9 Time Management Skills for an Entrepreneur to Master

Wish there were more hours in the day? Don’t we all. But the good news is that with effective time management, you can create additional time during the day and still have a chance to decompress before you call it a night.

While hours can be a little more intense and challenge for entrepreneurs or new business owners, it’s important to exercise good time management

Stay On Track

The best to way to stay on track with your day is to schedule out before it even gets started. Personally, my favorite approach is to wake up in the morning, make coffee, and then sit down at my desk, go through emails and my calendar, and then make a list of what all needs to be accomplished – and I make sure that this is prioritized. Tasks that I would love to get done today, but don’t have to be done today – are the last ones listed – and it’s okay to move those to tomorrow if you don’t get to them.

Invest In A Planner

If you do best keeping everything digital, then go for it. But if you’re like me and you do well with lists, investing in a planner is a must! I love Blue Sky‘s planners (I’ve used their weekly/monthly planners for the last 5 years). There’s a number of different layouts and designs to chose from, so you can find the perfect fit for your work style!

Do Hard Tasks First

It’s so easy to do the small tasks first and get them out of the way, but what happens when you do that is you end up putting off the bigger tasks that need to get done. Do the time consuming tasks first, and then move on to the smaller ones. It will help reduce stress and anxiety, and you’ll feel way more capable of tackling the day.

Minimize The Distraction

Like to have Netflix on in the background when you work? Have your email open all day? Look at what you do on a daily basis that distracts you and minimize those distractions. If you find yourself actually watching Netflix instead of just enjoying the background noise, try turning if off. If you leave your email open all day, try closing it and only opening it up at specific times each day. Not hearing that new mail chime every 5 minutes will end up leaving you with so much more time in your day to be productive.

Set Deadlines

The best way to avoid procrastination is to set deadlines. If you have a project that is coming up, set milestones and deadlines for yourself in your planner and commit to sticking to them. Biting off smaller pieces of a project over a week is much more efficient (and less stressful) until waiting till the last minute. Give yourself a set amount of time for each milestone (or each day) to help you stay on track without feeling anxious.

Be Realistic

Always be realistic with your workload, and when you’re looking at taking on new clients or new projects – be sure to assess what you currently have on your plate – both professionally and personally. As an entrepreneur, spreading yourself too thin can be easy to do. Be sure to keep a good balance so that you can meet the expectations of your clients or customers and not stress out in the process.

Don’t Forget To Sleep

We’ve all stayed up late (or even pulled an all-nighter before) in efforts to get a project finished. While doing this every once in awhile is a necessary evil of being a #LadyBoss, making a habit out of it will quickly wear you down. Getting a sufficient amount of sleep every night not only helps keep you refreshed but also keeps your mind sharp. Feeling tired? Crash early, and wake up ready to conquer the world!

Plan “You” Time

Sleep isn’t the only activity you need make time for that isn’t work related. Having downtime, and more specifically “you” time, is equally important for recharging and motivating yourself. Ever heard that saying, “Work hard. Play hard.”? It’s a motto that I personally love to live by. I’m committed to my clients and my businesses, but I’m also committed to myself and rewarding myself when deadlines are met and projects are wrapped. Making time to do what I love, whether it be catching a movie, traveling, or spending time with family and friends – these are all things that I have to make time for in order to keep myself energized for a rather intense workload.

Ask For Help

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. You realistically can’t do everything, and that statement is hard for many female entrepreneurs to accept. Asking for help doesn’t mean that you’re not Wonder Woman still, it just means that you’re using your time efficiently. Delegating tasks that aren’t the best use of your time makes you smart. Spend your time on things that need the most of your attention, and ask for help on the rest.

Do you have any time management skills that help you? We’d love for you to share them with us in our comment section below!