Time Management Strategies for Entrepreneurs

I recently ran across an infographic depicting the average time an entrepreneur spends each day on vital tasks. I found these time management strategies created an incredible profile of an entrepreneur. Compare these time management priorities against your own daily routines. If you’re like me, you just might see the need to make some adjustments.

According to this infographic, the typical entrepreneur starts her day at 6:15 a.m. and goes to bed at 11:40 p.m. That would give her about 6.5 hours of sleep per night. Pretty good! I would have thought it was less.

Coming in at 45 minutes a day was exercise. That’s a healthy routine and I’m glad to see that entrepreneurs embrace the idea that it’s not just work-work-work. Being healthy physically is just as important as being healthy financially.

Next on the list was personal development. On average, an entrepreneur spends 30 minutes a day working on themselves. Personal development can take many forms, but it is usually spent reading motivational or spiritual material, meditating or praying, listening to audio, or reading skill building material. I actually think 30 minutes a day is pretty minimal, but I’m glad it made the list.

The next category surprised me in a good way. It said that entrepreneurs spend 25 minutes every day planning and developing strategies. Hooray! That’s an excellent way to spend your time. I know I create a critical tasks to-do list every morning. Creating a plan and then executing that plan is a critical daily task.  And it’s doubly effective if it’s written down.  Don’t just “think” your plan.  Write it down.  It’s certainly a way to make sure your time management strategies are most effective.

Now we see where the entrepreneur will spend the bulk of her day. On average, an entrepreneur will spend 2 hours, 45 minutes every day in meetings (includes conference calls) related to running their business. These meetings may be with employees and staff or with vendors. Or it might be a webinar where they are learning a new skill or a workshop where they are learning new information. That’s more than 12 hours a week in meetings. That’s a lot, but meetings are a necessary evil. No one builds a successful business by themselves. You have to involve others in some way. But if you are spending 20 hours a week in meetings, then maybe your time management strategies need to be adjusted because there’s still one more crucial task for the entrepreneur to accomplish every day.

The daily task that most entrepreneurs spend their time on is … drumroll please …

creating and building relationships. Surprised? I was at first, but when I really think about it, this is actually the secret to success. Relationships are the secret sauce. According to this data, an average entrepreneur spends 3 hours a day on their relationships. It may be via email, text, phone calls, social media, or in person. The entrepreneur devotes time to staying in touch with colleagues and clients and nurtures those relationships. The entrepreneur spends time making new contacts, developing new leads. The entrepreneur knows that the money is in the list.

So there you have it. I hope these time management strategies for entrepreneurs give you some ideas on how to better plan your days to be more effective. Keep in mind, these are averages. You might need to spend 8 hours in meetings in one day. That’s okay as long as you balance it out with no meetings on other days. But if you look back at your last two weeks and see that you haven’t called, or emailed anyone, and haven’t met anyone new, then you know what you need to do today.

Here’s to your success,
Trina

P.S. Give yourself an awesome gift today! Join Mirelli and connect with our growing, engaged community entrepreneurs. Click here and join today.