It’s commonly said that there isn’t enough time in the day. This sentiment is especially true for entrepreneurs. With so much that needs to be accomplished, it can be challenging to find the time to fit everything in. In order to do so, you need to have excellent time management skills. Here are four tips to help entrepreneurs be more successful when it comes to managing their days.
Write it down
Before starting each day, take the time to write a list of everything that you need to accomplish during the day. Once everything is written down, prioritize the items. Work on the most important tasks during your most productive hours of the day. Being able to visualize everything that needs to be accomplished will help you to rearrange your day in a way that makes sure you’re able to accomplish everything.
Set deadlines
Not every task on your to-do list will have a strict deadline. For the tasks that don’t, it’s up to you to create your own deadline. Be realistic with these deadlines, but not lenient. If you leave everything up in the air, it’s easy to put things off and accomplish them later than you should. Hold yourself accountable to your deadlines to be sure that you get all of your tasks finished.
Take regular breaks
When trying to be more productive, it may make sense to work completely through your day, without taking any breaks. However, the opposite is true. Taking regular breaks during your day will help you to be more productive. Try following the Pomodoro method, set a timer for 25 minutes and power through your work for the entire time. Once the timer goes off, take a short break. After four cycles of this, take a longer break.
Learn to say no
As an entrepreneur, there are tons of little tasks that pop up throughout your day that need to be accomplished. There are also people who try to steal your time. To save your time for yourself, learn to say no to tasks that aren’t helping you to achieve your goals. Don’t let your time be sucked up through needless tasks. Only focusing on the tasks crucial to your success will ensure you have more time in your day.