ESSENTIAL TIME MANAGEMENT TIPS FOR CREATIVE SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS

Stay in control of your small business.
Learn how to work smarter, not harder with our essential time management tips, favourite time-saving business tool and by outsourcing marketing services.

Did you set up your business because you love to create?

The reality is that there is so much more to running a business than crafting your jewellery, creating your ceramics or taking your photographs. There can be a lot of things that you end up putting off because either it’s not what you want to do, it’s not where your skills lie, or simply you don’t have the time. Bookkeeping, tax returns, website building, sales, social media marketing, email marketing and so much more.

Being a small business owner can be overwhelming and exhausting. With countless tasks to juggle, it’s easy to get pulled in many different directions and lose sight of your purpose. The day-to-day can bog you down, and it’s easy to start feeling like it’s just too hard and too complicated to be a successful business owner. 

When you’re caught in the eye of the storm, the best thing to do is take a step back. Don’t get caught up in the firefighting. Instead, gain some perspective and refocus on your business goals. Learn how to use time-saving business tools, ask for help and feel less stressed with our effective time management tips.

What Is Time Management? How Can It Improve Your Small Business?

According to Oxford Languages and Google ‘time management’ is “The ability to use one’s time effectively or productively, especially at work. Time management is the key to efficient working”.

As a small business owner, time is your most valuable resource. So efficient time management is key to your success. But it’s not just about completing tasks quickly; it’s about working smarter, not harder. By mastering time management, you can reduce stress, create space for new ideas, and achieve a better work-life balance. Ready to take control of your time and boost your business? Keep reading.

Make the most of your time, feel less overwhelmed and reduce your stress levels with our essential time management tips for small business owners.

Plan your week by group tasks. Set aside time for your admin and marketing related tasks

As a small business owner, you already know the importance of staying on top of your admin tasks, responding to emails, and staying connected on social media. One tip that can greatly benefit your productivity is setting aside a designated day for catching up on these jobs. By dedicating time specifically for these tasks, you can manage your workload better and stay ahead of the game. Plus, it allows you to plan and schedule your social media and Pinterest posts for the week ahead, freeing up more time for other important aspects of your business.

“…After I’ve walked Lyla, it’s time for a coffee and to crack on with checking my emails and packing orders. Each day is different, and I tend to divide my week into a day for different tasks. I set Mondays for admin, Tuesday for business development, Wednesday for making products, Thursday for content creation and Fridays for heading to the beach to get seaweed and finish off any product labelling. Inevitably my week doesn’t often look like this- perhaps one of my children is ill, a storm is heading in, so I need to get seaweed early, or I have a large retail order I need to make up! But it’s all part of the fun and I find embracing the challenges is the best way forward…” – Ella Mclachlan, founder of Phoenix & Providence

Learn how to prioritise your tasks and be flexible

We all have them, the much loved, needed and dreaded..’to-do lists’. They’re in fact the ultimate time management tool and true productivity lifesavers. The to-do list is a simple and effective way to keep track of your tasks and achieve your daily goals. Prioritise your daily tasks by placing the most urgent and important items at the top. 

Try to avoid a never-ending to-do list, so you’re not feeling overwhelmed. Your daily to-do list should be achievable. Some experts recommend keeping it to a maximum of 6 items per day, with some suggesting as few as 3. Ultimately it comes down to how much time you’re spending on each task. If you’re running out of time, move any unfinished jobs to another day. Remember to be kind to yourself. 

Need a visual reminder of your progress? We love a day per page diary, where we can write down daily to-do lists and tasks. Checking off completed tasks as you go is a satisfying way to see your accomplishments add up throughout the day.

Be flexible. There is no typical day for small business owners. A daily to-do list is valuable even if plans change. It can help you keep track of your priorities.

Achieve your objectives with time blocking rather than multitasking

Time blocking is a time management technique that many small business owners find useful. It means setting aside blocks of time to focus on one thing at a time which is the exact opposite to multitasking. This way you can give all your attention to each task and finish it more efficiently.

By time blocking your day, you’ll find yourself achieving more in less time. As a result you might feel less stressed or overwhelmed. Give it a try and see the difference it can make for you and your small business.

Do you use Post-it notes for your to-do lists?

If your answer is yes then you’ll love this super simple tip by Kim Slade, founder of UNLOST, which will help you to focus on one task at the time. We’re trying it out as we speak! 🙂

Use time-saving business tools

Discover one of our favourite business tools, Tailwind*. We have been using Tailwind for many years. Not only does it save time with your marketing, it can also help you make it simpler and more effective. 

Find out how Tailwind is powering marketing behind the scenes in this great case study*.

“…Hannah has more time and energy to focus on her true passion: making jewellery. She highly recommends the tool to fellow small business owners looking to save time and reach new audiences…”

Here’s what we love about Tailwind:

🎯 Pin with precision: Smart Schedule gets your Pins to your audience at the perfect moment. How? Tailwind analyses your audience to understand when they’re most likely to see and engage with YOUR pins.
✍🏽 Overcome Writer’s Block: Writing all those Pin Titles and Descriptions can make you crazy!  With Tailwind Ghostwriter, you get keyword optimised copy that sounds natural.
🎨 Effortless Creation: With Tailwind Create, you can generate hundreds of on-brand posts for Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook. No design skills required.
🗓️ Scheduling Made Simple: If manually posting Pins has you worn out, Tailwind’s automated social media publishing is your best friend. Batch work, and get the benefits of consistency without the need to log in every day.

On top of that we love Tailwind’s super helpful customer service team.

OUR 5 FAVOURITE TIME-SAVING BUSINESS TOOLS & APPS

Are you struggling to juggle everything? There are only so many hours in a day! Our favourite business tools are designed to make your daily life simpler and more efficient – freeing up your time to focus on your creative work, making, designing and growing your business. Join our community and receive your FREE DOWNLOAD with our favourite 5 apps straight to your inbox!

Stay focused by minimising distractions

We all know the importance of staying focused when we’re working on a project or on our to-do list. But it’s easy to get side-tracked, thanks to the digital distractions of modern life. We find it helps to turn off notifications and close every website tab that is unrelated to your task. 

“…I work from home from one of our bedrooms which I turned into my office. I have a lot of books and magazines around me, and need space for packing orders, so I’m very thankful that we have room for me to spread out and do this. My husband works from home now too since the pandemic happened, but he works downstairs in the dining room. I can’t really have too much distraction as I only work until 3pm when I have to go collect my daughter from school, so it’s best we sit separately! I have a team of six other wonderful women that work part time for me, but everyone works remotely, and we just catch up over email, phone and occasionally in person. I couldn’t do it without them, they are all amazing!…” – Caroline Rowland, Founding Editor of 91 Magazine

Take regular breaks and time to recharge 

As a small business owner, it’s easy to get caught up in the daily grind and overlook the importance of taking breaks. Incorporating conscious periods of rest into your work schedule can actually work in your favour. So don’t be afraid to take a break by going for a walk, having lunch or reading a book. 

OUTSOURCING TASKS – THE KEY TO SMALL BUSINESS SUCCESS!

The biggest investment you can make in your business is your time. You can’t be good at every aspect of your business. Even if you are, you won’t have time to do it all and have any kind of meaningful work/life balance. Something always has to give. Wouldn’t it be great if you could prioritise and focus on the parts of your business you are good at and enjoy?

Outsourcing tasks could be the answer to your business success! By outsourcing certain tasks, such as marketing, content creation or accounting, you can free up resources. This means more efficient use of both your time and your budget. You will have more energy and time to actually create your product or service and grow your brand. That is why you set up your business in the first place!

Now, it’s time for you to take the next step and take control of your business with our tips & tricks to start you on your journey to success.

SAVE FOR LATER

*This article contains an affiliate link for Tailwind, meaning if you choose to click through and make a purchase, we will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.