Where has the past 2 years gone?!
Many of us will have picked up some lessons in how to manage our time effectively whilst working from home during lockdowns. But approaching two years since the start of the pandemic, you might look back and wonder where the time has gone, and whether you have achieved as much as you wanted to.
Without the structure of a daily commute, and with the uncertainty many of us have lived through in recent times, it can be easy to let timings or plans slide. Here we look at some of the ways to better manage your time.
Prioritise
When faced with a seemingly endless list of tasks, it isn’t uncommon to get brain fog. Whilst some tasks will have a definite deadline, others may not – and regardless of how important these tasks are, these are the ones that are often allowed to slip. A classic example is focusing on existing client work rather than dedicating time to business development or marketing. It may be that you need to reframe how you view such tasks. Just because they don’t have a set timeframe, it doesn’t mean they should go to the bottom of the list. Setting aside a small amount of time each week to work on ‘non urgent’ tasks means you can make progress whilst still ensuring you get everything done that is time-sensitive.
Use tools
We’re not all masters of organisation and even those who are probably have a little bit of help! There are some brilliant tools and apps out there to help you be better at time management – and many of them are free!
Write it down
Notwithstanding all the great tech that’s available, sometimes, you can’t beat a pen and paper! The physical act of writing things down and seeing them laid out in front of you can help to provide clarity. And being able to tick things off as you complete them is very satisfying!
Make yourself accountable
Companies with a number of Directors may well have regular board meetings, at which actions are followed up from previous meetings and new ones are agreed. However, owner managed businesses can struggle in this regard. If you’re not able to hold yourself to account, an external party may be the answer. Which brings us to…
Outsource
Nobody wants to be a busy fool – working all hours of the day but never quite feeling you complete any task to the optimal level. If there are activities you know you put off – either because you don’t like doing them or they’re not things you’re good at – outsourcing might be a good idea. By allowing someone else to take on specific tasks – such as marketing, accounting, payroll, HR – you can free up your own time to work on the areas of the business where you can make the biggest difference. By having a dedicated, specialist resource to focus on these areas, you will probably also see a difference in the quality and quantity of output.
Agenda’s business consultants can work with you to identify the areas in which you may be able to improve time management, helping you put a plan in place to make better use of your time to achieve optimum results. Please contact us now for a free initial chat.
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