5 Time Management Tips for Busy Entrepreneurs

Being an entrepreneur is not easy. It is exciting but equally demanding. As an entrepreneur, you must be working 15-18 hours a day, hopping from one task to another.

Business registration is just the beginning as entrepreneur go on from organizing meetings to planning and executing new strategies, from managing employees to meeting new clients, a day of an entrepreneur can be as complicated as Ramanujan’s equation.

The only difference between a successful and unsuccessful entrepreneur is that the successful ones are pretty good at prioritizing and hopping from one task to the other.

Ultimately, the definition of a good entrepreneur boils down to just one question, “How good the person is at time management?” But how to define “GOOD” time management?

Below are the top five ways in which entrepreneurs can manage their time efficiently and stop procrastinating.

#1 Put a “Limit” on your Time

On a typical day of an entrepreneur, 50% of the activities are planned, whereas the remaining 50% are unplanned. Unplanned activities may include unplanned teleconferences, meetings, and more.

These activities might have different levels of importance. I would recommend you to pick the two most critical unplanned meetings and ignore the rest.

I know it is difficult. Still, if you want to become a successful time manager, you have to sacrifice every less productive if not unproductive meeting.

If this is not enough, you can reduce your time spent on a call to a maximum of 5 minutes and time spent on instant messenger to a maximum of 10 minutes.

#2 Use Technology to Finish Unproductive Tasks

You can’t stop being a human or a law-abiding citizen of any country while being an entrepreneur. Every day you come across tasks and activities that are highly unproductive yet mandatory, such as paying bills, set up meetings, send invites, and more.

Below are some of the hacks that you can apply to save time:

1. Use mobile apps that allow you to pay your monthly/yearly bills automatically.
2. Use marketing tools like Clever hub, Eloqua, and Marketo to manage sophisticated marketing campaigns seamlessly.
3. Create your social media strategy for a month instead of a week.
4. Set up reminders on your phone to remember daily, weekly, and monthly tasks.
5. Use time tracking apps to avoid spending more time in unproductive tasks and activities.
6. If you own a retail store or a shop using tools like ZipLine can help you automate various communications, workflows, and store management reporting.

#3 Anticipate Interruptions

Anticipating personal and business interruptions can bring a massive shift in your time management. Every entrepreneur, with or without family responsibilities, has some personal or family needs to fulfill.

Even your colleagues can eat up your time without your notice. Your star performing employee went on an extended vacation leaving behind a lot of work for you.

Generally, an entrepreneur’s day is packed to the brim, which should not be the case. You must always keep some time in the buffer to manage such predicaments.

#4 Spend Some Non-negotiable Time with Yourself

It’s true! Entrepreneurs who spend less time with themselves often loose. While planning for the day, you must allocate some time to learn new things, self-introspection, catch up with school/college friends, and more.

#5 Ivy Lee’s Method of Productivity

Ivy Lee’s method is simple yet effective. The president of Bethlehem Steel Corp, in 1918, hired a productivity consultant named Ivy Lee, who suggested a simple technique to increase productivity at work.

Before you finish your day at work, take a moment to write down the six most important tasks that you’re supposed to do the next day, with their priority order.

The next day when you start your work, start with the tasks written in priority the day before. Once you’re done with the six tasks, take other tasks. Finally, repeat the same process every day.

Final Words

Every entrepreneur has his/her way of working. Every day, they pay the price in the form of stress they manage and the challenges they face.

To gain a competitive advantage and establish an active business along the way, entrepreneurs must spend their time wisely.