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Time Management Quiz | Use a Time Management Worksheet to Find More Time in Your Day

Time is valuable.
Time is a commodity that you cannot get back no matter how hard you try.  There is only so much of it in a day. If you're reading this exercise then you are looking for a way to maximize your time and build your business.  This entails finding time to work ON your Business Strategy rather than doing the day to day busy actions of your business.  So I think you'll agree that learning how to take control of how you spend your time is one of the keys to business success.

Use the tips in this article to quiz yourself and then use the worksheet to find more time!

Advantages of Time Management

I have created a worksheet below that is designed for you to find time you didn’t know you had; motivate and initiate new goals; reduce waste and disorganization; help you to reduce stress by delegating activities that are not essential to building your business.

Worksheet Instructions:

1. Print off this article - Enter appointments and categorize your time on the worksheet at the end of this article

For a one week period enter your appointments and how you spend your time on the chart below.  You may even decide to do this for two weeks in order to notice activities that are not weekly.  Include everything you do on this worksheet. 

Enter your:

  • Billable time/project work/client meetings (**the best kind of appointment)
  • Administration - Busy work such as filing, accounting, bill paying, and clerical work
  • Research time/Reading
  • Commuting
  • Vendor Appointments
  • Training/seminars
  • Networking events (**this is how you meet future clients)
  • Working ON Your Business: strategies/marketing plans/future goals (this is a MUST for a successful business)
  • Personal time
  • Workouts
  • Meals/snacks/breaks
  • Time spent on "free" or pro bono jobs

2. Analyze where you spend your time

At the end of the week, analyze where you spent your time and brainstorm ways you can be more productive.  Remember, if you are doing busywork rather than billable work, you are not maximizing your time and revenue.  Determine your hourly rate.  If your hourly rate is $200/hour and you are spending 2 hours a week on bookkeeping, you spend $1600 a month activities that could be delegated for $15/hour.  You are missing out on $1480 per month in potential earnings.

3. Keys to Successful Time Management
  • Self knowledge and goals: In order to manage your time successfully, you should develop a consciousness of your goals – see the Two Page Mini Business Plan™ which includes My Success Book and detailed goal-setting instructions.
  • Prioritize your activities.  Always ask yourself: What is the most valuable use of my time? If your goal is to earn more revenue, you must make more appointments with current clients and prospects, and you must do more networking.  You can't build better relationships if you are spending time on clerical duties. 
  • Developing and maintaining a flexible schedule: Time management gives you the opportunity to create a timetable that works for you, not for others. This personal awareness gives you the flexibility to include the things that are most important to you.

4. I completed the worksheet.  Now what?

Identify Your Free Time and Determine What You're Going to Do with It

  • Figure out where you wasted time – what could you have delegated?
  • Decide what you are not going to do anymore. What is a waste of time? Stop doing it!
  • Assign time for self improvement
  • Assign time to work ON your business rather than IN your business
  • Use large blocks of time for major tasks, smaller blocks for smaller jobs
  • Schedule regular breaks and rewards for completing a task
  • Schedule fun stuff - leisure, going out with friends, eating out, visiting family, hiking, watching movies

Realizations and TIPS:

  • Have you found “secret time” you didn’t know you had?
  • Do you think that there is enough time to do everything?
  • Is your schedule so full that it cannot accommodate all the demands on your time?
  • If you are doing any "free" or pro bono work STOP right now.  Politely eliminate free work one project at a time and learn not to take on any new projects or requests unless there is a check attached.
  • Learn to say "no" to new requests without GUILT
  • Are some of your meetings needless? 
  • Could you make some of your appointments by phone rather than in person to eliminate wasteful commuting?
  • Check email and voicemail only two or three time during the day.
  • Learn not to check or respond to email and voicemail after 6pm during the week and not at all on weekends.  You need time to regenerate and recharge your batteries.  Checking and responding to email and voicemail is an addiction you must learn to break. It is more important to live your life than work your life.
  • Are you calculating the actual number of hours you are spending on client projects (include work time and meeting time)?  Do you know your true hourly rate?

Ask yourself the following questions daily:

  • What is the most valuable use of my time?
  • What are my goals for today?
  • What are the actions I ABSOLUTELY need to take to be effective in my business?
  • Am I being busy to look busy or am I getting important things done?
  • Am I coming up with needless actions in order to avoid the most effective or scary actions?
  • Am I performing duties that could be delegated?

 

Time Management Worksheet

 

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

7:00 am

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8:00 am

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9:00 am

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10:00 am

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11:00 am

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12:00 pm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1:00 pm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2:00 pm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3:00 pm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4:00 pm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5:00 pm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6:00 pm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next: Hire Suzanne as your Business Coach

Have you considered working with a Business Coach to help you strategize and plan your success?

Suzanne Muusers is an ICF-Member Business Coach who has worked with hundreds of successful entrepreneurs and independent financial advisors since 2004. She helps clients develop their Value Proposition, Ideal Client Profile, and Marketing Strategy so that they stand out from the crowd and attract only clients they want to work with.

Suzanne has created exercises and programs that help her clients get straight to the point and avoid mistakes other entrepreneurs tend to make. Her clients save time getting to the next level due to her extensive knowledge and experience in the business growth services field.

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Copyright© 2004-2012 | Suzanne Muusers - All Rights Reserved No reprint rights are included with this article.

About the author

Suzanne Muusers is a Business Coach and Business Expert based in Scottsdale, Arizona. She is a member of the International Coach Federation and has owned or managed a business every year since 1981.

Check out Suzanne's programs:
9 Week Selling to the Affluent Marketing E-Course here
The Two Page Mini Business Plan here
10 Week Financial Advisor Marketing E-Course here


Read marketing tips and how to's on Suzanne's Blog – The Prosperous Entrepreneur

 

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