When you start out in a from-home business, time management is an area of business management often overlooked or ignored.

Surely everybody knows a friend in small business who races about like a mad dog all day, without enough hours in each day, all they do is rush and get overloaded – is it that this person is you! At the end of the day, when the rush settles, what have you completed? Do you think about the day and wonder “what happened to the time, I didn’t get as much accomplished as I hoped to do. If this feels familiar, then you might have an organisational and time management problem.

Successful people never seem to rush, they are composed and unflustered. The difference in them and other people is they have exceptional time management.

What is time management? It is merely arranging time in your day in an organised and efficient way. Before we can actually get how to time manage our day, we first need to question ourselves what we are attempting to achieve today, this week, this year and even up to ten years from now. This is “Goal setting”.

The easiest key in my preference to achieve goals is to write them down. You could review the goals at times to feel that they are meaningful and achievable but not so achievable that you don’t need to put in the work to succeed at them otherwise what is the purpose of your goals in the first place?

From the start of each working year you could sit and think about what you want to complete this year. It might be that you hope to gross up your profits by 20%, you might decide to move into bigger premises, you may hope to take down your debt significantly. From the start of each new working week you can write down on a note pad or in your diary the signifcant projects that have to be finalised this week, and check on them on each day to be sure that you’re making progress and hopefully check some of those projects from your list.

You might keep the list on your desk or on a spot where you could be persistently reminded of what must be completed throughout the week. This list may be in order of necessity so that the major projects at the top of the list get taken care of earlier. Any projects not accomplished this week will be carried up to next week on a higher priority, this should require it gets ticked off.

The next thing you might not be doing is having a daily list of projects to accomplish. This may assist keep you on schedule during the day. Again, this list should be displayed where you are able to constantly refer to it and wipe off the chores finished. Finishing off the projects should allow you a sense of a job well done and let you review how you are progressing through the day. Always hold to this list where possible and continue working from the highest priority to low priority. I know things could jump up over the day that could throw the whole day in the air, but you need to either deal with the dilemma and get back on to your list or if the unplanned job isn’t as time sensitive as some of the items on the list then list it at the bottom on your list and continue with the project you were doing.

Each item you hope to do could be written down for a couple of reasons. Firstly, so you don’t forget to do it and secondly, so you keep each day outlined and you achieve your daily goals. Be alert to starting tasks and not completing them. This might become tomorrow in a disaster of half finished jobs and will cause “list blowout”.

You will end up with a list a mile long and you will give up in despair and reverse back to those habits of getting yourself in confusion during your day and accomplishing nothing.

Remember that every day you achieve your goals and tick off all the projects on your list, you become a day closer to reaching your weekly and ultimately your yearly and long term goals.

A few pointers on Time Management:

Do it once and do it well, it’s frustrating returning to the task and having to redo it.

Learn to civilly communicate to people when you’re busy working and that you will speak to them at a later time.

Learn to issue chores that truly don’t need your involvement.

Don’t go on wild goose chases.

Don’t fizzle away time during phone calls that will not do something.

Don’t procrastinate.

Look back to your list of jobs to do often during the day.

“Map out your day” in the morning and schedule out your daily list the minute you begin work. Complete what you begin.

Prioritise as a matter of habit, always begin things in their order of urgency to you and your customers.

Be evasive with time wasters, people that would simply like to chat all day, and if they are employed by you, set them straight, or get rid of them.

For more information about working from home in Brisbane, contact Lifestyle Switch. Make the switch to your own business today.

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