One of the most difficult tasks of being self-employed is knowing when to derive a time-management plan. If simple everyday work tasks are becoming daunting and difficult to accomplish due to the lack of available time in the day, developing an effective work plan for your business is a necessity.
When the day of having one to-do-list becomes a scattered mess of multiple lists on your counter top, in your car and on your office desk, it's time to move to the next level. Consider developing an efficient time management plan. Charting tasks for the week will allow focus and productivity on a daily basis. Of course there will be unexpected incidents that will arise and fires to be put out. These interruptions will interfere with the efficient execution of your time management schedule. This is business 101. It's time to breath.
Allow time for social media marketing. If you're an early riser, begin with a few social media posts. Avoid getting caught in the time warp of staring at the computer screen for hours checking your Facebook news feed. This ritual becomes an enormous time sponge. Try this alternative. Schedule time to work on business marketing towards the end of the work day where posting material from the day's events is more easily accessible. Post one post in the morning on your business Facebook page to begin the day feeding to Twitter or Instagram to Twitter. At least you've posted something newsworthy about your business to begin the day. Finish with another post before the five o'clock hour arrives. However, spending time growing and marketing your business won't stop there.
Multi-tasking for some can be very unproductive. However when deadlines loom over your head on a daily basis multi-tasking is unavoidable and necessary. Some work well under pressure and thrive on it. I acknowledge that I am one of those people. Multi-tasking works well for my productivity whereas the engineer-minded type has difficulty turning away from the orderly to-to-list. By checking off one task at a time a sense of accomplishment is obtained for the day. Avoid procrastination. This is the biggest hindrance of production. Delaying a task that you dislike only creates anxiety when the deadline arrives.
Delegating is the hardest task I've had to learn. The mindset of the self-employed business owner is that no one else can accomplish a job or task better or more efficiently than you. Letting go and allowing an employee to take over the responsibility of ordering product, conversing with clients and the follow through of a job from beginning to end creates more anxiety when it's not effectively executed. Another lesson I've learned, if you need to have control over every little task in your company you're not being productive. One will never feel the benefits of a growing company if responsibility isn't delegated to competent employees. Part of growing your company is to let go and trust others with a responsibility or task that will only bog you down in turn creating additional stress for you.