Today we have a guest-post by Stephanie Haywood of mylifeboost.com. I’ve written in the past about how writing is a business — or at least, if you want to get paid, it’s a business! Those business skills also help your personal life, though! Without further ado, here’s Stephanie!
Task management is a critical skill for small business owners. These skills can also be useful in your daily life. These are a few ways you can use the skills you have learned running your business to make your day-to-day life better.
1. Manage Your Time
Have you ever set out with a list of things to accomplish in the day only to look at the clock and wonder where the last several hours went? If so, you are not alone. According to research, 82% of people do not use a time management system. The average person spends nearly seven hours on the internet and almost four hours on their smartphone every day. A time management system can help you cut down on wasted hours and make sure you get the best use out of your time.
2. Don’t Do It All Yourself
As a small business owner, you are probably used to wearing a lot of hats. However, you don’t have to do everything yourself. For example, if you need to set up a limited liability company for your business, instead of doing it on your own, you can save yourself several hours by using a formation service. Take advantage of online resources, such as these resources for writers. Consider hiring someone to maintain your lawn, clean your house or shop for your groceries to buy yourself a few extra hours per week.
3. Prioritize
Sometimes there won’t be enough hours in the day to get everything you want to accomplish done. Prioritize your tasks according to how urgent or important they are. There are several ways you can do this. For example, the Eisenhower Method organizes tasks by separating them into important, urgent, and non-urgent categories. Do tasks that are both urgent and important first, and then move on to the important but not urgent tasks. Finally, use the time you have left to tackle the remaining tasks on your list.
4. Apply Your Critical Thinking Skills
You have to have critical thinking skills to succeed in business. These skills can also help you in your daily life. For example, the rise of cable news and social media has led to issues with determining which news is based on facts and which is not. Critical thinking skills can help you separate the real news from the fake news and make more informed decisions. Critical thinking can also help keep you safe. For example, distracted driving is one of the top causes of accidents on U.S. roads. Employing your critical thinking skills while driving will help you make good decisions, such as ignoring a text message or phone call until you can safely answer your phone.
5. Avoid Distractions
At work, you have probably learned to deal with a lot of distractions. Distractions can also be a problem at home. Some distractions may be welcome, such as a child or pet who wants to play. Others, such as that telemarketer who won’t stop calling, are not. Minimize distractions by avoiding sources of unwelcome distractions, such as your phone, computer, or television. Schedule some time to engage in welcome distractions, such as setting up a playdate with your kids.
You don’t have to get maximum use out of every minute of your free time. However, utilizing your task management skills in your daily life can help you ensure you have more time to spend on the things you love.
by Stephanie Haywood of mylifeboost.com
Jonathon Mast: Author 