Entrepreneurs are generally motivated and driven from the inside. Their investments’ success depends almost solely on how effective they are as entrepreneurs; they cannot be easy-going about it. Unlike people working in offices and racing with deadlines, entrepreneurs must set their own goals and pace.
If you’re the type who barely beats deadlines or you constantly feel like you’re being stretched from all directions, managing time could be an issue. An entrepreneur can’t allow his startup to become just another statistic, merely from time management slips. Here are some pointers to straighten out these glitches.
Find Your Natural Uptime and Downtime
While a number of studies show that day-performing people are more productive than night owls, there is nothing that prevents night-performing entrepreneurs from excelling. In fact, that’s the advantage of entrepreneurs over the regular working class: they have the flexibility to choose the hours that match their optimal creativity and productivity.
>>> Expert Roundtable: Career Reflection
>>> Get Hired By Using Linkedin Strategically [Career]
>>> Self Reflection: No Place Like Home
Consider Deadlines as DEADlines, Beyond Which There is Nothing
Entrepreneurs, by virtue of their open schedule, often miss deadlines. Many believe that since they set their own timeframe, they’re free to break it, too. Targets and deadlines must be well thought-out and strictly adhered to, because otherwise they’re useless. A business plan that needs to be drawn, for instance, must have several mini-goals with their own deadlines. Progress can be tracked by these small goals and pre-final timeframes. Slacks identified midway can be addressed immediately because they’re smaller, in a way. All these goals must be tied together and completed on the final deadline. This will be easier to monitor and stick to than bundling the big thing in one deadline.
Identify Downtime and Allow It
Everyone has downtime, that’s being human. Identifying it, allowing it, and limiting it to its own “time” is the best way to deal with inactivity, burnout, stress, hazy mind, and sloppy work. In other words, take a break. You can’t be productive all the time. Forcing your tired self to plod on will only result in non-productivity over an indefinite time. So, instead of dragging non-productivity, assign time to relax. Consider it as time for the mind and body to recharge. Since you’ve assigned time for relaxing, also assign time to snap out of it. That way, you’ve still managed to control downtime.
Leave Your Work in the Office
Consider home as your sanctuary. It’s where you restore yourself, recharge for the day ahead, and it should be free from work-related worries. If you happen to manage business from home, make sure you’re not on-call 24/7. Delineate work hours and rest hours; they shouldn’t overlap each other. During rest hours, disconnect from the work phone and, if possible, from your emails.
Have Adequate Sleep
Different people require different number of sleeping hours. On average, a person needs 7 to 8 hours of sleep for a 24-hour period. A simple gauge to your sleep requirement would be to sleep when you start dozing off and wake up without an alarm. That is your natural sleeping cycle. A good night’s sleep is your key to a good day’s work.
Prioritize Things and Accomplish One by One
Multi-tasking is often seen as an important skill-set of upwardly mobile people. The ability to multi-task, however, can stretch a person too thinly if done on a regular basis. A truly effective person knows how to prioritize, ticks off one thing at a time, and multi-tasks only if needed in exceptional cases.
Assess Money You Earn Per Hour
As an entrepreneur, you specialize in a line of work that pays you a certain amount of money per unit time. Say you earn $40/hour. If you’re spending too much time on tasks (whether at home or in the office) which can be done by an assistant, learn to delegate and do something more important. If you clean your house and do the laundry for 5 hours a week, try hiring a girl Friday to do these things for you at a much lower rate than your $40/hour rate.
Find Your Natural Setting
In computer lingo, it’s called “default setting,” or presets; it’s where you work best as designed. Of course, there are external interventions that may improve your performance, but the preset always makes it easy for you to find your flair and knack for things. Find the rituals that light you up, or squeeze your creativity. Work in your natural element.
For serious entrepreneurs, time management is not an option, it’s a requirement.