When you are running your own business, you naturally want to get as much done as possible without spending every waking hour in the office. Spending fifteen hours a day does not necessarily mean that you or your employees are any more productive – in fact, the chances are that they will be less so, and you run the risk of high wage bills and burnout, which costs you in the long run. Here are a few tips to help you free up some time in your working day.
Automate wherever possible
These days, there are very few tasks that can’t be at least partially done through automation. Payroll and HR management software can be used, workflow platforms, even email scheduling software. These tasks might only seem like they take a few minutes each, but over the course of a week, it all adds up to several hours of what is probably unnecessary work for you.
Hire a social media manager
Pretty much every business has a presence on social media, but few do it properly. Maybe you check-in and update it when you get a few moments here and there, or perhaps a few different people do, meaning a lack of consistency across them. A solid social media strategy is essential, so hiring someone to take care of this will save you lots of time and money in the long run, and give you much better results. This does not need to be a full-time, in-house employee – it is the perfect role to outsource to a freelancer or third party.
Keep meetings short and to the point
We all know how it feels to be sat in a meeting that never seems to end and is entirely irrelevant for most of the people sitting around the table. Only have meetings if they are necessary, and if you do need one, only invite the people who really need to be there. Keep them short and to the point by having a clear agenda and do not divert away from it. If further discussion is required around a point, think about other ways that you can work that into a day.
Time yourself
How often do you get distracted during the day, to check on that social media or to send that quick email? It’s probably a lot!
Try setting a timer for every task you decide to do and see if it encourages you to stay focused as you work. This is called the Pomodoro technique and can be extremely effective in keeping you on one task at a time.
Work outside of the office
Sometimes, working outside of the office is all anybody needs to help them feel more motivated. See if you can have employees work from home remotely occasionally. Going virtual will help you to free up some cash too.
By putting some of these tips into practice, you will see an upturn in productivity and a reduction in the number of hours you and your team have to work.
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