To become more productive, entrepreneurs keep themselves busy in some activity or the other. They take more work than actually they have time and energy for. As a quote says, It is not enough to be busy, the question is: What are we busy about? by Henry David Thoreau aptly suits the budding entrepreneurs. You are leading a company so you must know the importance of your time. You should ask yourself the questions that how do you utilize or manage your 24 hours?
For us time is more important than money. “At times, I keep staring at the clock and wonder how I have spent my whole day working without accomplishing any goals. We can’t control time but I want to make best use of my 24 hours” Says Sudhanshu Ranjan, Founder of Innovative machineries agro India Pvt. Ltd. With life getting tough and out of hand daily, everyone wants more control over their time. And here comes time management. Whether, you are a business owner or a budding entrepreneur, you need to make a manageable to-do-list to work smart. Effective time management skills are often the best way to increase your productivity.
What is time management?
An individual should understand the value of time to succeed in all aspects of life. Basically time management refers to managing time effectively so that the right time is allocated to the right activity. It refers to making the best use of time.
Here are few tips to save your time and make your day more productive and life easier.
- Fix a schedule and stick to it
A disorganized schedule will only waste your time. Eventually, this will lead to a loss of focus on business objectives. “Keep track of your time by creating a schedule and go about accordingly. Account for every hour of the day, from meetings to travel and shopping. Organize your day according to your priority.” says Ranjan. The more you will know about where you have spent your time, the more you will be able to hold yourself accountable.
- Stay away from distractions
Distraction can really hamper your productivity and growth of your business. As the company expands or starts getting profits, more people start demanding your time. “You need to take time and identify your distractions. It can be anything like wasting your time in useless works. Spend your time on constant problems.” Says Girish Ahirwar, Co-Founder of Maxtron Innovations. You can also try forwarding calls or set up caps on answering emails or assign employees to perform the repeated tasks.
- Organize your workspace
No one likes working at a place which is messy or unorganized. Imagine every morning coming to a cluttered workspace nothing can be more demotivating. This might seem unnecessary point but once you organize your cabin, table and keep your files on their place. This will save a lot of your time, as you don’t have to keep searching. Make different cabins for each document. Use some DIY tips and that will save your real time.
- Spending your time on right activity
Don’t waste too much time or day on something that can be done in an hour. While doing all these, keep some time for your personal calls. Do not waste time in roaming around or gossiping.
- Track your bad habits as well
How about taking some time to get a better perspective on your bad habits? “Be consistent and track every habit that you would like to get rid of. Also track your unfocused work and there might be a chance for you to discover that you spend majority of your week on things that gives no results. There is a lot of time that can be easily saved. You can use that timings for things that can be more useful, like mastering a skill or learning something new.” Says Simran Jha, Founder and CEO of Cord Communique.
For businessmen, time is like money. The more you know about where your time goes, the more you’ll be able to hold yourself accountable. It’s in your hand, how you are going to manage it. Be more productive and try to follow the above time management hacks.
This article was originally published in: https://www.entrepreneur.com/