By Justine Clay
One of the top five challenges of being an entrepreneur is effectively managing your time. When you’re chief marketing officer and bottle washer, managing your list of daily to-do’s can be quite the juggling act. In one of my recent newsletters, I shared the system that works for me and we’ve been getting along just fine.
But systems are meant to evolve and boy…..is mine about to change. You see, I’m pregnant (hurray!) and while I’m enormously excited about it, I can’t help but wonder what my new boss is going to make of my time management system. I have a sneaking suspicion that he/she won’t care two hoots about it, so I’m thinking about how my system could evolve to accommodate our new addition. Based upon what I know now*, I came up with the following ideas:
1) Plan ahead
Figure out what tasks can I do in advance. This could be anything from
new-business development to pre-paying standard monthly bills.
2) Target key areas that need my attention
Target the tasks that only I can do such as writing proposals, having key conversations/meetings with clients?
3) Schedule quiet time to take care of those tasks
Planning childcare so that I can focus on that proposal/conference call uninterrupted and guilt-free.
4) Determine what I can delegate
Hire a virtual assistant to scan my emails, answer phone calls and direct inquiries.
5) Don’t try to do both things at once
Plan my time so that when I’m working I’m working and when I’m with the baby I’m all his/hers
6) Get plenty of sleep
Ha, just kidding!!
*I hope you noted that my thoughts were based upon what I know now, and are therefore purely hypothetical and possibly delusional. Like most working mums I’ll probably figure it out as we go along, but I’d LOVE to hear any thoughts from those of you who’ve done it. Tips, tricks and resources are all welcome.
