Leveraging Your Time: The Top 10 Ways Small Business Owners Can Get More Time in a Day

 Blog, Efficiency, Time Management, Tips  No Responses »
Apr 092014
 

You glance up at the clock and wonder where the time has gone and then you realise that you did not achieve as much in your day as you would have hoped. This is a common scenario for small business owners. We wish we had more hours in the day to accomplish our workload; however the good news is that we do. Here are our top 10 ways we have found we can get more time in our day.

1. Reduce your hours
You might think this sounds a little odd but in truth, if you shorten your workday you will soon find you accomplish just as much as you did before and more. Reducing your hours will force you to focus more on the work that needs to be done and less on the other non-essential tasks which can chew up your time.

2. Know your strengths
No two people are the same and we all have certain times of the day when we perform at our best. Some people are naturally early birds and work best in the morning, others tend to find they work better later in the day. Work around your own schedule to get the most out of your working day.

3. Plan your phone calls ahead of time
Making telephone calls can be timewasting, particularly when the call can easily go off topic. Before you make a call, take a minute to jot down the main points you want to get across and try not to veer too far off course.

4. Use a VA
You have probably discovered this already but the simple fact of the matter is that you can’t do it all. You try; you drop a ball or two, miss deadlines and get stressed. Using a Virtual Assistant (VA) in certain parts of a business can really save time and money, particularly when that area is not particularly one of your strengths.

5. Centralise your social media
Centralising your social media such as Linked In, Twitter and Facebook through Hootsuite is a great way to avoid time wasting sessions on social media pages while you are at work. There is nothing wrong with browsing pages and socialising but save the non-essential work stuff for your downtime.

6. Get mobile
There is a reason that Smartphones and tablets are so popular – they allow business owners to work from wherever they happen to be. Familiarise yourself with some of the latest gadgets on the market and identify which ones will work for you when you are out and about.

7. Minimise meetings
Similar to phone calls, plan your meetings ahead of time. Know what you are going to say and try to stay on topic. Only schedule meetings that are crucial to your business growth, and limit the number of meetings that you attend.

8. Pick your hour
Determine one hour each day in which you are not to be interrupted. Turn off the phone, switch off the social media and just do it. You will soon find that you achieve more in that one hour than you do in any other hour out of your day helping you to get ahead.

9. Be prepared to take notes
The best ideas really do come when you are not expecting them. For this reason we advise you to jot them down in a notebook (either paper or electronic) so you can pay them the proper attention they deserve when you are in full work mode.

10. Just say no
When you are busy, sometimes it is best to just say no. You don’t have to do something just because someone asks you to. Learn to only accept the tasks which are most beneficial to your business and require your particular core strengths. Being overworked will not do you or your business any favours at all.

Start small. Pick two or three ideas which appeal and try them out. Soon you will start to see that time can really be on your side allowing you to create that work/life balance that all small business owners set out to achieve.

 

Thanks to Heather Bienefelt of Integrated Consulting Solutions contributing this article for our blog.

“Leveraging Your Time:  The Top 10 Ways Small Business Owners Can Get More Time in a Day‘ was first posted on Integrated Consulting Solutions Blog.

ics_logoIntegrated Consulting Solutions (ICS) specialise in taking the pain out of the certification process, reducing the paperwork, and giving you a system that’s guaranteed to get you certification fast and cost effectively, so you can go on and grow your business.

For a free no obligation consultation to assess how compliant your system already is

Visit ICS Website at www.iconsultingsolutions.com.au or CALL on 1300 132 745.

That’s right everyone can do admin!

 Administration, Blog, Efficiency, Virtual Assistance  No Responses »
Oct 162013
 

It’s no secret, everyone is able to do admin, but is it the most effective use of your time?

Yes you may be able to create your own newsletter, type a letter, format a document, build a PowerPoint presentation and update your website, however a person who specialises in administration would probably take less time to do the job as they would be focusing on what they are good at.

Ask yourself a couple of questions:

  • do I enjoy administration
  • am I good at administration
  • is doing my own administration it the most effective way to use my time

If you answered no to any of these questions, then maybe it’s time to consider an alternative solution to get your admin done so you can focus on the tasks that allow you to better utilise your time and stop spending so much time in the office.

There are a number of options to consider a full-time assistant, a part-time assistant a temporary assistant or a Virtual Assistant.  While these are all great options a Virtual Assistant (VA) has some great benefits including support being provided on an as needed basis, a VA has extensive office experience so no training or recruiting costs, and you only pay for the time worked and not for unproductive time or coffee breaks and no need to pay sick or annual leave or superannuation.  Click here to read more of the benefits of partnering with a VA.

Now imagine how much more productive you would be if you were able to focus on your customers and doing what you do best, and with little time and effort from yourself, your emails are being screened, your website is staying up to date, your documents are looking professional, your social media accounts are active, and you are keeping your clients informed with a regular newsletter, you may even have more time to enjoy your weekend or to spend with family and friends.

If you would like to find out how a VA can create more time in your day, contact me for an obligation free assessment on paula@wynbs.com or 0411 047 545.

Keyboard Shortcuts to Help you Work More Efficiently

 Blog, Efficiency, Microsoft, Tips  No Responses »
Aug 062013
 

Did you know you can use your keyboard, rather than your mouse, to control your computer? 

When I first started using a computer I learnt Word Perfect, and I’m showing my age when I admit that this was before having a mouse was normal, so everything was done via keyboard.  As the mouse became more popular and programs changed to suit the mouse’s uses, as a typist, I continued to use keyboard shortcuts as I find this is quicker than taking my hand from the keyboard to use the mouse.

Almost any action you can perform with a mouse you can perform with a keyboard.  By learning some of the basic keyboard shortcuts you can learn to work more efficiently.

Here is a list of useful shortcuts for everyday use in Microsoft programs:

  • Alt + Tab – Switch between open programs
  • Ctrl + O or Alt+F+O – Open a file
  • Ctrl + N or Alt+F+N – New document
  • Ctrl + S or Alt+F+S – Save current file or document
  • Ctrl + P or Alt+F+P – Print document
  • Alt + F4 – Close file or document
  • Ctrl + Z – Undo an action
  • Ctrl + Y – Redo an action
  • Ctrl + Home – Move to the top of the document
  • Ctrl + End – Move to the end of the document
  • Ctrl + X – Cut
  • Ctrl + C – Copy
  • Ctrl + V – Paste
  • Ctrl + A – Select All
  • Ctrl + Shift + C – Copies the formatting of selected text
  • Ctrl + Shift + V – applies the copied formatting to a new selection
  • Windows Key+E – open Windows Explorer
  • Windows Key+M – minimize all of your open windows, leaving just the desktop left exposed.
  • Windows Key+Shift+M – restores the window
  • Ctrl+Arrow Keys – in Microsoft Word, the left and right arrows allow you to move the cursor to the beginning of the previous word or the next word; the up and down arrows will do the same with paragraphs.
  • Shift + Arrow Keys – Hold shift and press one of the arrow keys will highlight text in Word (or a group of Excel cells)
  • Ctrl+U – Underline Text
  • Ctrl+B – Bold Text
  • Ctrl+I – Italicize text

Most of the Microsoft Office programs have more shortcuts; to find them; you can do the following:

  • Office 2007 and prior – Open a menu and if there is a shortcut available it is listed next to the menu item.
  • Microsoft 2010 or later – When you click Alt you will note letters/numbers are shown above the menu items, click the letter/number to take you to that menu item.

For a more details list of keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Programs, click here.

Hopefully this will make your day a little more productive.

 

What is your favourite keyboard shortcut is?