Best Time Management Tips for Small Business Owners

Owning a small business requires the ability to wear a lot of hat and get things done, even if they aren't necessarily your favorite task or tasks that you feel confident in. Often small business owners are the sole person responsible for making sure the entire operation runs — and if they get sick or can't work, well, nothing gets done.

All of that means that small business owners have to be experts at managing their time. There are only so many hours in a given week, and during that time many things have to get done: client deliverables, discovery calls, networking, website updates, social media, invoicing, paying bills, meetings, setting big picture goals... the list goes on and on. Without good time management skills, keeping your business afloat gets a whole lot harder.

So, what are the best tips to make managing time easier and more effective?

Well, the simple answer is that everyone is going to be different and finding what works for you is always the best course of action. But as a small business owner myself, I can tell you that these four are my favorite.

Time Block To Keep Important Tasks Front of Mind

Time blocking is the act of assigning tasks time in your calendar. You block time based on what you need to accomplish each task, ensuring that nothing else is scheduled over the time you've allotted to get things done.

Doing this not only give you a set apart time and space to knock out your goals, it also keeps the important things front and center on your calendar and on your mind.

I live and die by my Google Calendar. It's synced across all my devices so I always know what's on the agenda, regardless of when and where I'm working. I check it multiple times a day. So if I have time blocked for an important task, I see it multiple times which means it's harder for me to forget about it and more likely that I'll complete that task.

Use Working Sprints to Stay On Task

A working sprint is very similar to time blocking, but is typically a little more specific. For this, you'll want to set a goal. This can be a task to accomplish, a series of related things that all have to be completed, or just time that you need to think about a certain thing and make decisions. Then you'll set a timer (typically this will be 20 minutes, though there are no rules for this if you need longer or shorter time periods). For the length of that timer, you focus on the task at hand — no phone, no email, no distractions! When the timer ends, take a brain break — but keep it short (5 minutes or so) so you don't lose momentum. Then, if there are more tasks to accomplish, go again.

I love using sprints like this. I tend to work best with the Pomodoro Method, which is this: a 20 minute sprint followed by a 5 minute break. You cycle through these 4 times and then you give yourself a 30 minute break. I find this helps me sustain sprinting momentum and knock out a bunch of tasks in a short amount of time.

I think the best part of this method is that it makes it easy for me to stay focused. I tell myself that a break is coming which helps me deny anything that might have otherwise distracted me from my goal.

Focus On One Thing At A Time — And Only One!

Contrary to popular belief, multi-tasking actually makes us slower to finish tasks and more prone to errors which then creates more work for later. It's actually more effective to do one thing at a time!

I like to work from a list, small and easy tasks up to harder and more difficult ones. I complete them one at a time and for the first several tasks, I move through them easily. This creates a sense of flow and momentum that then makes the harder tasks feel more doable when I start them.

Delegate the Items That Aren't In Your Zone of Genius

One efficiency expert I've worked with in the past gave me a visual:

The upper left corner is your zone of genius — the things you enjoy doing and are also good at. Keep these tasks for yourself because they bring you enjoy and you'll likely do the best job.

In the upper right corner, you have things that you like doing, but you're not particularly great at them — yet. These are areas that you are learning and places you want to improve. Keep at least 10% of these tasks so that you can continue to expand your skillset.

In the lower left corner you have tasks that you're good at, but you don't enjoy. This can be a danger zone. It's hard to justify delegating this because you can actually do it, but most people resent having to do this task and procrastinate because they don't enjoy it. Thus, it's typically better to just go ahead and delegate it. Your future self will thank you.

And finally, in the lower right corner, you have tasks that you're neither good at nor do you like doing them. These tasks should be delegated 100% off the time, if possible.

What Tasks Do You Need To Take Off Your Plate?

If you know you need to get rid of a few tasks that are weighing you down, why wait?

I know a girl!