Every entrepreneur knows what it feels like ‘to wear many hats’.  Your role is not limited to a few responsibilities when you start out; you are the marketer, the accountant, the director, and many more. When there are so many things to do, so much to learn and such little time, it is common to end up running around like a headless chicken putting out fires all day.

We tend to push problems that aren’t so obvious to the background, especially time management, when there are “urgent” issues that need to be attended to immediately. What is really being overlooked though is how much managing your time ineffectively directly affects you, your business and your life.

Most people crave more balance in life, to feel less stressed and more productive, but what they don’t realize is that they can really have that. We have the power to change what isn’t working, to find a way to make things better and produce better results.

Are you struggling to manage your time? Are you tired of leaving work feeling like you could have accomplished more? Do you want to change this? It is hard to know where and how to improve the situation, especially if you unclear on what isn’t working.

Here are 5 time management tips for the super-busy entrepreneur

1.  Clarity – Be clear on what you need to do and why. You need to see a direct connection between your actions and your goals. If you are not 100% clear on why you are doing something, don’t do it. There is a lot of information on what ‘you should be doing to succeed’. If you simply follow advice without really understanding how it will benefit you and how to measure your results, you are merely implementing ideas and wasting time.

2.  Structure – You do not need to become so structured that you feel strangled by organization, but you do need some type of organization to be able to work efficiently. Find a system that works for you. Take advantage of the many free tools and apps to optimize your time, learn how to use to do lists, prioritize and plan effectively.

3.  Weakest link – Identify your common challenges and obstacles to managing your time effectively and make a plan to change them. For example, if you know that you struggle to stay focused, if you know that you jump from one task to the other or that you manage your email ineffectively, then do something about it! Your chain is only as strong as your weakest link.  What are your weakest links?

4.  Energy management – This is often overlooked. How you feel directly influences your productivity, it is as simple as that. If you feel stressed while working on a project, it is difficult to enjoy it. If you feel tired when you need to write a proposal, you won’t feel motivated. If your energy is low when you make that sales call, your prospective client will feel it. Your feelings and energy level need to be aligned with what you doing. How is your energy influencing your productivity at the moment?

5.  Commit – Commitment is key in managing your time and your business. You can have as much motivation and inspiration but with no commitment, you will struggle to take action. Commit to improving your time and transforming your results, you decide what it is possible or not. You are in the driver’s seat; you decide how you want to spend your time. We all have 24 hours a day but the key is how you are using those hours. If you are only half committed, you will find it difficult to see the results you are aiming for.

If you are super-busy and you are struggling to manage your time, but you desperately want to improve your results, start by working on these tips.

What is your next step and how committed are you to taking it?

To your success