Mastering Time Management While Running Your Small Business

LISA: Many of my clients who want to start spiritual businesses are already working or are in another kind of business. A spiritual business often begins as a side interest that began from an inspiration. If you already have a full-time job, working to earn a living, or if you are a full-time mom, you are going to be very busy already! It is key to your success to know how to manage your time if you would like to start your own business. Don’t feel you have to quit your job to start your spiritual business. You can start it slowly while you keep your “day job.”

As an entrepreneur fully immersed in running your business, what you spend your time on is vital to keeping your business running. All small businesses require owners to be “chef, cook and bottle washer,” which can be overwhelming. Whether starting a business while you are working another job or running your small business, the key will be time management.

CINDY: In the beginning, if you can’t manage your time it will be frustrating to manage your business and keep the rest of your already busy life going. Time management doesn’t have to be difficult. The following sections offer basic steps to get everything done without sacrificing your lifestyle.

Grounded Spirituality

SPIRITUAL BUSINESS TIP:
Set aside “chunks” of time to work on your business marketing.

LISA: Surprisingly, too much spirituality can unground you and take you away from the things you need to focus on to keep your business thriving. This can happen when people feel that if they are highly linear and systematic in their business thinking it will detract from their spirituality. But we are meant to be both spiritual and grounded at the same time.


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There are times when you need to focus on your day-to-day business tasks that require more left-brain, logical thinking and then switch to your spiritual mode when you are actually practicing your spiritual craft, whether it be energy healing, intuitive readings, alternative medicine, or spiritual consulting.

Stay focused when you need to be, and focus on what you need to focus on. The best way to do this is to be disciplined enough to set time aside daily for your business tasks. A good way to help manage your busy schedule is to work in “chunks” of time.

First, turn off all distractions — even though it’s hard, you can do it. Don’t look at your email, close your email application; don’t look at your social media; turn the ringer off on your phone; and, if possible, make sure the kids won’t or can’t bother you.

Set a timer for 50 minutes and just work on one business task. After your 50 minutes is up you can take a 10-minute break to do whatever you want — go stretch, snack, look at your texts, check on the kids, etc.

But after that 10 minutes, set your timer again for another 50 minutes and work again solely on one business task. You’d be surprised how much you can get done. We often get very distracted and therefore it takes a long time to get anything finished.

Productive Multitasking

LISA: Being an entrepreneur, which is what you are when you have your own business, is highly demanding of your time and focus. When you work for a company, as I did, in some ways it’s actually easier to manage your time because you are generally assigned to do one thing, or one job.

As a lone businessperson you have to do so many different things, it’s hard to get anything done. I could run and manage a multi-million dollar project with 100 people working for me when I was working in corporate, but when it came to my own business I was overwhelmed with so much to do.

Time just seemed to slip away from me. It felt like it took me years to move inches. Before I learned how to “chunk” my time, I tried to work on several things at once. It was hard to keep my focus on deadlines for several different major projects. I would change the projects, the due dates, and what I did each hour at will. It was almost too much freedom!

Once I chunked out my time and focused my energy on one project during that chunk of time and then another project in another chunk of time I was able to accomplish and complete many projects together. If you focus on one thing at a time per chunk you can get more done across many projects, rather than being random and scattered doing several projects all at once.

In your chunk of time, pick one thing you will work on out of the several projects you need to do, and focus only on that one thing. If you are a perfectionist, then try to stop at 90% of what you think is best, otherwise you’ll have trouble completing things in a timely fashion. Most of the time, 90% is more than enough.

Setting Due Dates for Important Stages of Projects

Set due dates for important stages of your projects. Then work towards those dates. When we work for ourselves we don’t have fixed dates for completion. That can mean time whips by too quickly without our noticing it.

To prevent that, pick dates when you want to accomplish certain milestones of your projects by and pick a date when you want the entire project completed. Then work toward those dates. You can adjust them later if you really need to.

I found that picking a date to teach a class and announcing it made me work harder to prepare for it. In this way I was able to create courses much more quickly. I also have recurring events I need to prepare for each month such as my intuition development group meeting and my radio show. These fixed events also force me to create a monthly newsletter email announcing the event details and also gets me to write an article to be included in my newsletter.

Right Place, Right Time

Also, finding a good place to work and concentrate is important, if you can do it. I have spent some of my summers dedicated to writing large projects, like this book. I found that the library of my alma mater, Columbia University, is a fantastic place to work and concentrate. It’s quiet, and since everyone there is intensely focused, it makes for great work energy!

Here is a summary of how to get things done:

1. Chunk your time.

2. Shoot for 90% perfect rather than perfection.

3. Focus on one thing in your chunk time.

4. If you can, find a quiet place where you can focus and work.

Do The Best You Can With The Time You Have

CINDY: I know Lisa’s suggestions work because I use them. However, don’t worry if you don’t have a 50-minute chunk of time. If you have another full-time job or you are a stay-at-home mom, you may find that your lifestyle only gives you a 20-minute chunk of time before the kids get home or before bedtime.

Do the best you can with the time you have. You will be amazed how much you can get done in whatever chunk of focused time you can manage.

©2015 by Cindy Griffith and Lisa K. All Rights Reserved.
Reprinted with permission of the publisher,
Findhorn Press. www.findhornpress.com.

Article Source

Grow Your Spiritual Business: How to Build a Business in the Internet Age by Cindy Griffith and Lisa K.Grow Your Spiritual Business: How to Build a Business in the Internet Age
by Cindy Griffith and Lisa K.

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About the Authors

Cindy GriffithCindy Griffith is an internationally renowned Psychic, teacher, Huffington Post blogger, and author of multiple published books and meditation CDs. She has a diverse background in Metaphysics and Energetic Healing while running a successful spiritual business for over 20 years. She created Metaphysics Interactive in 1999, the longest on-going monthly lecture series in the history of Borders Bookstore. Cindy has been teaching meditation and other Metaphysical topics since 1993 when she opened her first Spiritual Business, The Center for Holistic Support in Greenwich CT. She teaches spiritual development throughout the United States and in Tokyo, Japan. Visit her at CindyGriffith.com

Lisa K.Lisa K. is a teacher, author and speaker specializing in intuition. She is the creator of “Developing Your Intuition,” a system that helps people master their intuition so they can draw on it when they want and on what they want to receive detail and clarity from their intuition. Drawing upon her background in psychobiology, engineering and metaphysical sciences, as well as her experience in teaching and performing angel readings for others, she has developed a method for intuition development that is clear, easy to follow and works for everyone. Her marketing and sales work generated millions of dollars in revenue for several information technology firms. She has worked for companies such as IBM, United Parcel Service, Chemical Bank, and PT Rajawali Group.