{"id":4341,"date":"2014-10-08T12:55:50","date_gmt":"2014-10-08T16:55:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planfoundations.com\/?p=4341"},"modified":"2014-10-08T12:55:50","modified_gmt":"2014-10-08T16:55:50","slug":"time-management-for-business-owners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pioneerbusinessventures.com\/nsite\/time-management-for-business-owners\/","title":{"rendered":"Time Management for Business Owners"},"content":{"rendered":"

Time Management for Business Owners<\/h2>\n

Did you ever finish your workday and wonder, \u201cWhat happened to my time? Where did it go?\u201d One of the hardest parts about being a small business owner is to manage you. We often ignore managing ourselves. Let\u2019s face it; one of the reasons many of us own small businesses is that we despise being managed. Otherwise we might pursue a work life of predictability in a large corporation. However, even in small business, we need to hold ourselves accountable for the appropriate use of our time. Otherwise, increasing amounts of time slips away faster and faster. Consequently, if you have ever asked yourself how you could manage your time better, then by all means read on\u2014it should be worth your time. \u00a0 \"Time<\/a> \u00a0 Time management is defined as \u201cthe act or process of planning and exercising conscious control over the amount of time spent on specific activities, especially to increase effectiveness, efficiency or productivity.\u201d Sounds kind of boring\u2014until we learn more: the threats to our time management, a few time management tools, and how we can improve our time management. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 What are the threats to your time management? – Email \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Telephone \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Travel \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Problem Customers -Absent or inadequate prioritization to task demands – Redundant and\/or repetitious activities \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Poor listening -Inadequate rest for body and mind to perform optimally – Distractions and\/or interruptions \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Disorganization – Procrastination \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Personal Problems \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Others When you look at the aforementioned threats to your business time, what jumps out at you? Email is the biggest complaint I hear today. It used to be telephones that interrupted us, but now email has taken over as the main channel of communication in business. It\u2019s not the same for all businesses though, particularly businesses where you\u2019re not staring at a computer screen.\u00a0 Some of you might feel overwhelmed by all of the above, depending on what\u2019s happening in your business. The key is to simply take the time to identify your largest time threats currently. What are the common time management tools available for business owners? Most people think that a quick fix solution exists. It doesn\u2019t. I could write about different theories of time management such as ABC Analysis (ranking by importance), Pareto\u2019s Rule (80 vs. 20), The Eisenhower Method (unimportant vs important), but they all drift off of the mark eventually in our struggle to manage our time at work. We could consider various software tools to help us mange time. This can be useful in certain professions, particularly if we are billing by the hour, but not for all of us. Plus, managing the software and data seem to take up a lot of time, ironically. The time management tools that stand the test of time (sorry for the pun) are tried, true, and more practical and tactical in nature. The best tools have relevance no matter how we manage our time\u2014such as our appointment calendars (Outlook, Day-Timer, Palm Pilot, etc.), the clock in the room, or a time plan of activities, etc. The point is to track your activities by time segment and plan to some degree how you are going to best use your time. Other tips for managing time include:<\/p>\n