take some time to unwind and relax.
• Routine: Having some sort of routine in your schedule will be helpful for you and your employees to manage time effectively. This can be as simple as having a meal at the same time everyday, or setting a weekly meeting with your staff
• Gaps for last minute appointments: Having a few blank spaces in your schedule is nice for meetings and situations that come up last minute.
• Multitasking: If you can fit two things into your schedule, do that. Have lunch while you work if multitasking does not put you off track.

Eliminate distractions

If your schedule is jam packed, or you have a lot on your to-do list, make sure little things that may distract you are out of sight and out of mind. Things that may distract you while you’re working are

• Music
• Television
• Cell phone/Mobile devices
• People that tend to interrupt you

Ask for help

One of the most effective leadership skills is learning to delegate. You cannot do everything on your own and asking for help or passing tasks off to others will help you make huge headway in time management. If your colleagues or employees are capable of completing the task efficiently and they have time and resources to complete if for you, absolutely delegate the task. This will free you up to accomplish more things that they may not be able to do.