Time Manage Your Calendar
I often speak about the conscious-minded business owner because I've been one for over 17 years and my business, my purpose, and my role as mother are important to me. As a small business management consultant I work with people who are just like me, who know their business is part of their purpose and who want their personal and professional lives to flourish. We all want to work on our business and not be stuck in our business and part of that is managing and taking control of your calendar.
Do your business, that is your purpose.
Time management isn't just about what you put in your calendar, it's about what you do with your time; what are you actually doing between 9am and 6pm? What about what you do before 9am and after 6pm in your personal time?
There are 4 cornerstones in business:
1. Time Management
2. Financial Management
3. Marketing
4. Leadership
If you have efficient and effective time management, you have peace and you're capable of fulfilling your commitment. Time management is about keeping your word.
I've mentioned him before, and will continue to share that the time management advice I follow is that of David Allen- Getting Things Done. One of my favorite quotes of his on the subject is, "Your mind is for having ideas, not for holding them." If you try to use your mind as a memory bank, you'll be disappointed. Within a nanosecond your mind starts to degrade and forget; it wants to use the data it has for creating ideas, not memorizing.
Do your papers barely fit into a drawer? Are you like me and your papers stack up and never make them into files? I know I'll never get it done, so part of my time management is hiring someone to put my paperwork into files. Every 6 months, pull out the files you haven't used in the last 6-months and throw them away. File you need, have used in the past 6-months or that you're keeping for reference, file those away in a reference file cabinet. Semi-active projects that will have new paperwork added to them over the next 6-months should be properly filed and labeled. I use a label-maker because I have terrible handwriting and I don't want to waste time trying to read my writing and I don't want to look at sloppy files and labels are neat and clean. Have a filing cabinet next to your desk and whatever you're currently working on, current projects should be closest to you.
Label your files in a way that makes sense and that's easy to remember so you can save yourself time when it's time to put your hands on them. I divide my files into household projects, medical/Dr's (for myself, my husband, my daughter), insurance (life, home, car) and even my gardening schedule so when I look at my calendar I know when to plant flowers for the winter.
What goes in your calendar are just appointments, as in things that expire. Appointment dates and times you need to meet with people, flight schedules, and offers or coupons that expire to name a few are what should be in your calendar. Also, your calendar should include things that have deadlines such as meetings with your boss or employees. Tasks do not belong in your calendar but the time you block out to do certain tasks should be in your calendar. Schedule time to file your paperwork, clearing your emails, texts, and voicemails and use that time doing those specific things.
Don't set yourself up for failure but putting tasks or things in your calendar that don't belong there. When you clog your calendar with your to-do list because when you don't get to everything, which you will never be able to, you'll feel disappointed. When it comes to blocking off time for things like appointments, block off more time than it takes. If your appointment is 30 minutes away, block off 45 minutes so you have time to get in and out of the car and maybe a spare minute in case you forget something and have to run back into the house.
Lastly, remember when you're putting things into your calendar to remember the difference between things that are urgent and important, urgent but not important, and important but not urgent and schedule them accordingly.