Got another one for you, see if you you relate- one of my
biggest problems in the business was the way I managed My time-can anyone relate? Time management is absolutely critical so learning how to management your time is something to be very aware of, something to work on
Some Examples of Time Wasters:
Constantly checking your email, CHASING real estate deals, surfing the web for the next breakthrough silver bullet product…These are things I did as a novice investor, and I’m sure others can relate. A lot of these what I call “progress killers” are complete waste of time. :cool
Watch your Time and be more productive…
When I was a Business Broker I saw a trend with small business owners. Most were stuck working in their business.
Some started their business because they loved the technical work and wanted to do it without having a boss tell them what to do and when to do it. But they loved the technical work but when it came time to manage the company they were so busy doing the technical work they couldn’t find enough time to guide and grow the business. As the years pass and stress levels grow many of them quickly find themselves trapped. Some of them eventually lost the business.
For others they want to manage the business but are tied to the technical work. Because they didn’t set written company policies and procedures as well as build the proper company structure. They can never seem to pull most of the way out of the field work. They have to frequently return to technical work for extended periods.
It doesn’t matter what business you are in policies and procedures need to be written. Should something happen to you those filling in until you return or God forbid get out of the hospital know exactly what needs to be done and when to it.
Never stop seeking new ideas and learning new ways to accomplish things. I have seen many owners get sucked deep into their companies and begin believing they know it all. But I see that they believe no one else can do what they do and therefore never spend time to train others to be an intricate part of their organization. They may try once or twice to develop a structure but never spent the quality time to really establish an effective line of managers and supervisors as well as mentor workers for future promotion and greater responsibility.
We all start our businesses to be independent so we can work the hours we want. Take vacations when we want to take them. But without the proper company structure set up a business owner will be enslaved to the business unable to have the freedom wanted.
Time management is critical. Taking time for self development is also critical. I have had many professional careers. I was an Air Traffic Controller for 14 years, federal law enforcement for 6 years, manager - from retail store to executive management and on the board of directors for 15 years. In each of these fields I became 100% better at my job when I trained others. My job knowledge, skills, and abilities grow exponentially.
To help with my time management I read a good book (at the moment the name escapes me) but from the book I developed a great system of keeping track of things needing to be done and those things I had to wait on others to do so I could continue. On an excel sheet I put together the following columns: task start date and description. When I finished a task I changed the font color to gray. I added new tasks below the others. Eventually I deleted a completed task after a few days or a week. Leaving several rows I then had a section titled Waiting on Others. With columns titled Date (date I moved that item from the above list to this list) and a description. When that task was taken care of and I received what I needed to continue I moved it back up to the top list.
Each entry can have sub entries which are a couple of tasks that tie into the main task.
This list was great because at the end of each day I would email it to myself so I could access it from home. Some times in the middle of the night I would wake up realizing I needed to do some thing very important and I know I would forget. I’d get up access my work email and open the file updating it. I could then go back to sleep knowing I didn’t have to try to remember it because I logged it my task list.