The major benefit to being an entrepreneur is that you have total control over your time as an independent worker. But this independence could pose a problem if you lose track of time or become incapable of managing your time well.
The maxim that “time is money” is true today as it was centuries ago when it was first stringed together.
The following techniques will help you manage your time better as an entrepreneur:
- Work in stretches or blocks of time: What this means is that once you have a task to complete, set an hour or two or three to get the job done without any break or distractions of any kind until the task is completed. You may set a block of 2-3 hours to work in the morning, late afternoon, or late at night without even rising from the task at hand to attend to anything or even eat.
- Question the necessity of the task at hand before starting: You can’t be an effective worker until you fully know why the task must be accomplished. To this extent, it is always helpful to provide honest answers to the questions of what, who, where, when, and why before you begin to work. The answers to these questions will help to keep you focused as you commit to the time required for the job.
- Break important jobs into simple tasks: People spend longer time doing a job when it is overwhelming and tiring. But you can achieve more within shorter time if you’d only divide the main job into tiny and manageable bits that can be completed within blocks of 30 minutes or hourly. This will keep you creative and innovative as you tackle your daily jobs.
- Always plan ahead for tomorrow’s tasks: It is always helpful to plan ahead for the morrow’s tasks by evaluating the progress you’ve made in the day’s job. You can start by evaluating what you have achieved at the end of the day’s job and how well you have maximized time or wasted it while supposedly doing your job. This will help you to put the morrow in proper focus as you plan out what must be achieved the next day.
- Question your current use of time: Ask and query yourself in what you do and how you do it and how soon you get it done. Learn what you’re doing that you supposed to delegate to others. Determine if your priorities are set right in the choice of what your jobs are. Learn to know if any set tasks can be completed within the time assigned for it. Determine if you have the powers to concentrate on one task until it is completely done.