Becoming your own boss has never been easier. The internet puts your items within reach of anyone anywhere. You don’t even have to give up your full-time job to enjoy the extra income a side hustle like eCommerce gives you.
Running a business comes with certain perks, like being the master of your time. The flip side of that ability is that you’re the only master of your time for your business. No one else will hold you accountable for what you do (or don’t do) within a day.
Regardless of whether you are the boss of yourself or someone else manages you, the same amount of time in a day exists for everyone. The trick of super successful people and entrepreneurs is that they’ve learned how to regulate their time effectively.
While none of us can add an extra minute to a 24-hour day, we can use a few tricks to make every moment count. Follow these tips to maximize your time, effort, and effectiveness.
Figure Out Where Your Time Goes
“Oh, where has the time gone?!” That’s another way to say time flew by, but we want you to take that question to heart. Where does your time go?
Once you identify time-wasters, you can eliminate them. To find out where you may be losing efficiency, write down how you spend your time for a week. Alternatively, use an app to log your activities and help you better manage your time.
You may be surprised to learn how much time you spend on unimportant or useless activities, like mindlessly scrolling on social media. Consider alternatives to things that take up a lot of your time but don’t contribute to your goals.
- Could you prepare more simple meals to avoid the time it takes to search for recipes, grocery shop, meal prep, and clean up?
- Could you reduce phone time to a small daily window, such as from 11:00-12:00 and 8:00-9:00?
- Could family or hiring a housekeeper help keep the house tidy?
- Could you ride share or take public transportation to get some work done on your daily commute?
Automate Tasks
The second best thing about starting a side business in eCommerce is the technology that makes dropshipping tasks almost effortless. That translates into you earning extra cash without breaking your proverbial back doing it.
Many people start a Shopify store because they realize the value of making passive income. Shopify and other eCommerce outlets help you automate the usual tasks and completely bypass others. You don’t have to order, store, and track inventory. Someone else makes your products on an as-ordered basis. Another store receives, packages, and ships the orders. What’s not to love?
Delegate
You can’t do it all. Well, you probably could single-handedly save the world, but why not let other superheroes put their skills to good use, too? What would Batman be without Robin?
You must pick the most important things that bring you leaps and bounds closer to achieving the goals you set for yourself and your business. Give those tasks you always seem to put off for last to someone else to do. Please do what you do best and let everything else go to someone else who can do it better (or almost as well) as you.
You are Batman. Your child, Robin, can make their own lunch, keep their room nice and clean, and make their bed.
Worst First
It’s second nature to do the easiest, most enjoyable things first. It’s why we break our focus to see what that “ding” was about on our phone–instant gratification!
Tackle the things you don’t want to do earlier before fatigue or world problems arise. When you knock the tough stuff out first, you can relax more when you can cross them off your to-do list.
Energy Flow
Identify the times of the day when you are at your best: best energy, most productive, most lively, and awake. Knock out the tasks with the most significant impact at these times.
If you’re a morning person, start on what will give you the biggest bang for your buck first. However, if you typically get a big burst of energy at night, use the quiet time when everyone else is asleep to accomplish your critical tasks.
Go To Bed
Pulling an all-nighter hasn’t been cool since college, so give it up. You can’t and shouldn’t try to be productive while fighting sleep. On average, you need a good six to eight hours of shut-eye.
You’ll only waste your time fighting to focus while your self-discipline suffers. To keep you awake, you’ll either end up mindlessly snacking or getting pulled down the rabbit hole of an internet search.
Know when you need to get ready for bed to get the right amount of sleep. Set your alarm, use a sleep management app, or recruit your significant other to help you stick to your plan. A healthy bedtime routine will reduce evening unproductivity and help you wake up more energized the next day.
Small Changes Add Up
Most of us have inefficient habits in areas of our lives. You can improve your productivity as long as you continue to take stock of your tasks and processes. One small change at a time can get you there.
The new year is coming! What changes can you make to ensure that next year is even better than this one? How can you do more in a day when you only get 24 hours? What goals are most important to you?