When you are running a business, there seems to be a never ending to-do list of things to take care of. And truthfully, it never really goes away. But when a little sliver of time appears, how can you spend it most effectively? Today I want to share three small things that you can do to make a huge impact on your business.
REQUEST FEEDBACK. The old saying “how can you know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been” is similarly applied here. What are you doing right? Where can you improve? Asking your current and prior clients about their thoughts on their experience with your product or service is a quick way to check-in with the health of your business offerings, and a good jumpstart to thinking about strategically planning for how the company will move forward.
AUTOMATE YOUR PROCESSES We’ve talked before about the importance of incorporating software and other resources to improve efficiencies in your business, and with good reason. The fewer items that you have to be directly involved in, the more time and brainspace you have to dedicate to the parts of your product or service offerings that need you. Automation can feel tedious up front, but will save you a ton of time in the long run, by performing tasks in the background on your behalf. Take the time to set up the systems that best meet your needs, and you’ll be amazed at the time you get back from doing so.
SCHEDULE BLOCKING Some of us are up and ready to face the day early (I’m not one of them, but I’ve heard of unicorns called “morning people”.) Others prefer to burn the midnight oil with productivity and creative juices. Regardless of where you fall on the spectrum, we all tend to do a bit better when we’re focused for a period on specified task. Time blocking allows us to use our most productive time periods towards the areas of our businesses that need us most, while allowing less arduous tasks to be put on the schedule at the points where our brains are more prone to rest. Not sure where to start? Take these steps below:
Outline the major categories of tasks for your typical day (i.e. client calls, emails, creating, administrative tasks).
Look at when you most feel ready to take care of these responsibilities (in other words, what time of day is best to talk to clients v. alone work? When are you most effective at answering emails?)
Break out your categories into dayparts (morning | afternoon | evening) and try that plan out for a week.
Adjust as needed.
As a part of the small business community, it never seems like we have enough hours in the day to complete all that we plan to. Here’s hoping the small steps above help give you a bit more time back to take care of your business (and more importantly, yourself).