Do you sometimes feel like your chained to your store, unable to get anything done? Effective time management (as well as the art of delegation) means that even the busiest person in the world can get through a mountain of work. The President of the United States, the Pope, you and I have one thing in common; we all have only 24 hours in a day to do what what needs to get done. At the end of the day, what makes one person seem more accomplished than another? The secret is dividing your work into two piles – things that are important to do and things that are urgent.
If you can give tasks that fall into the category of important to do, your immediate attention then the urgent tasks pile will remain very small giving you adequate time to plan all your tasks and you will find you are under far less pressure throughout your day. All other tasks other tasks can be prioritized around your important tasks. Also take the time to plan a ‘default diary’ and let your staff know about it. Planning a time each day to perform regular tasks, such as reviewing the day’s sales figures, stops the job from becoming overwhelming and also helps prevent unnecessary interruption. In the diary, don’t forget to plan some time for yourself. Growing a business depends on the mental agility and leadership – things that are impossible to do if you’re buried under a mountain of tasks.
Thirdly don’t forget to delegate the small but important tasks that could easily fit into someone else’s routine. And, most importantly, make sure that you’re running business management software that can assist you with performing important tasks effectively. Features such as instant access to daily sales figures, inventory numbers and customer relationship database information; good software will give you more time to make your business grow profitably.