Master Your Time: 9 Time-Saving Tips for Busy Service Providers in 2024
Service providers tend to wear many different hats and are often juggling a multitude of different clients, which is why saving yourself time however and whenever you can becomes so important. These are some of the best time-saving tips for busy entrepreneurs that will give you some time back in your day, week, or month. Being busy is not a badge of honour; it’s a fast track to burnout. Here’s 9 Time-saving tips for busy service providers!
1. Email Templates
Fielding repetitive questions? Try crafting email templates for frequent queries. These ensure consistent communication while saving time. Gmail has a ‘canned response’ feature to store templates, if you’re not using it, be prepared to save hours!
2. Project Management Templates
I talk a lot about project management tools, like ClickUp, and for a good reason. They are the best way to organise your business, your projects, and your tasks. One of the best things about a project management system like ClickUp is creating templates for your most common or recurring projects.
Here are a couple of examples of when these templates really work:
Publish a new podcast episode every week? Make your subtasks into a template!
Regularly publish new blog posts? Create a template for your subtasks!
3. Batch Your Work
If you do a variety of different tasks, like most entrepreneurs, batching your work will not only help you become more productive but will keep you sane. It’s hard to jump from task to task, and batching will help you accomplish so much more in less time.
Move all of your tasks that involve the same client or system into one batch of time. Opening and closing different systems can make you break focus, whereas if you get them all done at once, it’ll save you tons of time.
4. Be Strategic with your Scheduling
Pretty much anything that is recurring can be automated. One automation might save you a few seconds, but that number can grow quite a bit over time. I’ll be sharing a post soon about automations you can use to scale your online business, so be sure to stay in touch!
Automation holds the potential to simplify recurrent tasks. As productivity expert Michael Hyatt opines, “Automate before you delegate.” An automation might appear trivial but account for a significant amount of saved time over extended periods.
6. Take Breaks Throughout the Day
Make sure you take breaks throughout the day, especially when you’ve been doing long stints in front of your computer. Set a timer to remind yourself to stretch your legs and take breaks. It’s so easy to just pushing on to one more task but getting out and a change of scene will make all the difference.
7. Get Rid of Interruptions
If you get distracted easily, it’s time to minimise distractions. Close out any unneeded browser tabs (or hide them) and shut off your phone notifications. It’s incredible how much more productive you can be when you aren’t constantly distracted by your phone going off.
According to productivity author, Cal Newport, “Productivity is about attention management rather than time management.” Eliminate digital interruptions to stay focussed. Consider using apps to block distracting websites or turning off mobile notifications.
8. Figure Out When You Are Most Productive
Most people are more productive at a specific part of the day. You might be a morning person, or maybe you get your second burst of energy in the mid-afternoon. Knowing when you are most productive can help you tackle your biggest or most important tasks during that time frame.
9. Set up systems and processes
And finally, I’ve saved the best for last! In his iconic book, “The E-Myth Revisited,” Michael E. Gerber stresses the importance of creating systematic processes in businesses. Streamlined processes essentially minimise chances of errors, reduce unnecessary work, and increase productivity. Setting up systems could free up more hours than you might expect.
Ensuring productivity isn’t about being constantly occupied; it’s about working intentionally in tune with your energy and avoiding ‘busy work’. Keep refining your processes, implement these tips and enjoy the rewards of the time freedom you started your business for!
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