There’s a great deal of joy and fulfillment in being an entrepreneur or business owner. The freedom, independence, and creative control can be incredibly rewarding. As business owners and leaders, however, we often find ourselves working long hours, juggling countless responsibilities, and feeling pulled in many different directions. This constant demand on our time can leave us exhausted, making it difficult for us to execute key business strategies, which ultimately limits long-term growth. How can we get it all done? More importantly, how can we accomplish it in a way that allows us to truly enjoy the entrepreneurial lifestyle?
It’s critical to cut out or reduce tasks that aren’t adding value to your personal life or business. Finding time is essential, but it requires careful planning and strategic action. By outsourcing or eliminating certain activities, you’ll create the space you need to invest in yourself and your business. How can you make this happen? What resources are available to help you manage your time more effectively? Let’s get started!
Outsource at Home
When we’re busy, things at home often bear the burden most. One of the main reasons many of us decide to become business owners or entrepreneurs is to gain more control over our lives and improve our quality of life. Why, then, are we still spending hours cleaning the house, maintaining the yard, or managing grocery shopping and cooking? If you genuinely enjoy these activities, then, by all means, continue to do them! However, for many of us, household chores often add to our workload without improving our level of self-care or quality of life.
Outsourcing tasks at home may come with a financial cost, but it’s worth considering. Discuss the options with your partner, if applicable, and see if it’s financially viable to hire some help. For instance, hiring a professional cleaning service for a monthly deep clean could save you hours of work. Subscribing to a meal-delivery service or a meal-kit service with pre-portioned ingredients and recipe cards could save you time spent grocery shopping and prepping meals each day. Imagine how much extra time you could gain to spend with your family, practice self-care, or grow your business!
Pro Tip: A cost-effective way to save time is to take advantage of curbside pick-up or grocery delivery from your local store.
Outsource at Work
What task do you dread doing? What are you not particularly good at, but it still needs to get done? Finding experts to unburden you from certain business tasks can not only help you reclaim time but may also fuel your business's growth. For many entrepreneurs and small business owners, outsourcing administrative tasks can free up dozens of hours each month. This could include hiring a business strategy coach, a bookkeeper, a website developer, or someone to manage email marketing and social media posts.
Want to take outsourcing to the next level? According to an article at Upwork, a virtual assistant can help you improve the turnaround time on time-consuming tasks, especially when you’re responding to customers. Virtual assistants can schedule meetings, manage your email, prioritize what needs attention, keep track of deadlines, and even help with bookkeeping or research. You can find countless outsourcing options that are specific to your business. Brainstorm a list of tasks you can delegate and explore whether outsourcing is a smart investment for your business.
Pro Tip: Start small. Outsource one or two tasks first to gauge how it impacts your time and productivity. You can always expand once you see the benefits.
Get Organized
Being organized at home and at work can lead to lower anxiety levels and an overall sense of well-being, but it can also help you find more time! According to a Harvard Business Review study, you can reclaim time by keeping both your workspace and digital systems well-organized. When your workspace, computer desktop, and home office are in order, you reduce the time spent searching for tools, files, or information. This allows you to start working efficiently, right from the get-go, while reducing stress. An organized environment also improves time management, sharpens your decision-making abilities, and even curbs procrastination. The more organized you are, the faster you can make clear, confident choices.
Pro Tip: Want to learn more about bringing order to your business? Check out my blog for five essential steps to get organized!
Selectively Volunteer
Volunteering offers an incredible sense of fulfillment and can enrich your personal and professional life in unexpected ways. It allows you to build meaningful relationships, learn new skills, and contribute to causes that align with your values. For business leaders, volunteering often leads to connections that benefit both business and community. However, accepting too many invitations can stretch you too thin, pulling you away from your business and personal life. You can’t do it all, so it’s essential to be selective. Take the time to examine each opportunity to ensure it aligns with your goals, values, and strengths. If it’s not the right fit now, it may be something to consider in the future. Thoughtful and strategic volunteering will benefit both the cause and your well-being.
Pro Tip: Again, start small! Take on one volunteer role at a time and evaluate how it fits into your schedule before committing to more.
Eliminate Slow-Moving Inventory
Products that don’t sell are not only a financial liability; they’re also a huge time sink. You spend time figuring out how to move them, running promotions, and managing inventory. Why not dedicate your time and money to products that will sell? Although it can be challenging to reduce your product line, eliminating slow-moving items will help free up your schedule and improve efficiency.
Pro Tip: For more details on how to streamline your inventory, check out my blog on boosting profits by trimming product lines.
Turn Off Your Notifications
A few months ago, I noticed that my phone notifications were getting out of hand and significantly impacting my productivity. Every time a store announced a sale or a new notification popped up, I’d get distracted. I couldn’t resist checking my email whenever that little red number appeared, and I would lose focus. It turns out this is a common problem and a major time sink.
According to an article posted to the Harvard Business Review, after a notification forces us to switch tasks, it can take an average of 23 minutes to get back to what we were doing. A study from the University of California, Irvine, found that while each task switch might only waste a fraction of a second, these switches can add up to a 40% productivity loss if they happen frequently throughout the day.
To regain control of my time, I turned off notifications for apps that distracted me and kept them on only for essentials like airline updates, health alerts, and calendar reminders. This simple change made a huge difference in my focus and productivity.
Pro Tip: When downloading a new app, don't automatically accept notifications. Only enable the ones that truly benefit you.
Define Your Life Goals
We all want to have a thriving personal and family life, but many of us don’t intentionally set goals or create a plan to achieve it. Defining life goals is not only the best way to reclaim time, but it also helps you be purposeful with your life. Setting simple yet specific goals for the next one to five years provides insight, clarity, and structure. Once you define your business, personal, and family goals, you can more easily shed activities that don’t contribute to your long-term growth and development.
Goal setting helps you identify what’s most important, allowing you to spend time more effectively pursuing only those things that bring you closer to what you need most. It also helps you avoid distractions and unnecessary tasks that can drain your energy.
Pro Tip: Hiring a business coach or growth strategy consultant can help you focus on the best ways to grow your business and find time for what matters most!
In the end, it’s important to remember that finding time isn't just about cutting tasks. It's about making space for what truly matters to you and your business. I hope these tips help you find the time to be fully present in your business and at home so you can enjoy the fulfillment and rewards of both.
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