One of the most challenging things about having a small wedding business is that we’re responsible for everything.
Not only do we have to be an expert at our trade…whether that’s music, photography, invitations, video, floristry, etc…we’ve got to wear all the other hats in our business, too. Plus, most of us have a family to take care of.
It’s enough to drive us nuts!
Time management is one of the biggest challenges wedding vendors have that directly relates to have much money we make. But it’s a slippery one; unlike getting leads or booking weddings, it’s not something that’s easy to measure.
If you want more time to work on your business, steal it back from these “time thieves.”
The 3 Big Time Thieves
1) Distraction and Interruption
Studies show that every time we’re interrupted it takes 20 minutes to get back into that “flow state.” We’re wasting time because we allow ourselves to be distracted by phone calls, text messages and email all day long.
If you want to double your productivity, work for 50-90 minutes of uninterrupted time on a single task in a location where you won’t be distracted. Turn off your email, cell phone and close the door.
Multi-tasking just doesn’t work; it wastes your precious time.
2) Urgent but Unimportant Activities
Have you ever had a day that was SO busy, where you worked from the time you got up until your exhausted head hit the pillow, but when you think back over your day it seems like you didn’t get anything done?
It’s really easy to get caught up in doing all the “little stuff” that doesn’t make us any money or get us closer to those long-term important goals for our business.
Stephen Covey calls those the “urgent but unimportant” tasks. Those could be unimportant phone calls or emails from people who REALLY want a response, but they have no impact on your health, happiness or financial success.
Eliminate, delegate or outsource as many of these Urgent but Unimportant tasks as possible so that you can spend your time on making money for your business.
3) Time Wasters
One of my biggest time wasters was EMAIL.
I was completely addicted to checking my email first thing in the morning. Once I read the emails in my inbox, I had to respond to them. And then I started reading my email newsletter subscriptions and pretty soon I was surfing the net…
Before I knew it, hours had passed.
Once I reduced the time I was wasting with email and surfing the internet, I ending up with 1-2 hours of found time I didn’t even know I had.
Your time wasters might be: television, Youtube, Facebook, text messaging…
Eliminate or limit even a few and you’ll find your own lost time.
Stealing Back Your Time
You’ve probably thought of a few time wasters in your life, right? Now it’s time to do something about them.
Print out this PDF. Then fill it out and take some action. You’ll rescue your stolen time before you know it!
What’s your biggest time waster?