If you’re going to succeed in small business, you’ll have to learn how to implement solid time management tactics. Once you become a business owner, you’re going to have so many additional responsibilities on your plate that you’ll feel like you’ll never be able to get them done in a 24 hour day.

Guess what? If you continue doing things the same way you’ve always done them, then you aren’t going to have enough time to take care of your responsibilities. So learning time-saving strategies is definitely the best way to improve your life, eliminate stress and overwhelm, and ultimately turn your business into a smashing success.

If you’re up for it, we recommend reading the powerful time management tips we’re going to share below for small businesses. Not only should you learn them, but you should also use them to improve your livelihood as efficiently as possible by any means like using excel timesheets, becoming better prepared for the workday, and other very effective methods that we’ll tell you about right now. 

Time Management Tip : Work on Similar Tasks in a Cluster

So many people swear by the effectiveness of multitasking, but believe it or not, most people do not actually multitask. Not in the traditional sense of the word. But what many people do is accomplish many tasks quickly and in succession even though it feels like they are working on multiple things at the same time.

A simple way to accomplish many tasks very close to one another is to cluster similar tasks. By organizing your day to work on similar things at the same time, you’ll be able to handle large batches of responsibility all at once and cross them off of you’re to-do list in a quick and succinct fashion.

As an example, if you regularly have to read and respond to many customer emails during the day, you should focus on this single task at one time. Set aside a specific time during the day to read and answer emails and only work on it during the designated time frame.

If 3 PM is the perfect time to answer emails, then you should designate this time to handle all email related inquiries and questions. You can batch all of these tasks together and complete them one after the other seemingly all at the same time.

Time Management Tip #2: Eliminate or Minimize Distractions

Distractions are one of the biggest reasons why so many people have a difficult time taking care of their responsibilities throughout the day. You sit down to work on a single task, only to have five employees interrupt you, three emails come in at the same time, and the phone rings and it’s for you at least a dozen times throughout the day.

How will you ever get things done? If you’re like most people, you haven’t put in the effort to minimize your distractions. Now is the time to take measures to gain control over your work environment once and for all.

So stop answering calls all day long and only answer them at a specific time. Only read and respond to email at one time during the day. And when you’re working on something that requires your undivided attention, tell your employees to leave you alone until you’re finished.

Time Management Tip #3: Delegate Responsibility

If you have too many things on your plate and not enough time to do them, it’s time to begin delegating responsibilities. So pay close attention to your tasks and figure out which ones can be handled by a trusted member of your team.

It may seem like you have to do everything because it’s your business, but nothing could be further from the truth. So get some help if you don’t already have it or ask trusted employees to help relieve tasks from your overburdened schedule.

Final Thoughts

Whether you’re starting a business for the first time or you and your perfect business partner have been in the trenches for a while, just know it’s possible to improve your time management skills. In fact, we’ve shared three tips that will let you implement time management strategies for your small business that will help your company become a great success if you use them.