7 Time Management Hacks for Women Business Owners

July 25th 2024

Owning your own business has so many advantages. Although the top reasons women start their own companies are schedule flexibility, the potential for financial independence, and a passion for a particular product or service, one of the biggest challenges is getting everything done that needs to be done in the time you have available.

Fortunately, there are steps you can take, or tricks you can employ, that will help you cram more productivity into your day.

Although the overall theme here is focus, focus, focus, there are some specific interim steps that can help set the stage to allow you to better concentrate single-mindedly on your most important tasks.

Set goals

Before you jump in and get to work on a task, stop and take a step back. Consider your bigger, longer-term business goals. Are you aiming to achieve a particular annual revenue goal this year? Do you want to roll out a new product or service in the next few months? Do you want to pivot your business? Start a charitable foundation? Partner with a major corporation?

What’s your big goal or goals for the year? Once you’ve set your big intentions, you can then reverse engineer how you’ll reach those goals.

When you’re clear, you can then assess whether the items on your current to-do list will help you reach that goal. If not, you need to evaluate whether you can put those tasks off until later or cross them off your list entirely.

If certain tasks don’t help get you closer to your goal, why are you expending time and effort on them?

Prioritize

Next, look at your to-do list and prioritize what’s on it. What are the most important items – rank them from most to least important.

Then, take that list and organize it by due date. Your most important, most urgent tasks should now be at the top while those items that have no due date or which will have little impact on how your business functions should be at the bottom.

Investing quality time in projects that will yield the biggest payoff for your business will make you the most productive.

Plan your time

Now that you have a list of critical tasks organized by importance, take out your schedule for this week.

Estimate how long each task will take and then assign it a block of time on your calendar, keeping in mind due dates. It’s possible that some days you’ll have to work more than eight hours in order to get everything done.

I break my week down first and then time block each day, so that I’m more realistic about what can get done in 24 hours. For example, if you have six tasks planned for today and estimate it will take a total of 18 hours to get them all done, you will likely want to try to reschedule some by moving the due date out. Sure, you could work 18 hours straight today to get everything done, but the quality of your work probably won’t be optimal, so if you can slot some tasks for tomorrow instead, you’re more likely to get better results.

Group like tasks

As you’re planning your week, or your day, try to group together similar activities – especially those that require you to leave the office.

Batching like tasks can save you a lot of time.

For example, if you have a meeting on the north side of town, look at your list of errands and see what else you could cross off while you’re out of the office. Can you pick up your drycleaning? Pick up a library book that came in and is on hold? Stop and grab some more printer ink, since you know you’re running low?

Instead of having to make separate trips for some of your errands, try to knock them off while you’re already in the neighborhood.

Likewise, if you have a bunch of follow-up phone calls to make, line them up and tackle them one after the other, rather than spreading them out through the day. Or if you have online research to complete, get all of those research questions addressed one after the other.

Eliminate distractions

It’s much easier to focus on your task-at-hand if you’re not distracted. 

To reduce distractions, consider turning off notifications on your computer or phone. Put a note on your office door or cubicle entrance that you’re not to be interrupted until X p.m. Turn off your phone’s ringer, and look into installing an app like Freedom, which locks you out of social media for as long as you specify, so you won’t be tempted.

Being able to work until you’ve completed your most important task will have the biggest impact on your productivity.

Once you’ve completed your top item, move on to your next most important priority.

Avoid multitasking

Just as distractions can prevent you from sticking to a task until it’s done, trying to accomplish multiple tasks at once can also impede your productivity. According to Curt Steinhorst, founder of Focuswise, multitasking can reduce productivity by up to 40%, even though you may think you’re gaining ground.

When you’re trying to do three things all at once, for example, odds are good that you’ll do none of them well. 

So, stop trying to read and respond to emails, text on your phone, and participate on camera in Zoom meetings simultaneously. You’ll appear disengaged in the meeting and are more likely to make mistakes when also making plans.

Delegate

Finally, you’ll be even more productive if you can identify tasks that you don’t personally need to do yourself, or that someone else can do better or faster. 

Sure, you may need to make that phone call inquiring about an overdue invoice from a client if they’ve been ignoring previous mailed requests, but you probably don’t need to design a post social media content, make travel plans, or create the work schedule for next week. Pick people who can do those tasks in your place.

The more you can hand off work to other capable employees, freelancers, or consultants, the more time you’ll have to focus on the most important, highest impact tasks that only you can do. While at the same time, other tasks that need to get done – just not necessarily by you – are also being completed.

That’s how you boost your productivity.