If you’re anything like me, you have at some point come to the end of a day and still had a million things on your task list.
What do you do when you run out of time but still have a million things to do?
I get all kinds of answers to this question when I ask it – sometimes you push through and keep working till it’s done. Sometimes you break for dinner and then work into the night to get it done. Sometimes you get up early the next morning and get it done. And then you do it all over again the next day.
But if this happens to you on a regular basis, then it’s not a good thing. You need to manage your time better if you are constantly working outside of your standard business hours.
We all have lots to do, and we all have exactly the same amount of time to get it done.
Time management is the key to managing your schedule better so you can get things done but avoid burnout.
Here are a few tips that might help you out!
Set Yourself Up For Success
“Consistently working late is not necessarily a sign of a hard worker, but rather the inability to use time wisely.” Victor Butting
Look at what you have put on your to-do list for today. How much is on it? If you look at it and know in your mind that you will struggle to get it all done, that’s your first mistake. You need to help yourself succeed – and that starts with your scheduling. Don’t put more on your list than you think you can do during the day. It’s not going to help your mind stay focused when you are always feeling overwhelmed. Start slicing and dicing! Put only what you think you can actually get done on your daily list.
Extend Your Deadlines
“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” Stephen Covey
Have a look at what you have on that list again. How much of it is actually urgent? You must group your tasks by urgency. When setting up your list of things to get done every day, begin with your priorities – what is most important? What needs to get done by a certain deadline? Not everything needs to be booked in at once. Push less urgent tasks to a later day in the week when you can. When a client requests that something gets done, you should be the one dictating the delivery date, not the client. If the client does not give you enough lead time to get the task done, increase their lead times.
Focus on Your Tasks
“Time is what we want most but what we use worst.” William Penn
At the end of each day, look at what you got done. Was it your whole list? Presuming you didn’t overload the list – and you had a list of things that you should have been able to complete, what happened that made you unable to complete it? Did you get distracted? What makes you lose focus? Distractions are a big reason to implement better time management. If you should have been able to get your list done, consider the distractions that kept you off track and work to remove them.
Automate or Delegate
“Delegation is an unlimited method to multiply time for achieving results.” The Productivity Institute
Maybe you didn’t get distracted – maybe you had technical difficulties or may you have labour intensive things that you are doing that are not really a good use of your time. Can you automate something to make it more efficient? Or is it time to delegate something to a subcontractor or outsource it to someone else? As your business grows, you will need to outsource, so when you are finding that you are running out of time each day, consider if that time is now.
If you are struggling with an overflowing schedule on a regular basis, check out this awesome time management webinar: Time Hacks for Virtual Assistants
You’ll get tons of tips from my guest Captain Time that will help you manage your schedule better, and you’ll be a happier VA as a result!