Running a business can be challenging. Most of the time we talk to fellow business owners they talk about being ‘busy’.

When deciding to work with someone helping them to grow their business, watching how good someone is at time management can be a good indication of where they are likely to take their business (or can explain why they haven’t achieved their goals so far).

Social media, emails, non-important work yet seems ‘urgent’, can take over hours of our day. While I understand we receive emails, we are on mobile devices now full time, extra connected and so forth, I believe valuing your time and ensuring you control your own time is an indication of how your business will develop.

Do you prioritise (every day) what is most important for your own business growth and development?

If not, you may find yourself in reaction mode consistently. Reacting to calls, emails, staff, suppliers etc and at the end of the day, what you wanted to achieve, isn’t fulfilled.

It can be challenging to get control back of your time. Especially if you are used to reacting to emails or disruptions by others. I would urge anyone with work to do on time management skills to ask themselves the question – ‘What is most important for MY business growth tomorrow?’

A way to gain control of your time is to block book time. Pick a number of hours where you decide you won’t be interrupted and work on your business and what’s most important for it’s growth during that time tomorrow. I tend to block book early hours. Doing what’s most important first is always a good idea.

Another way to gain control is to get out your ‘to-do’ list for the following day. Put everything on the page, but prioritise it by what you want to do to help your business grow first. Doing the list in order of priority ensures you look after your own business and still get everything done.

My priority list is set out roughly for a week on the Friday before. I leave plenty of gaps for things that will come up, but the most important items don’t get moved. It’s a practical solution to being busy and it works. Each evening I review what is on my list for the following day. Again, these are prioritised by what is the most important and what needs to get done. Anything that can be delegated gets off my list and onto someone else’s (insert happy face here). Learning to delegate is obviously one skill that needs to be mastered as soon as possible. Delegate and review and train staff only. Never do work that someone else can do in your organisation.

Take back control of your time, ensure you look after YOUR business first and watch the growth that happens naturally.

Have a lovely bank holiday folks.

wendy@williamsmerrigan.ie