Small Business Coaching Tip - How to Get More Time for Your Business

Do you have a time management problem in your small business? Are you running out of time as you balance work with your personal life? Have you tried time management training, seeking time management tips or reading time management articles and books? And you still have a problem?

Guess what? You are not alone. This is because time management is not about time management but rather about self management through planning and goal setting. Please let me explain.

Why are you managing time? Because, as a small business owners, you made commitments to do that or be here. In other words, you made promises based upon your business goals within your strategic action plan. If you did not have these goals, would you have a time management problem? Probably, not.

Take a moment to envision a triangle. The bottom two thirds of the triangle are all of your goals. The top one third is time management. Do you see how time management is really the apex of goal setting and goal achievement?

If time management is a problem, my first question is have you committed all of your business goals to writing? Then the next question are those goals aligned to your overall strategic action plan or action plans? Finally, are these goals yours or someone else's? If they belong to someone else, do you think that maybe you are resisting achieving them? Would that not affect how your use your time?

Speaking of your action plan, does it include a Vision, a Values and a Mission statement. These core foundational statements are extremely necessary when scheduling your time as well as using time. Returning to the earlier diagram, the core foundational statements are between your goals and your time management.

When you have all three foundational statements, you can reduce the time that you spend on decision making. If something comes across your desk that is not in alignment with your core foundational statements, you can quickly discard it and not waste those precious minutes pondering "Should I or should I not?".

Small Business Coaching Tip Take Action: Stop believing it is a time management problem. For as Pogo so eloquently said: "I meet the enemy and he is us." Next you need to invest some time into planning your business. Finally, if you do not utilize a proven goal setting and goal achievement process, find one to work with your business action plan. Then and only then, will you get more time from the same amount of time for your small business.

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