Are you making time for time management?
The irony is we need to make time for time management!
Life is a big juggling act. There are endless tasks to do. As I cross one thing off my to-do list, I add another load on! I run my own business and I have two young children, so having good time management skills and resources to turn to most definitely makes life easier – at home and at work.
I’d like to share some time management tips that I use to make running my business easier and support the clients I coach to do the same.
Goal setting
Writing down your goals and the reason for them creates direction and helps keep you on track and accountable.
Identifying your long, medium and short-term goals will help you to focus and prioritise. You can then work on the most important tasks that will make a real difference to your job/business.
You can read more about setting professional goals here.
Action planning
Chunk your goals into smaller, attainable tasks with the dates you wish to achieve them by.
Prioritising
Prioritise tasks that are important (and not just urgent). I cover the interesting difference between important and urgent in more detail in my event on time management.
Scheduling
Schedule each task and set realistic deadlines.
Helpful tools
One of my personal favourites is Todoist. It’s a brilliant to-do list manager that helps to organise and prioritise your tasks. You can note them down as soon as they pop into your head and schedule each one. It works across all your devices so it’s with you wherever you go.
Trello is a collaboration tool that organises your projects into ‘boards’. In one glance, Trello tells you what’s being worked on, who’s working on what, and where something is in a process.
Calendly is a scheduling software for organizing meetings and appointments between individuals and their colleagues and between businesses and their clients or customers.
Schedule distractions!
Life is filled with distractions and deviations! Be honest about what your distractions are, so you can schedule them into blocks e.g. responding to emails, using social media.
Final thoughts
Balancing all the spinning plates can often feel overwhelming but there are time management tools and systems available to help better manage your time and create processes that are faster and more effective.
I’d love to hear yours, so please send them to me at lyndsey@heads-up-coaching.com
Getting help & support with your time management
If you want to manage your time more effectively to move your business forward and spread the word about your business in a friendly and relaxed environment, come along to February’s networking and coaching events – in both Brighton and Hove:
Develop Your Business Action Plan
Tuesday, 12th February, 10am-12pm at Brighton Beach Club.
Making Time for Time Management Thursday, 28th February, 10am-12pm at La Piazza, Hove.
If you or your team need additional help to improve time management, take a look at my ‘Boost Your Time Management’ module from my small business coaching programme Business Boost and please get in touch to arrange your free consultation.
