Time Management

Yep, their secret weapon is a skill that you can learn. It is not something that is talked about very often because successful people just get it. They are able to prioritize and outsource to get things done. Yes, it takes a combination of things to be successful at managing your time.

Acceptance

The first concept you must master is acceptance. You need to accept that your to-do list will always be longer than what you can get done by yourself in a single day. This one is a struggle for me. I really thought I was superhuman. Reality can be a bummer sometimes. After you swallow this one you are ready to move on to the next major hurdle in time management. 

A great book to help you learn the core values of time management is Eat That Frog!  by Brian Tracy. This book really is about teaching yourself to stop procrastinating and just get it done.

Prioritize

This often sounds much easier than it is. You have a stack of projects and ideas but focusing on which one to tackle first can sometimes be overwhelming. I like to pull out my to-list and get to designating projects into two categories. Something only I can do and things I can automate or outsource. I find that my dividing my list it makes it much easier to focus on the major tasks that only I can do. I am able to then put those in order as to what I need to focus on first based on what has a deadline, followed by projects that will generate an income. You can read more on how to Tackle Creative Business ADD here.

Automate

Now is the time to grab your second list. If you are done with projects with immediate deadlines, make time to work on setting up systems to automate parts of your workflow. This really is a whole topic on its own as there is so much that can be automated and tools that you can use to help get more work done in less time. But in short, utilizing tools and resources from early on will help you conquer the time management struggle and make it easier to outsource. 

Some great tools to help you automate your workflow include, CoSchedule and Trello.

CoSchedule is a great editorial calendar and social media schedule all built into one. It is great for managing your team and creating all of those awesome posts to share all over the internet. The best part, you can do it all from within WordPress on the blog post you are working on. There is no need to switch between windows so this saves you time and keeps you focused.

Trello is a great tool for content management, especially if you have many hands in the cookie jar. It gives you a single place to track the progress of something and even attach links and documents as needed. I like to use Trello to follow my checklist for creating new blog posts and move them across the board as tasks are completed. This is perfect if you are a visual person but don't want to carry a giant corkboard around with you.

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Outsource

This is something that often gets put off because small business owners either don't have the budget or the time to train an assistant. But trust me, if you can make both of those things happen you will see greater things happen in your business when you free up some of your time for those things that were on list one.

I personally haven't made the jump to hiring a single virtual assistant, but I find that hiring someone per diem for certain tasks is perfect while I grow. A great place to find affordable help for anything from techy stuff to ghostwriting is UpWork (formally ODesk) and Fiverr. Keep in mind that these sites can be a hit or miss when you are first looking for some help. But once you find the right person it will make using them much easier. 

Wrap-Up

With the four pillars of time management, you will be able to not only thrive in your business but see growth because you will have time to focus on bigger projects without the stress of clearing your inbox or replying to every comment on a blog post. 

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