Time Management Tips
Biting off more than you can chew? Feeling stressed? Need help, but don’t know where to start? Build Systems … You are reading this blog because you want to improve yourself. This blog is made for any type of person or profession. You are a businessman or woman, housewife, volunteer, entrepreneur, sales person, engineer, teacher, or even retired. At this point you have too many things to do, not enough time in the day, and you need help, but don’t know where to turn. When you have too many things going on, all of them needing to be done, but you physically cannot get them all handled, you have 3 options at any time. The first one is of course, continue doing it yourself, then you could delegate, and third you can build a system. But, how do you decide how to do that? Here is a very simple method on how to make those decisions. The first thing you need to do, is carry a notebook around with you for an extended period of time. It could be 1 full week or more than likely one full month or quarter. Throughout the week, or month, write down the tasks you have actually started and/or completed. This is not a to-do list, it is something we do after the fact. After you have collected the data, list all of these tasks into 4 columns; Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Annual tasks. Concentrate first on the daily tasks. Take that separate list and ask yourself the following;
Can the task be automated?
Can the task be delegated?
If the answer is no to the above two questions, can the task be batched?
The first two questions are self-explanatory. If you can automate or delegate, at cost that is lower than you actually doing so, you consider those. If the answers to those are both no, then batching is the next alternative. Batching your daily task, to maybe one time per week, or even once every two weeks is the best way to help you manage your time. I like to use accounting as an example. If you were to log every sales receipt, check written, bill received, or purchase order delivered individually, you would be stopping and starting those continuously throughout the day. If you batched all your receipts for example, and entered them all into your accounting system from 1pm – 3pm each Wednesday, you would be much more efficient. I know that accounting is something that can be both automated and delegated, but as small business owners, you may not have the funds to invest in those systems. Batching activities accomplishes those daily tasks all at the same time. And another benefit to batching is ‘focus’. When you start entering all your purchase orders all at once, you get in a groove, and you become better at it, faster, and probably more accurate. Stopping and starting an activity is a very inefficient way to work. Again the 3 questions;
Automate?
Delegate?
Batch?
Here is your challenge, write down your activities for just 1-week. Take one of the daily tasks and build one of those systems above. Perfect that, and see if it helps you with your organization. Get the high priority tasks systemized first, do one at a time, and get through as many of the daily’s as you can. Then start looking at your weekly & monthly items to build those systems. You need to work on ‘improving’ your business every day. This should be a good way for you to help get organized, improved, and you will find yourself saving valuable time! Need assistance building systems? Give us a call at Pinnacle Sales!
734-516-0221
If you like tips like these, check out my Kindle eBook on Amazon! Profits, Your Seven Letters to Success!