It seems that the harder we work, the more work there is. There are many things we can do to organize our mountain of tasks, but how to organize the organization of those tasks? How do we get the tasks, projects, and varying to do lists we have for different aspects of the small business life? There are so many people in the beginning phases of owning a small business that are working hard, sacrificing much, don’t have time to see family, or the family never has time to do anything fun because they are always working! Both spouses many times are working full-time shifts in order to save costs. That leaves little or no time to get the TO DO’s TO-DONE. :) .....
Time keeps on slipping...into the Future!-Bonus Track:
Here are some tips I like to use (remember, I do this for a living, and even if I didn’t get paid for it, I have come up with tasks, just so I could organize them...I LOVE organizing tasks...I’m a massicist.)
Step 1: Put all of your to dos into a project management system (write them down, Google Keep, Trello, Wunderlist, Asana, or even just write them on note cards Scrum style-watch the video, I LOVE this style of project management tactic for businesses and personal projects of all kind.)
Step 2: Categorize them based on how long they will take (5 mins, 20 mins, 2 hrs), and what type of project they are (ie: Home, Production, Accounting, Inventory, Management, Church, School, etc). Break the larger tasks into smaller chunks that can be done quickly.
Step 3: Put them in order based on when they are due, and assign them to who can do them (try to delegate as much as you can afford to if you have capable people. It will save you alot of money in the long run because you can focus on higher level tasks.
Step 4: Conquer the tasks like a CHAMPION! Pomodoro (the video here is great too) is a style of time management I like to use. It means whenever your work time is, take one task (or group of tasks) and work on it for 20-25 min increments. Similar to Scrum, don’t answer the phone or check email or anything distracting during that time. Then when the time period is over, get up and do a walk around task, or do a few little things you put off. Respond to them for 10mins, and then get back to the next task on the list. You’ll find you can get so much more accomplished.
This may not work for every small business. This approach works really well for paperwork and tasks related to projects and not as much the service you provide a customer. If you make food and you are working the counter, you’ll need to take care of customers, of course. But if you know there’s down time coming, and you have your list ready to work on, take one 20 min task and do as much as you can for that time period until a customer comes in the door. You get the picture.
For a One on One Time Management Session
We will analyze your current processes, customize a system
of management that works for your and your team.