Just like any business owner, your day is chock full of things you need to do for the day. This may lead to you losing sight of the bigger picture and not getting the chance to work towards goals you may have. Even when your business has made it big, you’ll still need to stay on top of things by continuously looking into improvements, ways to keep up with demand and exceed your competitors. You’ll also want to think about getting more time within your day so you can have a breather or just tackle other things that need to be done. These are some helpful time-hacking tips that prove to be effective for nearly any business.
Begin with all of your quick tasks first
At times it can be great getting the chance to just take on the more complex tasks so you can have more breathing room afterward. Getting the harder things completed first often leads to better productivity and less procrastination. While it may be the case, sometimes it’s totally okay to just tackle all of your small and easy tasks first. If you have a task that only takes a couple of minutes, why not do it now? It’s easier to just do quick tasks while you can before these tasks just clutter up.
If you have an email in your inbox, just go ahead and respond rather than waiting for multiple emails to pop up before you get around to replying. In general, this is going to make your life and your work schedule significantly less cluttered. Take immediate action, and don’t allow tasks to just be piled onto your to-do list. This will save you a lot of time in the long run. Practicing this will also help with fighting off “lazy” habits as well.
Look into forming healthy habits
Habits can truly be a game-changer that can save you time. These can be a part of your daily schedule. When you’re trying to create a new habit for yourself, you need to commit to it. This means gradually doing it longer each time. Let’s say you want to spend some time each day writing down the goals you want to achieve, first you start small, such as 5 minutes. You’ll then want to gradually increase your commitment such as adding a couple of more minutes each time. At first, it can be a bit tough, but the more you do it, the easier it becomes to commit to a habit.
Set a schedule
It may be pretty obvious when it comes to utilizing your time, and making the most out of your day but keeping to a strict schedule can truly work. You’ll want to look into optimizing a workforce schedule that can truly work for you. It massively helps if you’re able to get others on board as well such as your employees. This helps you, but it can help them out as well.
The whole point about time-hacking is to make things easier so you have more time to do other things (or even nothing at all). Have a meeting with your team and see what can work for them and what works for you. Maybe the style of work is what is getting in the way of time being fully utilized in the business. There are plenty of scheduling methods and software out there, so it’s best to see what can work best for you and your company.
Understanding fast decision making can be okay
It’s not always okay, but it can be. Delayed decisions can lead to inaction, plus it can really hurt the business as well. You want your business to thrive and completely flourish, not be put still. Decision-making can be difficult, especially those tough questions that are going to heavily affect you and your business. So there shouldn’t be any shame whatsoever on how reluctant you may be.
But if you’re having too much trouble making decisions at work and it takes you too long (whether it be days or weeks) to make an important decision, it may be best to look into decision-making methods to help you out. This can also include getting a worksheet or just standard paper and pen and recording your thoughts. Think of the pros and cons. You can even set up a timer to help you quickly and efficiently come to a conclusion. The timer shouldn’t be any longer than five to ten minutes. Some questions you may want to ask yourself should include:
- What are some of the potential consequences of delaying any decisions?
- What needs to be considered for this?
- What are the immediate consequences of the decision?
- What are the immediate benefits of this decision?
After thinking and answering these questions, you can then write down what your decision will be. Decisions are never easy, but it’s important to always look into making improvements because some decisions can be sat to think on. ‘
Embrace templates
Templates are a business owner’s best friend! Don’t feel ashamed or embarrassed for using templates. Copying and pasting can save you massive amounts of time. If you’re the one that does social media for your business then look into Canva Instagram Templates. You should also just keep a spreadsheet or even a word document with a templated language as well. This can include bios for you and your team, about your business, descriptions, helping marketing material and so much more. There’s nothing wrong with copy and paste wording or templates, they can be a major time saver.
Block off time
This can be used for anything that you need whether it be personal or professional needs. You want to set up every day for success and sometimes all you need is a boost to do that. Having a set time frame (such as 30 minutes to an hour a day) to do something that you need can really help your productivity and your mental health overall. Plus, this can help with building healthy habits.
Get the most out of your meetings
No matter what type of business you run, you just can avoid or escape meetings. These meetings may be with your teammates, clients, or even your suppliers. Meetings are just common and are forever here to stay. With that in mind, it’s best to learn how to make the most out of your meetings. This is going to allow you to save time, and can really help your business stay in full throttle. Some excellent tips would include
- Developing a plan before the meeting begins so you know what you want to cover and what to accomplish
- Know what questions to ask
- Try to stay on topic and steer the conversation to stay relevant
- Be open to changing things up in the meeting
- Never leave a meeting early
- Review your past performance (such as with presentations)
- Encourage engagement whether it is your teammates or clients
- Try to determine a proper deadline in the meetings
In general, you want to utilize the meetings as much as possible because you don’t want to be in a scramble and question what was said. Knowing the intention of the meeting and setting up objectives you’re hoping to achieve in the meeting can be a major time saver and it will help you feel less stressed out with your work. Remember, if you’re wanting to get the most out of your business and save time, you need to be open to making changes as this will slowly progress into being more efficient.
