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Time Management Habits For Entrepreneurs

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It’s very easy to become distracted or start procrastinating, especially when you are self employed. Developing time management habits will be very beneficial in ensuring you are taking your business to new heights. Habits develop over time, but if you start now, these 6 habits will become apart of your day to day routine. Here’s 6 time management habits that actually work.

Check out the full video on time management habits to stop wasting time.

Set a specific time to work on your business needs.

Treat your business as if you were on the clock working for another company. You are working for a company, yours! Choose the hours that works best with your schedule and dedicate that time strictly to your business. Be sure to show up on time, remove all distractions, and work strictly on your business during that time. If you have to, use a time punch to clock in and out for each shift. That way you can monitor your time worked. This will allow you to be sure you are spending enough time on your business, but also not overworking so that you have a personal life as well.

Use the first 10-15 minutes to plan your day.

Your time of planning can be in an actual planner, a simple to do list, or even mental note. I encourage you each day to spend the first 10-15 minutes to plan what needs to get done that day. This will give you a sense of direction for the day. This time management habit will specifically help with procrastination. Similar to our free business plan template, your daily to do list is your roadmap for the day. Map out your day at the beginning of your shift and check tasks off as they are complete. What feels better than getting things done?

Delegate and automate tasks when necessary.

This time management habit may not be an option for all in the beginning. At least for the delegation part. However, automation is available to all. Automating tasks such as social media marketing, email marketing, sms marketing, most marketing for that matter can be automated. When you have the opportunity, learn to delegate tasks as well. Especially those easier tasks that requires little to no training. In the beginning, even if you cannot afford employees just yet, you still have the option to delegate work too! Look to friends and family to lend a helping hand.

Leave buffer time between tasks and meetings.

Leaving buffer time is an indirect time management habit. It’s not necessarily adding available time into your schedule. More so taking time away. However, this time management habit will help you to better plan your day. It keeps you grounded during the day by you not feeling overwhelmed about your schedule falling apart and not getting everything done. Panicking about your schedule can actually be a distraction and push you off track. Learn to leave buffer time in between tasks and meetings. This can be as little as 5 minutes. Don’t need the buffer time, use those 5 minutes as a quick break to take a breather.

Find inspiration/motivation to keep you going.

We all need some motivation sometimes. While we certainly should know self motivation, there’s nothing wrong with creating a habit of seeking motivation elsewhere. Now how does motivation and inspiration help with time management? Easy answer. Have you ever experienced the feeling of being unmotivated? It’s not a good feeling. Feeling unmotivated actually tends to make you work slower or even not at all. Some days we just need a little push to get going. Make a habit of finding motivation to save yourself some time. Whether that’s from a mentor like our free mentorship program, The Waitlist, podcasts, music, etc.

To learn more about our free mentorship program, click here.

Show yourself grace.

Above all things, make it a habit to show yourself grace. Things happen, we fall off track at times, and sometimes not everything can get done. Save yourself some time simply by showing yourself grace. Be kind and gentle with yourself. It’s ok to still self improve by finding areas of opportunities to keep the mishaps from happening again. Just remember you still are human, though. At the end of every shift, learn to let go of the things you could not control. Don’t let your work life walk into your personal life at the end of your shift.

Those are the 6 time management habits to help you from procrastinating and reach new levels in business. Learn to implement all 6 of these habits in your day to day. Also remember that habits take time to develop!

A Note From Iconic Fashion Figure

Hello all,

I hope you found all of these time management habits helpful. I personally implement every single one of the habits mentioned on a daily basis. I used to have a bad habit of procrastinating. I would lose site of what needed to be done each day until I developed these habits. The 6 habits have helped me tremendously. I have consistent productive days, rarely miss deadlines, and I simply feel accomplished. 

I personally like to create my to do list the night before. Then, the next day, I review my to do list and prioritize the tasks of the day. *PRO TIP* I like to prioritize my hardest tasks first. Unless of course there is something with an urgent deadline. But, prioritizing the hard tasks first allow me to get them out the way and get it off my mind. The remainder of my shift flys by! 

I have a usual 9-5 schedule with a 1 hour lunch. I truly start 1 hour earlier, to be honest! That extra hour allows me to do my prepping, preparing, and emails. That is also my tea time. Therefore, I’m working but slowly working. Then, right at 9am, I can dive right into my first task of the day.

With time, I learned to develop the habit of leaving buffer time between tasks and meetings. I used to not do this and would feel so overwhelmed by the end of the day. Or, somewhat frustrated when I didn’t complete everything because my schedule fell off track. The buffer time now allows me to prepare for any mishaps as well as take breathers in between. When working for other companies, they usually give us two 15 minute breaks, right? Look at it as your paid breaks.

I had to learn to stop being a control freak and allow others to lend a helping hand. Whether that’s hiring freelance, intern, part time, or full time. I’ve learned and still learning to delegate tasks. This puts so much more time back in my hands. Especially with those repetitive tasks that I can show someone how to do one time and depend on them to take care of indefinitely.

When I’m working I love to have music playing. It helps me to stay focus. For some reason the day seems to drag when I don’t have music playing. If I don’t have music on, I may have a video playing learning about what I’m working on ie: marketing. When I truly need motivation, especially during those tough times, I listen to inspirational podcasts.

Lastly, I’ve learned to be easier on myself. And I say easier specifically, because I’m always going to push myself, but some days I truly just have to show myself grace and know that I accomplished all that I could. I like to be able to walk away at least knowing I tried and the outcome simply was the outcome.

I challenge you to implement these 6 habits into your daily life and watch you flourish in your business.

-Iconic Fashion Figure

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