Home Business Time Management Tips
How to Organize the Business Day for Maximum Productivity
Feb 18, 2009
Successful home business owners are service-oriented and eager to please their customers. This can lead to time management challenges that actually reduce customer service, according to professional organizer Eileen Cunningham of Less is More Organizing in Saugerties, New York. “It's best to create blocks of time for different tasks,” she says, “because it takes about fifteen minutes to return our brains fully to a project after we've been interrupted. Cunningham's tips include identifying the most productive working hours of the day, and scheduling other important tasks like email management for other blocks of time.
Identifying Peak Hours
Every home business owner has times of day during which they do their best thinking, whether it's the predawn hours, burning the midnight oil, or somewhere in between. Organizing services like Cunningham's Less is More help entrepreneurs identify those peak productive hours. Members of the National Association of Professional Organizers like Cunningham are trained to help clients realize ways to be more efficient with their time, such as doing the most demanding work when they are most alert. Home business owners, eager to please their clients, may sacrifice key production time to such tasks as answering the phone.
Create Blocks of Time
Once the peak hours are identified, schedule other tasks around that block of time. Cunningham says that she suggested to one client that he change his outgoing voice mail message to advise his clients that he only returns calls at certain times a day. “His clients knew when to expect a call, so they didn't worry, and he was able to get much more accomplished.” Learning to let the phone ring is counterintuitive to many home business owners, who are concerned that a slower response will lose them clients. In the long run, however, the reduction in distractions created by the phone allows for superior customer service.
In-person client contact should be done by appointment whenever it's reasonable to do so. Whether the appointment is in the home office or elsewhere, it's best to schedule the meeting with an eye on keeping the peak times available for working.
Managing Email
Like phone calls, Cunningham recommends scheduling time for reading and responding to emails. Since a computer is a staple in many home businesses, this can be easier said than done. Here are some suggestions for email management:
- Schedule a realistic amount of time to review and respond to email each workday so that a backlog isn't created.
- Disconnect the computer from the internet if the work can be done without it.
- Create a reward for email time, such as checking the messages from a favorite coffee shop or while listening to a favorite selection of music.
Although it runs counter to common practice, creating a schedule for managing information like email and appointments can increase customer service.
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