The Importance of Time Management

By Chavonne D. Stewart

Let me begin by sharing a story about an entrepreneur, an executive leadership coach who has been in business for over two years. In the beginning things were going well. The person was able to effectively balance business and personal life. However, when they reached their third year of business things began to change. Responsibilities of family and business grew.

While growth is a great thing, how we manage that growth determines our longevity. The person felt as if time was managing them instead of them managing the time. There was not enough time in the day to handle all their obligations. One particular morning, the person woke up to a day that consisted of 5 individual coaching sessions and two group sessions. They said to themselves, “who scheduled this.” In between the sessions, they had personal obligations to fulfill such as doctor’s appointments and studying for an exam. Yes, an exam, because they decided to pursue a graduate degree. Let’s not forget you have to take care of your body so exercising is essential. In the midst of all the chaos, the person needed to find time to sleep and eat. In addition to the “me time,” a business owner has other obligations as well such as networking, marketing the business, bookkeeping, etc..

With all the responsibilities, the entrepreneur felt overwhelmed and began to lose focus. Remember God only gave us 24 hours in a day, asking for more time is not really an option.

Even if we wanted to. So it is important as business leaders to learn how to manage all our daily, weekly, and monthly responsibilities in the time given. So, I ask this question, is having enough time the real problem? As quoted by Zig Ziglar, “lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. The entrepreneur in the story was all over the place trying to accomplish too much at one time. There was no sense of direction so they were not utilizing their time effectively. Now imagine that you are the entrepreneur in this story. Have you been in place of feeling overwhelmed? Thinking there is not enough time.

Well, I believe learning how to manage time is a process that can improve overtime if you put certain things in place. Keep in mind there are benefits to time management such as decrease in stress, more energy for free time, clarity in thinking and increased productivity. In this entrepreneur’s situation, their business and personal life was booming. My first recommendation would be to increase your human capital by hiring outside help. Recognize when you have reached the point where you cannot do this alone anymore. The outside help can consist of a virtual assistant who can do all your scheduling. Make the investment, hire a social media specialist and/or marketing specialist. In addition to those benefits, below I have provided you with ten tips on how to manage your time effectively.

10-Tips on How to Manage Your Time

Tip #1: Recognize what are your priorities, then schedule accordingly

Tip#2: Focus on a task at a time. Multi-tasking can create confusion and tasks are left undone.

Tip#3: It is alright to say “no”. Eliminates the Superhero mentality. Recognize you cannot do everything.

Tip#4: Take a break. It will help to refuel, refocus and reset so you can finish strong.

Tip #5: Consider tomorrow. Time management helps you understand what needs to be prioritized today and what can't wait until the next day (Herbert, 2021).

Tip#6: We are in the electronic age, be sure you have a colored coded calendar and it is easily accessible.

Tip#7: Set reminders for your task

Tip#8: Limit Your Distractions

Tip#9: Create a daily to-do list

Tip#10: Realize that things do not need to be perfect; it’s easy to get caught up in trying to make everything perfect. However, perfectionism will slow you down and could result in deadlines being missed (Young, 2021).

References

Herbert, J. (2021, March 26). 7 Time Management Tips to Transform your Day. SelectHealth

https://selecthealth.org/blog/2021/02/7-time-management-tips

Young, J. R. (2021, January 20). 8 Time Management Techniques For Busy People. Forbes.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesmarketplace/2021/01/20/8-time-management-techniq

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