HOW TO FIND TIME TO BE AN ENTREPRENEUR
If you think finding the time to launch your business is a pipe dream, think again. Here are ten steps to helping you get your brilliant idea off the ground in no time.
1. Track the Hours.
Similar to the way you would track your finances, the first step to finding time is to track your current calendar. By doing this, you reveal where your time is going so that you no longer have to wonder where the day went. Use a spreadsheet to break down your week by the hour. When you’re trying to find time, every hour is valuable and should be reviewed.
2. Trim the Fat.
While it’s impossible to add more actual hours to your week, you can certainly adjust how you spend them. Now that you’ve reflected on your relationship with time, you can reallocate each hour of the week. Determine the time-wasters (I’m looking at you, Netflix and social media) and cut them loose. Now that all of your tasks are ‘on purpose’, allocate each of them to a time slot. Whether the task is business development or spending time with your kids, allocation will ensure every minute is focused, productive and present.
3. Edit Your Inner Circle.
If you’re short on time, now is the perfect opportunity to reassess the people with whom you surround yourself. Are you spending time with people who are moving and improving you, or are you just trying to do the ‘right thing’? People-pleasing only results in resentment or bitterness. On that note, if someone is counterproductive to you, they are counterproductive to the world at large, because they are stopping you from building and creating something amazing. Unlike other commodities, once time is gone, you can’t get it back, so give your time the respect it deserves.
4. Define Your Goals.
Be clear about what you’d like to do short-term versus what you hope to achieve long-term. Sacrificing 45 minutes of your day now, adds up significantly over one year. In 20 years, that time could evolve into a big deal for you. If you live and breathe your concept, it won’t be difficult to make time for it. Hustle today, floss tomorrow.
5. Find Your Genius Zone.
This might mean working from a different office or going outside to work. Additionally, determine the hours in which you’re the most productive. If working on your business from 4-7am is where the magic happens, then do that every day. Find your creation zone, add it to your timetable and don’t ever compromise on it.
6. Declutter your environment.
According to Calldrip, cluttered workspaces lead to a financial loss of the equivalent of 10% of a manager’s salary. Your surroundings have a major impact on your productivity. When you tidy up your workspace, desk or office, you’ll see a vast difference in creativity, clarity and efficiency.
7. Fly on Autopilot.
If you find yourself spending too much time on admin, set up some automated apps. And Co is our go-to for invoicing and expense tracking, while Xero is an excellent app for tracking cash flow. If it’s time-consuming yet necessary, there’s an app for that.
8. Stop Multitasking.
Switching between tasks is never productive. Opening and closing, starting and stopping – these are constant interruptions to your flow. Whilst these disruptions add up to lost time over the course of the day, they also often stifle creativity and ingenuity. We all know how disruptive emails can be – allocate a time slot for emails and when you’re done, close that window. If anyone needs to reach you urgently, they’ll call.
9. Being Small is Your Superpower.
When it comes to the corporate world, masses of time gets lost in approval processes and sign offs. How many people sign off one strategy in your own startup? Probably just you at the moment. Consider this a positive. Relish in the opportunity to act quickly on decisions and to intersect the market with new products, services or marketing ideas without having to wait for lengthy procedures. These roadblocks can often take months in the big league.
10. Outsource.
A study by Inc.com shows that business leaders spend 6.8 hours per week on jobs they could pay someone else to do for less than $50/hr. Once you realise you can’t (and shouldn’t) do it all, let go of certain tasks. Whether you need cleaning, branding, marketing, copywriting or web design, there is help at your fingertips. Fiverr.com or freelancer.com spring to mind. You’ll give yourself the time you need to make deals, strategise, manage clients or do whatever it is that is your superpower. Then use that to change the world.
Now, let’s do this!
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