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Running a business is hard, and running a business on the side is even more challenging. While you handle your regular duties, which take up most of your day, you have limited time to address what most people take care of full-time.
But while you may think that you are busy every moment of your day, you are probably wasting time that could be spent more productively. A survey of employees found that over 60 percent of workers admitted wasting at least one hour every day – and that’s just the amount of time they know about. Even a dedicated worker like yourself can waste time in ways you would never consider.
Here are a few tips for spending your time more effectively and ensuring that every second is used to build your side business. Never forget that time is money.
1. Too little is better than too much
You should know that it is essential to crafting a schedule that details how you plan to spend your day. But all too often, people prepare their schedule by stating that they will focus on this particular task for an hour, then immediately snap to another study for another hour, and so on.
This is the wrong approach to take. If you go over the schedule with your first task, you will have less time with your second. This puts pressure on you both to finish the first task quickly and rush the second when you have limited time.
Instead, place a “white noise” period between your tasks. This buffer zone will give you more flexibility in your schedule and a period to handle less important tasks.
2. Ignore your e-mail and phone
One of those less important tasks is handling your e-mail and answering phone calls. How often have you been in a “working” groove, only for it to be broken up by a phone call you have to handle for the next 15 minutes? Distractions like these break up that groove and make it harder to get back to work.
Unless you get a genuinely critical phone call, could you not answer it when you are working? During a “white noise” period, you can take a moment to return any calls or answer any essential e-mails. But don’t let your phone and e-mail dictate when and how you work. Remember that successful individuals, even today, don’t use e-mail at all.
3. Do not multi-task
You may be that superhuman genius who can handle five tasks simultaneously and do them all efficiently, but I doubt it. Multitasking can even affect your IQ as you feel like you’ve accomplished a lot with a bunch of small tasks even though you have done nothing.
So focus on one thing at a time, and don’t stop until it is complete. When that is finished, then move to the next task. If you only have the time for a few significant tasks while you handle your other duties, that will be better than completing many unimportant responsibilities.
4. Something is better than nothing
Sometimes you are busy with your other duties and have only a half hour of spare time. You may think there is no point in working on your side business with so little time.
But many strokes, though with a small ax, can fell even the most complex oak. This is one of the keys to generating a residual income—those short periods add up over the months and years a. At a bare minimum, you can take care of relatively unimportant tasks during those moments to ensure that you can handle more significant tasks when you have the time. Never think there is a moment so small that you can’t do anything to help your side business.
5. Review what you have accomplished
This step is probably the most important if you have a terrible history of wasting time. It is easy to feel like you have been busy the entire day, only to realize later that you have done nothing. This scenario is dangerous because it can take a while to learn just how unproductive you have been, and thus you can fall into this trap for days or even weeks.
To avoid this, take a moment at the end of every day to review what you have done, where you may not have been productive, and what you need to get done tomorrow. I like to do this as the final thing before I go to bed, but the important thing is to understand where you can improve.
Take care NOT to use these review sessions to beat yourself up for your mistakes. Frame your accomplishments positively, and acknowledge what you can do better.
