Top 7 Timesaving Tips For Entrepreneurs

By James Adams

Successful entrepreneurs are busy. That is just a fact. For most of us success is forged with hard work and long hours that are very full of activity. Finding ways to make the most of each moment and save time where we can is an essential part of maximizing our efforts each and every work day. As hard as you’re working, it is likely that taking the time to evaluate your modus operandi will reveal some time drains that you can eliminate, thus saving valuable minutes or hours. The result will be more efficient use of the clock, which might lead to a bit more free time. Fat chance, huh? You never know. But let’s not waste any time getting to the top 7 timesaving tips for entrepreneurs.

1. Know your goals and your game plan: If you don’t know where you’re going, then any path will do. But if your destination, your goals are defined, you will have clear direction about how to spend your time. You’ll find it much easier to rule out certain actions, freeing valuable time for those things in your game plan which must be done. If you haven’t written down your goals, do so today. It will sharpen your focus tomorrow and every day beyond.

2. Schedule everything: Time has a way of leaking. A short break to check email turns into 30 minutes away from important tasks. Ditto for phone chats, sports news, a look at this weekend’s weather, etc. Schedule a short discretionary session online a few times a day and stick to it. You’ll pocket a surprising amount of time to spend in better ways.

3. Learn the power of saying no: This flows from our first point. When you have clear goals and a plan for getting there it is easy to see which work related “opportunities” simply don’t fit those goals. This makes it so much easier to rule out a half day seminar that sounds great but isn’t consistent with your current direction, for example. Four hours saved is precious!

4. Focus on the top of your priority list: The old saying is, “make the main thing the main thing.” That never hurts. While an entrepreneur must wear at least a few hats, know which one is most important and which are secondary. Wear that primary hat 80% of the time, whether it is the product development hat, the network building hat or the sales hat.

5. Outsource wherever possible: In the early days entrepreneurs may not have the money to outsource anything! When you grow beyond that phase determine what is worth paying someone else to do, especially if it saves time that can be spent in greater productivity. Determine the monetary value of your time and you’ll have a guide for deciding where outsourcing will save you money. If you have employees then outsourcing becomes delegating.

6. Document your time saving practices and make them part of your routine: It might have been Zig Ziglar who first said, “Work every day like it’s the day before vacation.” When a holiday is just a few days off we go into productivity overdrive. If we can harness that attitude it will energize us. Even if we can’t function at that level indefinitely, it will help us get a great deal of work done in short bursts. With dedication those bursts will become longer, more sustainable. That attitude also gives us razor sharp focus in determining our tasks for the day.

7. Schedule time off to refuel and achieve balance: The counterpart to the previous principle is that maintaining high productivity requires down time to regroup and restore our energy. Schedule “axe sharpening” as Stephen Covey would say. You will return to work swinging a sharper axe with more energy. A sharper focus, a keener attitude and a renewed vision will translate knowing what things you need to do and getting more of them done. You won’t feel guilty about time away if you know it will improve your performance when you are back in work mode.

Entrepreneurs who succeed point to their time saving/time usage skills as a major contributor to achieving their goals. Start today by recapturing your vision and then using that to sharpen your goals and your game plan. You’ll be refreshed and energized. You will enjoy your work more. You will be doing the right things for the right reasons and the next rung of your success will be closer than ever.

Author Information

James Adams works at an online ink supplies store where he covers the latest tech releases, reviewing products such as the T0715 and posting on his favoured topics of art and design on their blog.

Midyear Checkup: Are You Thriving or Just Surviving?

Taking stock of your freelancing business.

If you are reading this article on the date that I published it, we are exactly at the half-way point of the year. Yes, I killed the “evergreen writing” component once I wrote the title, but what I am going to say here can be applied any time of the year.

As freelancers we should take stock of “how are you doing?” at various points of the year. If you do not, then you risk missing the mark and whatever goals you set for yourself at the beginning of the year, perhaps even when you set out to freelance in the first place.

Freelancing Life

One thing about a personal review is that you can make adjustments to help you get back on track. To that end I have pulled out some of the concerns we self-employed workers have, identifying those areas and how you and I can make improvements. Oh, yeah, I am not about to harp on the “tough economy” angle either—if you are still in business for yourself, you already understand that challenge.

Time Management – Are you making good use of your time? Easily, we can become distracted by the Internet as we do our work. There are freelancer forums, blogs, social media and networking sites and email to woo us away from what we do. Be honest with yourself: are you spending too much time socializing and not enough time writing for pay?

Equipment Upgrade – I finally tossed my Windows-based personal laptop and bought a Mac. Yes, I am now a Mac snob. Seriously, I made the decision to switch when it became evident that registry errors and the usual PC slowness was a major drag on what I do. No more anti-virus and crapware to deal with. I spent more time in the past month writing for pay and less time trying to coax broken Microsoft Windows to work.

Pay Scales – I have been working with a few clients for several years and still charge them the same rate. That is good for them, but not for me as my own costs have increased since then. Are your freelancing rates frozen? Is it time for you to begin raising them? You should be able to pass along a modest five-percent increase without a problem, but if you are aiming for ten percent or more, then be prepared to explain why. Perhaps there is an added benefit such as tweeting and stumbling published work that needs to be mentioned.

New Vistas – I am not going to say that print magazines are dead, but if you are spending an extraordinary amount of time sending out queries with very little to show for it, then it may be time for you to explore other options. I get more queries from potential clients than those I send out, which allows me to cherry-pick the ones I want. Still, if things are a bit slow I will swallow my pride and take on a gig just to keep my writing flow going and my income stream flowing. I still write for two print publications, but the lion’s share of my income is derived from on-line work.

Tax Management – Yes, I am still doing my own taxes. I cannot see that changing unless my tax picture suddenly becomes very complicated. I do not think that it will, but I am not taking any chances. I know when my quarterly federal taxes, corporate state filing and local privilege licenses are due or up for renewal, I can tap a separate bank account I fund for those payments. No more panicking in advance of a tax deadline to pull together monies owed.

Long Term – Funding for my personal retirement has taken a back seat to everything else in recent years, but that is about to change. I will still put money in my children’s education accounts and set aside other cash and finally get serious about a period in my life when work will not be the priority it is today. Honestly, I do not believe I will ever retire—I love to write—but, my flesh and bones may not be so cooperative in my latter years. Plus, it would be nice not to be so deadline-focused, writing just enough to make some money, but without the ever-present calendar with important dates circled in red in front of me.

Your Passion

Six months from now I will be taking a look at a year completed and laying the groundwork for the year to come. One point I did not mention is your personal passion for what you do. If it is gone, can you get it back? If not, might it be time for you to move on?