Last week we discussed about how to prioritise tasks. Today, we will be talking about routine management — a problem that most entrepreneurs frequently face.
With a mountain of tasks ahead, it is often difficult to manage time for different works and yet make time for your personal stuff including family and fitness. But here are a few tips that can help you find your time effectively:
● Start mornings with fitness
There is nothing better than to start mornings with fitness workouts. It not only jerks you out of sleep, but also gives you a good headstart knowing that you have done something productive during the morning.
● Daily calls schedule
If you are a founder, you should have a sheet that has works of all your direct reportees written for your personal reference. Preferably start mornings with taking updates
from them on different agendas
and giving feedback on any problems they are stuck with or advice on
how they should take the project ahead. Setting up daily calls schedule will not only keep you thorough with your business but also steer your time towards the right direction
● Network meals
There are always a long list of folks that founders want to meet – entrepreneurs, businessmen, friends working in corporate firms, mentors and more. The problem is that most of these people just like you don’t have time. The only way to catch up with them is where you both have spare time. And what better than to have network lunches? You can decide a time in advance with them and drop by their office cafeteria. Network, discuss, exchange over lunch meal. No PPT. No excel. Just ideas. At least one network lunch a week will help you significantly build your network in just five months!
● Personal late evening
Between 7 pm to 9 pm keep time for your family, friends or whoever you want to hang out with. If you can afford, switch off your mobile phones and get into a good family time. That will help you maintain your sanity and make you realise that there are more things to life than just business. Your emotional well-being is more important than your financial well-being.
● Me-time break
Now you can park some time for yourself. ‘Me-time’ as we say, is where you can do things important for you, for your personal happiness. You can listen to music, read a book, go for a walk, play with pets or whatever you personally prefer. Go to bed only after a ‘Me-time’ otherwise you might have tough time finding sleep after all the office thoughts and mail replies.
● Urgent mails checking
Now that you are fresh, you can park 15-20 minutes just to check and respond to all urgent mails. Star mark mails that need essay-type answers and can be shifted to tomorrow.
If you have any queries, feel free to write to me on Rajeev@TBSPlanet.com
Rajeev Tamhankar
Twitter@rajeevtamhankar
The writer is IIT-R Alumnus, Entrepreneur of The Year’17 (Print Business) and the Founder of TBS Planet Comics