Flippin' Pancakes & Time Management

Time management baffles many of us. I blame my husband, sometimes, for not being able to multitask.

When it is time to make pancakes he pours the batter and then holds the spatula by the griddle as if he is standing guard. I am not sure if he counts the bubbles to know when they are ready to flip — or not. I have tried to teach him how to make eggs at the same time as he is watching the pancakes baking, all of this to no avail, but to frustrate me.

So, recently, I read this article from SCORE on time management as I was preparing to teach a workshop on it. Believe it or not, multitasking has been proven to accomplish less rather than more.

I thought it would be useful to share what the article had to say. With so many responsibilities to tend to as a small business owner, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and fall short on what you want to accomplish. Time management doesn’t come naturally to everyone, but it’s an essential skill that can be developed with some attention and effort.

I think that most of us are up to improving our time management skills and will take all of the help that we can get.

Here are some simple time management tips to help you take control and become more productive:

Don’t multitask — According to Dr. Sanjay Gupta on CNN.com, only 2 percent of people are exceptional multitaskers. The rest of us fail at it — and quite miserably, too. Gupta explains that when we “multitask,” we’re not really doing both activities simultaneously. In reality, we’re diverting our attention from one part of our brain to another, which takes time and brain cells. The other side of our brain views it as starting a brand new activity when we switch back and forth, making us slower and less effective than if we were to focus on just one activity at a time.

Schedule everything — This goes for your project work, administrative tasks, phone calls, meetings, and even checking and responding to email messages. While you may not always stick to your schedule, you’ll be more conscious about staying on task and not squandering time.

Make email more manageable — An eMarketer blog post shared that according to Adobe research in July 2015, U.S. business executives spend 3.2 hours daily checking work email on weekdays. In addition, they spend nearly the same amount of time checking personal email: an average of 3.1 hours each day. As a small business owner running your company, email will likely demand a good bit of your time, too. Honoring the first two tips above, schedule time to tend to your email and don’t jump back and forth from email to other tasks.

Build in some “wiggle room” — In an ideal world, everything would go as planned. But we live in the real world where the unexpected happens on a regular basis. By building some time into your day to accommodate unanticipated phone calls, tasks that run longer than you thought they would, etc., you’ll be less likely to fall behind schedule with all else.

Delegate — If your problem getting things done is less rooted in your time management skills and more in the fact that you simply have too much to do, consider delegating and/or outsourcing. If you have employees, consider what responsibilities you might entrust to them. If you’re a solo business owner with no staff, you might consider contracting a virtual assistant who can take on some of your administrative tasks.

Don’t forget, that in the muddle of trying to manage the present, to plan for the future.

Set goals and pencil into the calendar the steps of how you are going to achieve them.

More of this process coming in future articles.

Heidi Shadel is a Cumberland business owner and graduate of Frostburg State University with a masters in business administration. She believes in small business and the power that it holds in America’s economy, especially having a passion for helping small businesses succeed within the tri-state region. She is a member of the Western Maryland SCORE chapter. Connect with her on LinkedIn, follow her on Twitter at Heidi Shadel @heidiann73 or email her at [email protected]