One of the best things about working in a small business is the ability to carve out your time and projects. What most people overlook is that managing time becomes an important part of actually using that time effectively. In fact, one of the biggest time-wasters is just poor scheduling.
Whether or not you’re using a time or task management software like Accelo, here are a few tips to help you stay self-directed.
Be aware of how you are spending your time
This is the first step towards improving your habits-- recognizing them. What websites do you frequent? What purposes do they serve in terms of your goals? Remembering to be aware of your habits is a task of its own, but can develop naturally with time.
Set goals and priorities
Before you get started on anything, take the time to write down what your goals are for the day. Having a list of tasks will allow you to keep busy without having to reset and think of what to do next. Be realistic about your tasks and estimate the time it takes to complete them. That way, you’ll never feel overwhelmed.
Use your down-time to catch up on unreplied emails.
If your projects are sometimes dependent on people and forces other than yourself, take the in-between time as a chance to catch up on moderate work. Answer your unreplied emails, get back to those missed phone calls, and catch up with your colleagues on their projects.
Feeling unproductive? Don’t beat yourself up, enjoy it.
It’s important to note that you can’t be productive all of the time. This is a given. Instead of trying to fight those urges, give into them completely-- but only for an allotted amount of time. If you encapsulate your ‘chill’ time, you’ll find that the transition to productivity will be more controlled and much easier to make.
