Time Management for Business : 7 Tips to Make Time for That Next Great Business Opportunity

As a business owner, it is easy to get so caught up in the day to day running of your business that you miss out on opportunities for dramatic business growth and evolution. Below are 7 tips that you can apply TODAY to free up some of your time and energy to allow you to recognize and take action on great opportunities.

1. Optimize How You Use Your Time Work from a schedule with a specific time assigned each day to complete routine predictable activities such as returning phone calls, reviewing your mail, reading and responding to email, filing, order processing, etc. Then, use larger blocks of time (minimum of 2 hours) for the scheduling of work on large projects or activities. Short blocks of time make it difficult to really focus on the work and also create unnecessary lost time as you transition from one activity to another more often.
2. Strive for "Professional" Rather Than "Perfect" Outcomes - It's easy to fall into the trap of holding on to a written proposal or piece of marketing material or even delaying the release of a new product or service offering until it is "just right". By setting and honoring clear professional quality standards for products, services, written materials, etc you can deliver high quality to your customers and clients every time and know that your development time is being used wisely. If you find that you are well beyond the estimated completion time for a project, check yourself to make sure that you haven't fallen prey to a need for perfection.
3. Create/Maintain A Clean and Organized Work Environment - Don't waste time searching for or traveling to access things in your work area. Different tasks may require you to work in different locations within your office. For work in each location, make sure that all of the necessary furniture, equipment, forms and supplies are readily available and easily accessible at the location. This ensures that you remain totally focused on the work at hand. Maintain the order in your work area by allocating time at the end of each work day to put things away properly. This small daily ritual will save you much time down the road and even prevent the loss of business opportunities.
4. Really Focus Your Marketing Efforts - Review all of your marketing activities to ensure that you are consistently reaching a high density of your target market with each and every marketing activity. Otherwise, your marketing efforts will be diluted and you will have to invest more time and money than necessary. For example, if one of your marketing strategies is networking, join only those groups where at least 75% of the members are your target market.
5. Delegate or Outsource Specialized Tasks - For those critical tasks that you either do not do well or you continually put off doing, find some help. Hire a virtual assistant to update your newsletter, do bulk mailings, develop and maintain databases or format presentations. Delegate tasks to subordinates and provide them an opportunity to learn something new about the business or organization. For small business owners who don't have employees seek to barter for services with other professionals.
6. Deal With the Energy Drainers - Most business owners and professionals have one or more things that they have been meaning to do but haven't gotten around to yet (for any number of reasons). As time passes, the anxiety caused by these undone (and often overdue) tasks grows rapidly and can have a dramatic impact on your level of energy. It also makes it increasingly difficult to actually get the task(s) in question completed. If there is anything on your "To Do" list which causes you queasiness when you think about it, commit to do it now or arrange to have someone do it for you. Stop letting these items drain your valuable energy.
7. Eliminate Unnecessary Interruptions Establish a specific period of time each day for you to work uninterrupted. You can still have an "open door policy" and set boundaries that allow you to work more effectively. Be sure to let colleagues, employees, family members and even your clients know not to call at these designated times.