I recently carried out a LinkedIn survey where I asked business owners in London this question:
What do you think is the one thing that SME business owners have the most difficulty with?
One topic came up over and over again. More than 50% mentioned something like “effectively managing my time“, “knowing where I should be spending my time“, “having enough time to get everything done“.
I wasn’t surprised! It’s a common issues my clients ask for help with. You only need to step outside and watch everyone rushing around like crazy things to realise that time is a valuable commodity that’s in short supply. It’s a key contributor to why business owners and their teams do not get the results they desire from their sales and marketing. They are working long hours – but those hours are not producing the sales they want because they aren’t using their time effectively. 
I’m going to write a series of posts explaining the practical tips and systems I teach my clients which have enabled them to master their time. These posts are based on my personal experiences and also on all the research, writing and ideas that exist on the topic today.
The best tool I’ve found to help people is the idea of the ‘default diary’. It’s a simple tool that gives you a way of looking at your time objectively and focusing on just one thing at a time. Everyone I coach who’s given it a go has wondered why they weren’t always using one. As well as the default diary, I’ll provide advice on mindset, psychology, procrastination, delegating, schedules, to-do lists, important vs urgent tasks, unscheduling and plenty more ….
Right now I just want to convince you of the importance of investing the effort in learning how to master your time. If you think about it, it’s the very first thing you should learn to master as a business owner. If you have more time available and you’re more in-control and focused, everything else you do will benefit. I strongly believe that being able to get lots of stuff done quickly is what separates exceptional businesses from average businesses.
There’s also another reason why mastering time is so important. Getting rich might have been one of the reasons you started your own business, but perhaps not the only one. Owning a business should mean having more control over your life, being your own boss and choosing how you spend your time.
Unfortunately it doesn’t always turn out that way. If you could save just 10% of your time by learning these skills, that’s an extra evening every week freed up to enjoy with your friends, family or doing whatever you choose.
If you want to find out more stick around for the rest of the Effective Time Management series which is on it’s way soon…
