Time management 101 for startups: How to balance work and leisure for social wellbeing and financial success.

Running a small business might be one of the most time demanding things one can start, and it can feel damn near impossible to grow this business with the demands of modern day living.

I want to shed some light on the methods I’ve used personally to scale my marketing business, ace my degree at a russell group university, maintain a social life, build a strong body and have a rip-roaring time doing so. 

By following the principles in this guide, soon your days will feel longer as you get twice as much done, in half the time. Let’s get into it. 

Want To Breeze Through Your Todo List? - Here’s how.

This is the single time management tip I attribute to the majority of the success I make every day.

Every night, I flip open a reporters pad and write:

1. Mistakes I made, and things that I learned from that day, and how to ensure I do not make them again.

But most importantly…

1. Every single thing I need to get done tomorrow and when I’m going to do it.

So when I wake up, I review my pad and instantly start to work on the most important thing I need to do that day.

No confusion, no time wasted. - this is how I get more done in just one hour than most people do before the afternoon.

Then I stick to the rest of the day like clockwork.

I could not recommend this more, especially if you’ve got a job which requires you to get up early in the morning. Here’s a few tips I’ve learned from doing this for the past year:

• Do the most important task, FIRST. Even if it’s just 20-30 minutes before you take your kid to school - this will be the most productive 20 minutes of your entire day.

• Be generous with the time you allocate to a task, especially if you’re unsure of the time it’ll take.

• Once the timer is up and you need to move onto the next task, move on. Don’t fall into the trap of taking “just 10 more minutes” to finish something.

• Schedule work and breaks away.

• Delegate the tasks to different time frames using this table:

Credit: https://luxafor.com/the-eisenhower-matrix/

Also, once you’ve done a task, draw a nice long line straight through it (feels extra rewarding.)

When you stick to the plan you laid out the night before, you will soon see 30-40 minute gaps open up in your day, for you to do with as you please.

A literal way to buy time.

How To Get More Done In 1 Hour, Than Most People Do All Day

Ok so you have 1 hour to do a blog post, how do you maximise your time to get the most done in this hour?

First, realise that for this next hour, all you’re going to be doing is this blog post. No getting up halfway through to go downstairs for a snack, and definitely no stopping to message that person back on social media.

I recommend you leave your phone in another room.

If you’re working at home, there can be distractions everywhere, something that’s worked really well for me is noise cancelling headphones with binaural beats - this keeps you in the zone until the timer/work is done.

Then when the timer is done, go and enjoy your time away! - It will feel extra rewarding for the hard work you’ve put in.

What To Do When Life Throws You A Curveball 

Unforeseen circumstances are bound to come up. This might translate itself in your car not starting, or your boss asking you to stay on for another 30 minutes after your shift is done. 

Stay adaptable. Put the work on hold, and return to it as soon as possible.

When you come back to the work, do the work you’re meant to be doing right now. - not the task you were halfway through.

There will be time at the end of the day where you can return to finish this work that got interrupted.

Summary

We all have the same 24 hours a day - this is a whistlestop tour on how to make the most of it.

Apply the principles in this guide seriously for just one week, and you will make more progress on your business whilst working a 9-5, than your competitors will from an entire day.

Have any questions or wonder how this works for your unique position? Drop me a message and I’d be happy to help you out.

Keep busy

Josh