When we were kids in school, we learned all about the inner workings of the cells inside the human body, but you know what would have been more helpful to learn? Time management strategies.
But in my signature Brittnie style, I’m dropping some truth today: it’s never too late to try something new, and that includes the way you manage your time. Today’s blog post will walk you through a few exercises to help you learn how you’re spending your time currently and how you can be more efficient with your time moving forward.
But before we get started, let me ask you this:
What are your limiting beliefs about time management?
In my recent live workshop, 3 Days to Better Productivity, busy women just like you shared these limiting beliefs with me:
- Not knowing where to start
- I have great intentions, but I struggle to follow through
- Routine bores me
- Distractions, lack of focus, or brain fog
- I want to be free-flowing and creative, so time management doesn’t work for me
- My schedule is chaos, so time management strategies don’t work for me
Despite all of these limiting beliefs, we DO have control over our own schedule! “Control” and “time management” might look different for all of us, but it is possible to develop strategies that will help you manage your time more effectively.
How Can I Manage My Time Better as a Business Owner?
The first step in managing your time is determining how you are currently spending your time. My favorite way to do this is through a Time Audit!
Get my free worksheet here to complete a time audit for yourself, but here’s the basic instructions:
- As your day progresses, record how much time you spend doing a task and what that task is.
- Record everything, both business and personal.
After you’ve tracked your time for your work week, take stock of what you spend your time doing.
- How much time have you spent on client work, like editing photos, responding to inquiries, or writing blog posts?
- How much time have you spent on Netflix or scrolling through Instagram?
- How much time have you taken off this week?
Once you’ve added up the total time you’ve invested in related tasks, you’re ready for the next process: Delete, Outsource, Batch, or Automate.
Again, I have a download of this worksheet available for you, but first, let’s define these terms:
- Delete: things that are unnecessary or are no longer serving you or your business, i.e. timesuck activities like social media scrolling
- Outsource: things that you can hand off to someone else, i.e. bookkeeping, copywriting, etc.
- Batch: similar tasks that you can group together and complete in a block of time, i.e. client call days
- Automate: things that can run in the background if you set it up in advance, i.e. client workflows in your CRM or email list
After you’ve completed this list of tasks that you can delete, outsource, batch, or automate, it’s time to take Inventory. Download this worksheet here – let’s dive in:
- What top three areas do you struggle with most in your day-to-day life? Examples: a cluttered kitchen counter, the overabundance of shoes in your entryway, not having a dedicated office space in your home, etc.
- What are your patterns? Examples: the sink is always full with dishes after dinner, and you leave them for the morning, kids’ activities make certain nights of the week busy, etc.
- What are your top 3 most efficient areas? Examples: meal planning, 15-minute home shakedown, preparing kids’ lunches or school outfits for the week, etc.
Notice here that in this exercise, we’re not focusing only on struggle areas or patterns of behavior we’d like to change – we’re celebrating efficiencies, too!
Want more time management tips? Join the workshop here. We’ll dive into time blocking techniques, setting daily goals, and developing daily, weekly, and monthly routines.
Here’s what other business owners just like you said about the workshop:
Check out the Capture The Chaos planner for Business Creatives for additional time management support.
