6 Tips To Manage Your Time Effectively 6

Wouldn’t it be nice if we had more hours in the day? Just think how much more we could get done!

I think every small business owner or entrepreneur faces the challenges of wanting to do more each day than they have time for.

While I can’t physically add more hours to a 24-hour day, and since cloning to get more done each day isn’t an option (yet)… I have some tips on how you can best utilize the time you do have to spend on work, and life in general.

I mentioned a little bit about me in the first post in this series of articles. To give you more detail, not only am I a small business owner of a very busy vintage shop, I am also the Mom of three gifted teenagers that school at home. While they are very independent learners and students, my role is to be their mentor and facilitator – and it’s a busy, important role. Of course, I’m also a wife and homemaker, and you know how much time that takes each day – maintaining a house, paying bills, yard work, etc. In addition to these daily roles, I also volunteer my time to be the captain of a large team of vintage shops on Etsy. My goal is always to help other vintage shops succeed with their businesses, and the role as captain of that team takes a lot of my time. I am also one of the founders of a vintage lifestyle website and blog called Vintage Unscripted. Not only do I work with a team of friends to develop content, schedules, and projects, I am also the webmaster of that website. Speaking of webmaster, I am also the webmaster of our vintage team website Vintage Etsy Society, and my own shop website and blog. In my free time (of which there is very little), I like to create and invent, work on my hobbies, and entertain friends and family. Trust me… if I had even just 6 more hours in a day, oh…. the things I could do!

I shared all those details about my daily roles (yes, daily – as in seven days a week) because I wanted to share with you my tips on how I get all these things done in a day. Hopefully you can implement some or all of these tips so you, too, can manage your time effectively.

#1 – Automate Repetitive Tasks

There are many apps and software programs available for you to use to automate the repetitive tasks you do each day. Not only do these apps and programs complete the task for you — freeing up your precious time — they also do it more consistently with less chance of error. Here are just some ideas for automating your ecommerce business tasks:

• Use programs, such as Mail Chimp or Constant Contact, to automate your email campaigns and to automatically send your blog articles to your subscribers. Once you create the templates and set the rules for the program, it will run indefinitely and reliably. I use Mail Chimp because I like the integrations it offers for my store, blog, and social media accounts.
• To automate your social media posts, programs such as Hootsuite, Buffer, or Later are tools you definitely should be using. While each of these tools have their pros and cons, they each automate social media posts very effectively. I’ve tested each of these programs and I prefer Hootsuite. I recommend you test them, too, and see which one works best for you. BONUS TIP: If you use a program such as Hootsuite, you can also view and manage all your social media accounts and activity feeds right within Hootsuite. This saves you the time of having to switch back and forth to each social media platform in order to interact with your followers, and the people you follow.

#2 – Prioritize Tasks

Prioritize your daily to-do lists, putting the most important tasks for the day at the top. As you work through the day, cross off items you’ve completed and move on to the next task. When you are creating your daily to-do list, include the amount of time required to complete each task – this will help you stay on schedule. Your time is limited, so don’t spend it on the things that have little (or no) payoff. it is better to focus on the more important things that matter. TIP: If you are most productive in the morning, that is the time to work on your high priority tasks.

#3 – Delegate Tasks

To free up more of your time, make sure you are delegating tasks that others can do. If you have an available family member, hire them to assist you with your daily tasks. Hiring high-school or college students is also a way to get more work done in a day. Make sure the person you hire is responsible, set clear expectations on how the task must be accomplished, then turn that task over to them to complete. TIP: Don’t have the cash to pay someone? Trade with them instead! They might like to work for you in exchange for one of the products in your shop. It’s a win-win for everyone!

#4 – Set a Schedule

When you work for yourself, and especially if you work from home, you need to set a schedule for your workweek and then stick to it. Without a schedule, it can feel like you are working 24/7 and yet not feel sure of what you’ve accomplished. By setting a clear schedule, you will have a much better handle on your time. Divide your workweek into at least three categories: Focus, Free, and Buffer days. Plan your most important tasks on the Focus days. Include Buffer days to finish tasks that are less critical. Make sure to also schedule some Free time so you can recharge and spend time with your family and friends. It’s easy to overlook scheduling Free time into your day, but without some downtime, you will burn out quickly. TIP: Don’t over-schedule your day, or you will always feel like you are behind.

#5 – Stay Organized

Using apps or programs to help you stay organized is a must. For example, one tool I use is Evernote. I use it to keep track of all my notes, to-do lists, instructions on how to do tasks that are only done occasionally (which is very helpful so you don’t have to waste time trying to remember what steps you took for a task 6 months ago), contact lists, idea lists, and more. Evernote syncs with all your devices so you have all your information available with you wherever you are. Staying organized electronically is just one part of being organized; physically organizing your office, shop, or workspace is also very important.

#6 – Limit Distractions

As you work throughout the day, there are many distractions that can pop up. Everything from email notifications and text messages, to too many open browser windows (think bright shiny objects)! When you are focused on completing tasks, it is best to limit these distractions or to completely avoid them. Turn off all your notifications or set your notifications to only notify you for very important information. If you have to, hang a (vintage) Do Not Disturb sign on your door!

I hope some, or all of these techniques help you make the most of your time.  Now, let’s talk more about that cloning idea. 😉 

TIME MANAGEMENT TIPS:

• Use programs that can automate just about anything. For example, IFTTT (If This Then That) and Zapier are two tools you can use to automate many of your daily tasks! Just set an applet and forget it. I use IFTTT to automatically tweet each photo I post to Instagram, tweet each Facebook post, and tweet each pin I pin to Pinterest. It can do a LOT more, too!
• If you use WordPress for your blog, take advantage of the scheduling feature! Plan a day or two each month to write your articles, then schedule them for the dates you want them to be published. Scheduling saves you time, as you won’t have to log in to your blog each day to remember to publish an article. You can also use a WordPress plugin to automatically share your articles on whichever social media platform you choose. For example, NextScript and Blog2Social are two good plugins for this – choose the one you prefer.
• If you have an ecommerce store, another way to reduce the amount of time you spend answering basic customer questions is to have a well thought out FAQ (frequently asked questions) on your website. 
• Want a visual graph showing how you spend your time each day? Use an app such as ATracker. Just press “start” when you begin an activity, and “stop” when you change activities. At the end of the day you’ll be presented with a report on how you’ve spent your time during the day. I recommend you use this app (or one like it) for one week – you might be surprised at how much extra time you can squeeze out of your day to be more productive!
• Need to tune out all the random noise in your house or shop? Use a program like Simply Noise to play an endless stream of “white noise” in the background. 

Do you have any tips for managing your time that you’d like to share? Post a comment below.