How good are you at managing your time?
I am not sure if it is something that comes to
you as you get older, when you look ahead and wonder if there is more life
behind than there is in front and the fear of running out of time becomes very
real. There is still so much to do, so much more to achieve, but how much time
is left. The reality is that we don't
know, there is no warning, one day there just won't be anymore time, but what
if you aren't finished and what if you had more to do? I remember reading a quote somewhere once
about how the person who died this morning had plans for tonight. There is always more time needed and more we
want to do but the truth is we will eventually, properly, run out of time
altogether.
That sounds really morbid doesn't it? I'm
sorry. The thing is, it is true.
If you add up all of that time you spent
scrolling on Facebook, liking pictures on Instagram, Googling what you have
seen some actress or another in before, being angry about the person who cut
you up on the roundabout, stalking someone on social media, doing things you
just didn't want to do, stressing about things beyond your control - how much
extra time would you have had, and what could you have done with it?
You can always earn more money, but you can
never earn more time. And because of
this it absolutely enrages me when people waste my time, waste their own time
and when I waste my own time, because I am never getting it back. I can waste
money on something I don't end up wearing or using, it's annoying, but I don't
care, I will earn more money and won't miss the money I wasted, but I will
always miss the time I wasted.
Time management is an essential business skill,
and actual I would argue that it is an essential life skill.
So how can you manage your time effectively?
Lists! I am a lover of a list! I always have a planner on the go. There is my overall annual planner that has
things mapped out on it - business focuses i.e product of the month, treatment
of the month, in salon event etc., when things are due like tax bills etc.,
holidays and school holidays, new product or treatment launches, promotions,
special occasions - Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, Christmas, local events and
occasions and so on. This annual planner
will be compiled the year before - so my annual planner for 2023 would have
been put together in October when I tend to be a little bit quieter and have
the time. I will set aside a morning, or afternoon, and get the job done. It
will be added to, no doubt, but the basis of it is there.
In addition to this I have a weekly planner. I
am an old fashioned girl, I like paper and pen. I have a book with weekly
planners in, but you can easily draw one up yourself in a notebook or on an
iPad - if you are a bit more advanced than me!
I have a column for each day of the week - including the weekend - that runs vertically, and then each column is
divided horizontally so as I have lots of boxes where I can write each task
that needs to be done that day. Equally, you could just write a list under each
day. On a Sunday night I sit down and
write down all of the things I need to do that week and allocate each job to
each day of the week that it needs to be done. If for any reason I haven't
managed to get everything done - which happens because you end up squeezing
another client in, or someone is late and so on - it gets circled and has to be
done the next day.
Sunday night is also my night for scheduling
Facebook posts for the week ahead. I
don't have the time or the inclination to do this daily, so I schedule my posts
for the week ahead so as the page can just keep drip feeding information,
discussion starters etc. I do also do an ad hoc Facebook live here and there
when I have a spare five minutes and have some information I need to share.
Time Limits - give yourself a time limit for
each task. Writing Facebook posts can't
take 6 hours. Doing a stock take or placing orders can't take half the
day. You need to be strict with your
time and set realistic time limits for each task.
Block Out Distractions - shut yourself away,
turn off your phone, turn the to off, don't check your own social media and
just focus on the jobs you have tasked yourself with.
Delegate! Utilise your staff and give them jobs
and responsibilities. Staff want to be
more involved, it is a team effort and it is everyone's responsibility to make
the salon a success. So give staff
responsibilities and tasks and share the load. This will free up a lot of your
time allowing you to do other things.
Get yourself in an organised routine. Make an
hour every day, or every Thursday afternoon - or whenever works for you and
your business - and have this as your uninterrupted time to get your jobs done.
Plan, prioritise, and utilise your time effectively. Never, ever waste it.