Time management in small business management
How do you complete the maximum number of tasks in the minimum amount of time?
1. Stop keeping all tasks in your head
The more tasks you write down, the more mental resources you'll free up and the less things you'll forget. It is unrealistic to memorize 15 things to do for the day, but it is possible to write them down and act on the list. We talked about how to choose a format for writing them down - whether to use a regular notebook or digital planners in this article (link to article on paper notebooks or digital).
2. Set due dates for each of your tasks
A task without a deadline is a fantasy. A clear deadline allows you to get involved, think through the steps of implementation, and follow through step by step.
3. The key to your productivity is a strict separation of personal and work time
As a small business owner, you shouldn't tackle work tasks 24/7. You should have personal time to take care of family, hobbies (link to previous article on hobbies for small businesses), etc. If your business requires constant supervision, you need an assistant to take care of your duties while you rest.
4. Identify your distractions and remove them
Distractions are what can eat up all of your work time. Track them down and create a comfortable work environment without them. Distractions can be afternoon conversations with coworkers that can drag on for an hour or more, texting with friends during work hours, scrolling through your social media newsfeed, etc.
Delegating tasks: how not to become a one-man army
A key factor for any manager is the ability to delegate tasks. This is what distinguishes a good manager from a bad one. A leader is not someone who does everything himself. It is someone who knows how to distribute the workload among employees and motivate them so that all tasks are performed in the required volume, quality, and time.
Every small business manager can delegate several responsibilities. You are not obliged to count taxes, do all the work, control deliveries, meet with clients, etc. Your time is valuable. Dedicate it to tasks that lead to getting new contracts and scaling your business, leaving the routine work to your employees.
Intelligent task management tools for small businesses
AI calendar
It is important that you can look and see the workload for all projects and personal tasks for each day at any time. Having such a calendar allows you to plan your time more efficiently.
One common mistake is to create two independent calendars: for personal life and work tasks. If you can see all your work and personal tasks in one application, you won't neglect one side of your life in favor of the other and will be able to maintain a work-life balance.
In Voiset, the calendar is implemented so that you get quick visual load alerts for each day. For example, the free days of the month will be highlighted in green, and the loaded days in red. When planning a meeting with a client or a trip with a partner, you will see which days you are free, and which days are better not to schedule additional events.
Setting priorities
When you create a new task in Voiset, you will be able to define and prioritize it. This takes a few seconds, but it allows you to make the right decisions later on. For example, if you have an unimportant and unplanned task that comes up, it's easier to keep your mind on it and not get distracted by a really important task. Conversely, if you have a low-priority task scheduled for the day, but a critical and urgent task comes up, you can easily switch to it.
Objective estimation of workload
If you have 10 tasks scheduled on one day of the week and one or two on other days, your schedule is not balanced. There is nothing good about working in spurts: this format requires a huge outpouring of resources. After such a spurt, there is always a slump, and often very strong. Such swings lead to an overload of the body, and also to loss of motivation and interest in work: mentally you will begin to perceive work as something that requires great effort and exhausts you.
How to distribute the workload evenly? We suggest you try trusting Voiset. Since it is based on AI, it offers one special option: balancing your workload between days of the week. AI will analyze your workload and distribute tasks evenly across the day, preventing you from overloading yourself with tasks. This is a great option!
Reducing stress and chaos: tips for small business owners
Managing the tasks of a small business may well lead to unnecessary stress caused by the need to switch between hundreds of tasks. In addition, stressors include increased levels of responsibility, inability to relax, certain financial risks, etc. Here are some ways to avoid creating stress and chaos while not compromising the productivity of your small business.
Solve high-priority tasks first
Do not put off things that need to be done as soon as possible. These are tasks such as purchasing materials without which production will stop, fulfilling an order from an important wholesaler, etc. Remember the 20/80 principle: most likely, all of these critical tasks will only take 20% of your time. You can devote the rest to all the other things you need to do.
Don't overload your memory with little to do
Some small tasks can be accomplished in just two minutes. For example, if it takes a couple of minutes to make an additional order in a chain of components or to warn a customer about a delay in an order, do these things at once. The exception: unimportant small tasks. They often become distractions that just eat up your time. For example, it's checking messages on your phone. One random message can distract you for hours of follow-up correspondence.
Voiset has another feature that's useful for small businesses, and that's the voice input note-taking feature. This handy option allows you to dictate a task that you might otherwise forget. There can be a hundred such tasks - Voiset will write them all down, translate them into text, and prompt you to add them to your schedule on a suitable day. This way you don't have to keep the date of your secretary's birthday, the need to buy a new pair of shoes or batteries in your head.
Treat your vacation with the same zeal as you do your work
Your productivity as a small business owner also depends on how well you vacation. Even if your vacation is the same chaotic task-solving, but on the ocean, the necessary shift won't happen. Moreover, you may feel unnecessary stress because the waves are splashing too loudly, the sun is shining too brightly, and your partner is demanding too much attention. It is important to learn to allow yourself to really rest and relax for a while.
