If there’s one thing most of our web design clients have in common, it’s a desire to get more control over their schedule. Whether it’s an initial consultation or a regular website review, we often meet with men and women who seem to be moving at breakneck speed from one task or appointment to the next.
There is some degree of busyness that’s probably unavoidable if you’re going to be successful. Part of starting and running a profitable company is managing a lot of different items on your calendar every week. But, that doesn’t mean you have to be constantly overwhelmed or running late.
This is something we know a little bit about. Between designing websites, maintaining client relationships, and keeping up with the latest online marketing strategies, we’ve learned a thing or two about squeezing all you can out of every available hour. So today we’re going to share our top five tips for getting more control over your schedule…
#1 Plan for Your Perfect Day
Somewhere in your mind, you should have a sense of what your perfect day would look like. You would know which ideas or activities are most important to you, when you feel you have the highest level of energy, and which habits would draw you closer to the goals that matter most. If you haven’t taken the time to sketch out these sorts of thoughts, take a few minutes to do it now. You might not be able to achieve your perfect day very often, but you should at least know what you’re aiming for.
#2 Know What’s Actually Important
One reality of business, in every industry and level is that minor details can easily overshadow major goals and initiatives. As a business owner or executive, you should always be aware of the priorities that truly define success in your company or personal career. Figure out what parts of your job are actually important, and then remind yourself to devote the bulk of your time and energy to them on a regular basis. Otherwise, you’ll end up being busier than ever without accomplishing anything important.
#3 Find a System That Works for You
If you were to buy 20 books on time management, you would probably come up with 20 different systems for organizing your day. Some experts like and recommend paper documents, while others prefer apps, cloud calendars, and other interactive tools. While some might be better than others, the truth is no system is perfect. You just need to find one that works for you and then stick with it. Once you have a consistent organizational plan in place, managing your schedule gets a lot easier.
#4 Leave Wiggle Room in Your Day
Having a schedule is great, but as we all know, life never unfolds exactly the way we plan. So, no matter how busy you might be, it’s a good idea to leave some wiggle room, particularly between meetings and time-intensive tasks. If you sense you overscheduled yourself, do something about it. Sometimes it’s better to put off something until tomorrow or next week, if that lets you stick to the plan you put in place today.
#5 Make Time for Your Own Passions
If you’re always so busy running your company that you never have time for your friends, family, or personal interests, then you can’t really be successful. You’ll always feel like something is wanting in your life, no matter what your bottom line looks like. Knowing that, you should make time for your personal passions because they serve as stress relievers and important points of perspective.
If you regularly feel like you’re running behind or don’t have enough time to do all that you’d like, try putting these five tips to use. You might be amazed at what will happen – and what kinds of things become possible – when you’re more intentional about managing your minutes!