As a business owner, it’s hard to find time to not only work ‘in’ your business, but to work ‘on’ it as well.  I mean, it’s not easy finding 5 minutes to eat a sandwich at lunch.

In all honestly, how often do you find yourself saying; “I’m too busy” or “I just don’t have the time” when it comes to the important things?  Not just in business, but personally as well?  Have you missed another special date night?  Arrived late to your child’s football match?  Or, neglected to take an actual break for what feels like a decade?

If so, keep reading…

Although, we all wish there were more hours in the day, or that somehow we could magically freeze time, the only way to accomplish everything we want to, is to look at how we manage ourselves and the time we have.

There is unfortunately no use in blaming time.  Everyone from Bill Gates to the small business owner is given the same amount of time each day!  How we use time is one of the great determinants of how successful we are both as business owners and as individuals.

Think of a car race where they make all the drivers drive identically built and tuned race cars.  The winner is then determined not by who has the fastest car but who can drive that identical car the best.  Similarly, in life the “winners” are those who learn how to drive their use of time the best.

 

So how do you take control of your time?

 

  1. Acceptance – Accept that there is no such thing as too much or too little time.  There is enough time available for you to be successful – others have been successful and they had no more access to time than you do.  Take ownership of your situation.  Be accountable for your results and responsible for your actions.
  2. Decisions – Decide what you want to accomplish.  What do you want to be “successful” at?  To some it may mean making a million pounds, to others it may mean being healthier while others may be looking to have better relationships with their family and friends.  This is your goal.  You must also understand the benefits to you of achieving the goal – how will it make you feel when you achieve it.  Both the goal and your “why” must be written down with a timeframe.
  3. Activities – Once you have decided the goal and your “why”, you must now determine the activities that will be necessary for you to accomplish that goal.  What do I have to do?  What time commitment will I make?  What will I need to adjust/sacrifice/reduce/delegate in order to have the time to do the activities identified?  Remember if it was easy everyone, including you would have already done it.  What separates the successful users of time from the unsuccessful ones is the discipline and determination to obtain their goals no matter what.  In his book The Dip, the entrepreneur and best-selling author Seth Godin advises, “Never quit something with long-term potential just because you can’t deal with the stress of the moment”.
  4. Understanding – Understand that life and business are about choices.  You choose how you will spend your time – on what activities and how much on each.  This is a marathon, not a sprint.  Being successful in many different areas takes effort and time.  Success comes from laser-like focus on one or two goals.  Once they are accomplished, you move on to the next set of goals and focus on those.
  5. Preparation – Prepare your calendar each week by creating “appointments” to do the activities that you have identified.  These are defaulted into your calendar before anything else.  Treat these as if the appointment was with your most important customer.  Would you easily change your Monday 2-3pm “meeting” just because someone asked for that time slot?  No, you would negotiate – “I am booked at that time. I can see you at either 1pm or after 3pm, which would work for you?”
  6. Discipline – Be disciplined about your schedule.  If you don’t care how your time is being spent, why should anyone else?  Learn to say “No”.  In Stephen Covey’s book “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, he breaks activities into 4 categories –

a) Not Important/Not Urgent,

b) Urgent/Not Important,

c) Urgent/Important; and

d) Not Urgent/Important.

The danger for most people is the Urgent/Not Important category.  This is when we are responding to other people’s urgencies, however if the activity does not move us toward OUR goal – by definition it is Not Important.  Beware of the time and effort devoted to those tasks.  Conduct your own time usage study.  Every minute that you can divert from not important categories to the important categories will move you closer to your goal.

  1. Review – Your successes/challenges in meeting your schedule each week and adjust where necessary.  Be honest with yourself and continually reinforce your “Why” – what are you trying to accomplish and how important is that to you.
  2. Accountability – Find an accountability partner or mentor to help keep you on track.  We can all use help every now and then – it is a strength to admit this, not a weakness.

In summary, stop blaming time, take ownership of your time and commit to the discipline necessary to win the race by being the best “driver” of time you can be. You can also email us for a free copy of Keys To Time Management.