Managing Yourself & Managing Your Time
A common problem that many self-employed people encounter is that as their business develops and grows, they get so engrossed in it that the business starts to dictate their lives.
Here are four keys to managing yourself:
l. Firstly, that one word 'control'. Do not let other things or people dictate to you what you will do or how you will do it. If you find yourself in any difficulty, ask yourself first of all 'Who is in control here?' Once that angle is sorted out, other things fall into place much more easily. As we have seen, this is fundamental:
If you cannot measure it, you cannot control it.
Therefore, in learning to manage yourself, what is it you need to measure? The answer is, the achievement of your objectives.
2. The next key to managing yourself is contained in this aphorism:
Learn to be effective - not efficient.
It is relatively easy to become efficient at what you do. But do not fall into the trap of becoming extremely efficient at something which contributes little or nothing to your main goals. Learn to become effective - certain things may only take a moment's time, but they contribute more to your goals than other things which take much longer. Sort out the wheat from the chaff. In essence, this really means sorting out what are the important things, and concentrating on them. Some of these things need insight, and others come with experience.
3. Do not be afraid of making mistakes. The person who never made any mistakes never made anything.
4. You must make the decisions. Nobody else can make them for you. This is one of the big differences between working for somebody else and working for yourself - you have the final responsibility for making the decisions. It may come more easily to some people than to others. If you find it difficult, it is something that must be learnt - and take heart, it does get easier with experience. What you learn with experience is the kind of circumstance where a decision is needed. The worst thing of all is to avoid making a decision and letting things drift.
Remember - it is better to make a wrong decision than none at all.
Managing your Time
Time is one thing which we all have the same amount of. It is also the most inelastic resource we have. The minute and hour hands move inexorably on, and cannot be manipulated. Think of time as a valuable resource, not to be wasted. This means actively managing your time, and if you have employees, managing their time. The key to managing your time is planning. Do not just rush into each day, doing the next thing on your list. Whether you are a one man band, or an employer, set aside time to plan what is going to be done today, this week, this month, this year. Then take time out to check whether you have achieved all your targets.
What about Interruptions?
It is all very well talking about an idealised world where you can plan ahead, and everything goes smoothly, but in the real world, things do not go smoothly. There are always interruptions which gobble up time. What to do about them?
1. Firstly, sort out the urgent interruptions from the non-urgent.
2. Next, sort out the important from the urgent. Just because something is urgent does not mean it is important.
3. If there is someone else, delegate the non-urgent and the non-important jobs.
4. Concentrate on the important jobs yourself. If there is nobody else, try to deal with the important things first, then the urgent things, then the non-urgent things.
