“Time is money”, we’ve all heard that saying before. Everyone seems to be running a “rat race” trying to reach the seemingly never-ending struggle to the finish line. What with the pressures of work and the demands of running a family, it can all become a little or a bit too much. So, what are you to do? How do you engage in work, family, play, and still keep everything all balanced and healthy?
Stress is one of the many reasons people suffer emotionally and physically. As the days go by it inevitably begins to take its toll. As unfair as that sounds, it seems to be part of most people’s lives.
In this post, we want to reflect on life as a whole and help you create better ways in which you can manage time and learn to balance everything without burning out. Taking action on certain priorities now will help you do better in future as you learn to master certain techniques and “tricks” in the workplace.
What are your short and long-term goals?
When you think about your business, there’s a reason why you’ve established it and decided that you’re going to work for yourself rather than a boss. On the other hand, you may simply want to be in control and achieve more for yourself than to be stuck in a non-productive environment that has no levels further than where you are.
Do you have any long-term or short-term goals? That’s a very important question that you need to ask yourself. Steering a boat with no direction could get you lost at sea. When considering your goals, you want to bear 2 things in mind:
- What are the goals for your life and business on a long-term/macro level
- What are the goals for your life and business on a short-term/micro level
Micro and Macro goals for business and personal life
Differentiating between the two is very important and adhering to both just as much. However, they are very similar, with the difference being one relates to your business and the other to your personal life.
Micro goals are smaller goals that you can achieve sooner than later. In work, for example, this can be anything from learning to manage your time (which we will discuss later in this post) and learning to manage your team more efficiently or even landing a new client.
Macro goals, on the other hand, are things you wish to achieve but it will take more time and there isn’t a “quick fix” or fast solution in which to do so. These solutions will form part of your long-term goals. For example, this could mean implementing a new workflow that requires time to implement.
One of the most crucial things to remember when it comes to meeting a macro goal is to ensure you take action on the micro goal especially when they’re related. For example, you need to achieve better customer service with your team of staff (macro goal/long-term). However, to do this you need to take action on the micro goal, which is to train (micro/short-term) your staff to be better in handling customers.
Even when you’ve already met your short-term goal, it will take an immense amount of discipline and dedication to follow through and be able to meet the long-term goal at the end.
Manage your time
The key to increased productivity is being able to manage your time. Time management is something many business owners struggle with.
If you’re stuck in a cycle of “putting out fires”, it’s easy to end up losing the plot and things will start to spiral out of control. Being able to effectively manage your time will help you to meet those goals we talked about earlier on.
Create a plan
If you want to effectively manage your time, it’s important to put a plan into place. Your duties can be split into 4 main categories:
- Urgent
- Important
- Urgent and important
- Not important neither urgent
This principal is based on the “4 Quadrant Time Management System” or similar so, is “The Eisenhower Method”.
Set your focus on the urgent tasks first and get that out the way before moving over to the important tasks. After that, tackle the tasks that are important and urgent. You’ll soon realize that once you’ve covered those main points, you’ll already start to see some free time coming into play.
This concept allows you to tackle the hardest duties first and then get to the easier ones later on. You’ll be amazed at the difference it makes and you’ll start to see the difference in time.
Refrain from certain bad habits such as consuming your time on things that don’t matter. For example, if you like catching up on movies and series on the weekend, realise that this is a valuable chunk of time that could be used more productively.
Likewise, if you often have late nights, realise that compromised sleep directly affects your ability to function and be productive during the day. Practice things that will help you manage work better and offer fewer distractions or drain you of the energy and rest you need to focus at work.
The power of saying “NO”
Many entrepreneurs struggle with saying “NO”, because sometimes saying yes means gaining more clients, but to what cost? People burn out when they are overworked and overworking is the result of not making time for yourself.
Did you know that you could actually make your business do better by learning how to say no? What we mean by this is that you’ll get business offers coming your way all the time. People start to talk about you, word spreads and before you know it, several offers are on the table.
However, not all of those offers are going to be good for your business because some are going to cause you to end up doing more and losing time on your actual priorities. In essence, not all of those offers are worth your time and energy because it may not pay off at the end of the day. Saying “No” to the least suitable projects and “Yes” to the most suitable ones is one of the lucrative ways to help grow your business.
The same applies to pitching in and helping work colleagues. While you may think it’s totally harmless to lend a hand here and there, several of those will add up to time lost on your end. As a result, you could end up missing deadlines and other important goals that you initially set for your business.
Don’t put personal time off for work
If you don’t take time to take care of yourself and have a break from the hustle and bustle of work, you could end up being run down sooner than later. While the prospect of putting in more work and overtime as you #hussle sounds
While it’s easy to assume that the more you do and selflessly overwork yourself, meeting the needs of your clients and the team of staff, will pay off, it doesn’t really. Looking a bit closer, you’ll start to see that you’ll have less focus and you’ll be more tired, and inevitably unable to set clear goals let alone meet any deadlines for your business.
Simply put, you won’t be able to deliver your full potential. In the
Learn to balance life and work so that you can take care of yourself and stay in optimal shape to be your best when it comes to business. Make the time you need to spend with your family and never skimp on taking a day for yourself because, in the end, it’s you who needs to make your business and family work out great. Finding balance is very important!
The takeaway
Nobody said that running a business was going to be easy; in fact, it’s the total opposite of that. Only once you’re operating, do you start to see the little things that make a business a real challenge. You’ll also start to see the little or big things that can throw you off your course if you don’t find that essential balance needed to thrive. This includes finding clarity about what you want to achieve from your business.
There are many guides and books out there that will help you do better. Meeting with fellow entrepreneurs may be a good way to learn a thing or two about staying in the best shape possible when it comes to running a business and your personal life. Always remember that to be successful means to plan ahead, in this way you can already see what goals are set and ready to be met.
Another thing to note is that saying “NO” doesn’t mean you’re a selfish person, it simply means that you’re looking out for the best interests of your business and that includes the members of staff and securing it for years to come.
Lastly, master the art of time management. We cannot stress it enough how important a time schedule is and how managing time is vital to every business owner. If anything, time doesn’t differ for anyone, in fact, it moves at the same pace for everybody, but how you use it will either be something positive or negative.
Which of these ideas, if implemented and followed up on, could change your business?
