If you are in the new generation of entrepreneurs, you are all about getting things done for yourself and monetizing the parts of life that you enjoy. In order to do this, you must make use of every minute of the day, minimizing the time that you spend doing mindless rote work and maximizing your time with the enjoyable parts of your endeavors.
As most entrepreneurs can tell you, however, the mindless rote work will always threaten to take up the huge majority of your time if you do not do something about it. Here are some ways that you can maximize your hours towards creativity, marketing and customer service.
First, automate all aspects of your business that are possible to run automatically.
Did you know that there is a way to automatically send fully personalized emails to your lists without paying for expensive marketing email programs? If you didn’t, then you have some research to do in the field of automation. There are many tasks that do not require your presence in the office at all because of the resources, in many cases free resources, that have been made available to the general public online. Sometimes just upgrading to the most modern iteration of a word processing program can provide you with this power. For instance, the latest version of Outlook gives you the resources that you need to automate emails as outlined in the situation above.
Second, set up a schedule so that your rote work will not expand to fill the time allotted (Parkinson’s Law).
If you do not want rote tasks to fill your daytime, then make it a point to limit your time on those tasks. In short, make a schedule and stick to it. Divide up incredibly boring tasks into small chunks that can be completed in short amounts of time. Remember that the most important resource that you have during the day is your momentum – you should endeavor to automate or outsource any task that is simply too much for you to handle even with these tips. For the most part, however, most tasks for a small business person can be trimmed of their fat by simply limiting the amount of time that you spend on them.
Third, find ways to cost-effectively outsource.
Do not make the excuse that you do not have the money to hire anyone to help you in your business. With virtualization technology, you now have the ability to take resumes from assistants all across the world. You can hire these people full-time, part-time or even for just a day. Some of the most effective outsourcing is done in a limited fashion only during the most integral parts of a special sale or product launch.
Fourth, take tasks on one at a time.
Procrastination usually starts with a thought that the tasks of the day are overwhelming. If you break those tasks down into their component parts, they do not seem as daunting. You will then have the momentum available to complete them in a specified amount of time rather than putting them off and seeing them pile up one on top of another.