Multi-tasking is an important skill to possess as a business owner. You are definitely going to be faced with projects, commitments, etc that seemingly require your attention simultaneously. Yeah, I know! As an entrepreneur, 24hrs/day never seems to be enough but it is important to master the art of juggling your responsibilities effectively as and when required.
Truth be told, multi-tasking does not come naturally to everyone but the good news is that this art can be learned and mastered. It all depends on you!
Now! Here’s a secret….
As a business owner, multi-tasking does not necessarily mean that you have to do everything at the same time. Instead, it’s about doing things effectively. Before starting out on any task, you need to be sure to a large extent what the end game is. How productive is the task you are about to start? Would it be worth it or not?
As a business owner, you might have to re-evaluate your tasks at hand and define what productivity actually means to you. Embarking on a task without any productive end result would just end up being a waste of time; which you don’t seem to have enough of in the first place.
Below are a few approaches I tried that helped me multi-task effectively; It can work for you too.
- Plan and set your priorities right
Let’s be honest! Whenever your attention is spread across multiple tasks all at the same time, your performance is affected negatively. To prevent being torn between several to-dos all at the same time, you will have to set your priorities right in order to focus on one thing at a time, which in turn improves your effectiveness,
No task carries equal weight; so planning and setting your priorities may involve you adopting what we call a ‘scale of preference’. Rank your tasks from most important to least important and tackle them one at a time. Your plan should also be in the confines of a realistic time frame. Set deadlines for each task. If it’s a very broad project you are about to embark upon, break it down to bits and pieces and face them one at a time rather than attacking everything at once.
This approach does not just help you to be thorough, you will also be able to consistently churn out top-notch end result which should be the goal of any business owner.
2. Master the art of time management
Now that you have crafted out that plan, you need to manage your time effectively. Remember, the tasks highlighted have a time frame allocated to them. There are several ways to manage your time. You can adopt the ‘time-blocking’ approach which involves deciding what you will do at each point in time in a day. For instance, you can allocate 7am-8am to responding to emails, enquires etc from clients, 8am-9am may be allocated to conducting a meeting with your team members and so on.
More so, technology has made a lot of things pretty much easy for us. There are several time management apps you can utilize to serve as reminders and properly optimize your schedule.
3. It’s okay to take a break!
There’s this 24-hour obsession common among business owners but in reality, working round the clock will only end up in fatigue and you will eventually burn-out. Multi-tasking puts some serious work-load on your brain and if you push yourself too far, you will lose focus and perform less effectively. You may be tempted to think that you are wasting your time while taking that break especially when you have so many things on your plate but in reality, taking breaks intermittently helps you achieve better end results.
4. Fight procrastination!
Procrastination is a thief of time and it’s a menace that afflicts a lot of business owners. Do not postpone a task you can tackle today to the next day. It might end up being a recurring decimal that you may not be able to wriggle out of.
5. It’s okay not to multi-task
Inasmuch as it is important for you to be on top of everything while maximizing your productivity as a business owner, there are times where juggling your responsibilities may not be recommended. There are some tasks that cannot be combined with others because they require you to focus all your energy and concentration on it 100%. On my part, whenever I’m privileged to draft a business plan or proposal for a client, I focus on that alone because it requires accuracy, attention to detail, and no distractions. The same applies to any task that has immense implications for your business. Do not try to get ahead of yourself, no matter what.
In conclusion,
It is important to note that multi-tasking does not have to involve you burning yourself out as a result of taking on tasks in bulk rather, it’s about completing tasks effectively.
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