As a business owner your time is your most valuable resource. It’s crucial that you both protect your time and manage what you do during the hours you have available. And that’s why all business owners need to have a to-do list for their working day.
A to-do list is essential, if you want to learn how to effectively manage your time and the tasks and projects you have on your plate. So if you’re still not using a to-do list in your business, here’s why else you should change your mind.
Helps free space in your head
It’s really easy to get overwhelmed and forget things, if you’re keeping information in your head. That’s why it’s a good idea to write out your tasks, by creating a to-do list. It helps free up your mind and it’s a lot easier to organise and prioritise, if you can read through it! By taking out and writing down all of those different tasks and actions, you’re also freeing up your creativity and preventing yourself getting stressed out, trying to remember all the things you want to do.
Helps ensure you’re giving financial goals top priority
A to-do list helps you see at a glance that you’re completing tasks that are top priority. This isn’t just about tasks that are urgent or on a deadline, it also relates to those goals that directly or indirectly make you money. Because, for your business to grow, you do need to be prioritising those financial goals and tasks that help you get the sale – such as promotional tasks, funnel building, responding to customer queries and chasing overdue invoices etc.
Teaches you to prioritise
As a business owner you need a to-do list, as it teaches you how to prioritise your workload. You can take a look and decide which are the top 3-5 tasks that must be completed today, and which tasks are better suited to another date in your diary. Why 3-5 tasks and not more? It’s simply because we’re really great at underestimating how long a task will take us, so we tend to write down too many tasks. By sticking to 3-5 tasks, you’re keeping it realistic, but also leaving space to add in more tasks, should you finish those tasks earlier.
Helps you take control of your time
Your time is your best asset. In order to take control of your time, you need to learn how to say no. Because it is your choice, when you work for yourself, whether you do the task, hand it over or decline it altogether. But controlling your time is also about judging how long something will take you and finding the best way to factor them into your available working hours.
Helps you stay focused
Having a to-do list helps you to stay focused on what’s important. You can use it to track priorities and see if you’re able to accept other tasks, when opportunities and requests come your way. You’ll also find it helps you bring your focus back to what’s important, should you find your mind wandering as you carry out tasks such as research or social media interaction etc.
You can check if your time is being well spent
Another bonus of having a to-do list is being able to see where your time is going. You can see if you’re wasting time on tasks that are better off being outsourced and you can also see which tasks are eating into your available time.
Ramps up your motivation
To make a to-do list effective, you need to break large projects down into smaller, more manageable tasks. This actually helps ramp up your motivation and helps you gain confidence, as you work through those smaller tips. You can see that you’re moving forward and crossing tasks off your list, and you’ll then be motivated to do more.
As a business owner your time is your most valuable resource and if you want to manage it well, you need a to-do list. But if you were in any doubt as to how important this was for you, I hope the above tips have helped remind you!
If you’d like to know how to tame your to-do list, check out this recent blog – How to tame your to-do list. And if you’re looking to free up your time, by outsourcing tasks that you don’t have the skills, time or energy to do yourself, Why not get in touch? Outsourcing is a natural, risk-free way to grow your business and get the help you need, when you need it – and we can provide a variety of solutions to meet your needs. The starting point might be my Getting Organised Programme. Helping you and your focus on what you love.
