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Time Management has a lot to do with Business Success

August 6, 2010 by Frank Goley, Business Consultant

Time Management has incredible influence on a business owner’s success. I encounter clients who really need some Business Coaching to get them into position where some solid planning and other types of  business consulting can be of real benefit. Otherwise, their “busyness” and lack of personal planning overshadows the efficacy of good Business Planning and Strategic Planning for the company. Get the time management right upfront, then rolling out success planning, whether a new marketing strategy or new strategic direction, can be laser focused and structured for real success.

You Are Busy But What Are The Results?

A business owner may think. Hey I am so busy and have more to do every day than I can finish. I am doing the best I can. That kind of thinking is an absolute Fallacy. The problem with this sort of thinking is two fold: 1) the business owner doesn’t know what actions or tasks have a real payoff for the company and 2) busy tasks over take the fundamentals of growing a healthy business. The way to solve this issue is to simply plan your time on a daily and weekly basis, but before doing that, you need to identify strategically what tasks are most important and why. Schedule in the tasks that have the best payoff for your company first, then build in your other “busy” tasks.

Steps to Effective Time Management

Step One: Keep track for one or two weeks exactly how you spend your day. Time and identify your specific actions and tasks for the entire day- minute by minute, hour by hour.

Step Two: Document what the payoff for your company was for the specific tasks accomplished for the tracked period of time.

Step Three: Identify and Prioritize what actions and tasks will have the best payoff for your company in relation to your Business Plan, Marketing Plan and Strategic Plan.

Step Four: Schedule out 2-4 weeks in advance how and when you will accomplish these priority, strategic actions and tasks. These are the first items for your new schedule. They have the most priority.

Step Five: Now schedule in your busy tasks and meetings. Since your schedule will be filling up with the priority items, you will be forced to decide really what busy tasks are important for you and what can be delegated or simply dismissed.

Step Six: Stick to the structure and make changes and adjustments to the schedule up to one month in advance as a result of and relation to your business planning, strategic planning and marketing strategies. Reprioritize at least once per month or preferably every two weeks to ensure you are tracking the most effective route for your business goals.

Step Seven: Measure results on a weekly basis and make small adjustments for the coming week as needed. Identify successes and issues and figure out how to overcome problems. Acknowledge the successes through out your company and who helped you achieve that success at the end of every week. Carry that momentum into your upcoming new week.

Good Time Management Forces Good Business Habits

Spending time on actually making out your schedule and how you will manage your time in the face of what needs to be accomplished in your company’s business plan, will create that perfect marriage between what needs to be done on a particular day for the company’s success and what other more mundane tasks need to be accomplished. If you fail to plan your schedule and lay it out by the hour and minute, then you will find yourself busied to death with tasks that you don’t know will have the necessary payoff for your company. This is the pinnacle of Strategic Thought and Planning, and the core reason why some business owners are much more effective and successful than their counterparts.

Enjoy Your Free Time

Good time management frees up your time, giving you more time to enjoy your family, more recreation, more healthy space from your company. This makes you happier and healthier, which has a huge payoff in your business. You become much more efficient and effective, cutting the necessary time to really achieve what is actually needed for your company to prosper and succeed. Get your priorities in your business right and your priorities in life get right. The payoff is better profitability and happiness. Can’t beat that! What are you waiting for? Get started today…

Today’s Video is on How Self Management Dictates Time Management

Posted in Business Management.