Owning a business is a time consuming task. A recent study found that most business owners work around 72 hours a week, which is twice as much as the employees they hire to help run the company. And while this shows that they are committed to their business… it isn’t always necessary to work so hard.
There are lots of time saving hacks business owners can use to make day to day life easier – and most of them are free and easy to set up.
Here are six time saving hacks for business owners.
1. Time Saving Hacks For Business Owners: Use Index Cards
One simple way to improve your time management skills is by using index cards. Write down each important task on an index card at the beginning of the day, and then put the cards up where you can clearly see them. If you start feeling distracted, take a minute to look at each card so you can refocus.
2. Schedule Appointments With Yourself
There are lots of office distractions that can disrupt your focus, but you can reduce the chance of this happening by scheduling daily appointments with yourself. Set aside half an hour or an hour every day to focus on important tasks, and act as through you are your most valued customer. Don’t answer emails, phone calls or messages during this time, and put your needs as number one priority.
3. Set Up Templates
Do you frequently respond to the same emails or requests? If so, you can save time by setting up templates for the messages you often send. This means you don’t have to rewrite the same message every time, and you also don’t have to worry about typos or mistakes as you only need to proofread the templates once.
4. Delegate Work To The Right Person
Delegation is a great way to free up more time, but if you do decide to delegate work, make sure it is to the right person. It can be tempting to choose the member of staff who has the most free time, but if they don’t have the right skills the work may need re-doing – which will waste even more time!
So take some time to find the right employee, and if you don’t think anyone fits the role consider outsourcing it to an online virtual assistant. The online virtual assistant will be able to complete any admin work, and then they will invoice you for the work at the end of the month.
5. Set Up A Marketing Calendar
Have you ever launched a brand new service or product, only to realize later that you forgot to announce it on social media? If so, you could save time by setting up a marketing calendar. A marketing calendar will merge your social media efforts with your business production, so you can prepare Instagram story posts, Facebook posts and Twitter posts in advance for any launch. This means your followers will always know the latest updates from your business, and you won’t have to worry about future social media posts, as everything will already be planned.
6. Give Everything A Place
Finally you can save time by giving everything (and we really mean everything!) a set place. If you send packages regularly keep a drawer with envelopes, paper and pens, and glue a sellotape to the table for easy use. You should also have a ‘contact’ drawer with your employee’s info on (including info for the online virtual assistant if you have one).
