There are approximately 31.7 million small businesses operating in the United States. If you’re a small business owner, you’ve likely developed a variety of soft skills to support your success, particularly when it comes to task management.
By applying your task management skills to other areas of your life, you can achieve broader success. If you aren’t sure where to begin, HR Solutions discusses a few task management skills that small business owners need to have and takes a look at how you can use them to improve all aspects of your life.
Organization
As a small business owner, organization is at the core of much of what you do. From your first business plan to maintaining a schedule to ongoing efforts to keep your company focused on its goals, staying orderly is essential.
However, organization doesn’t just help you professionally. You can apply that skill to your personal life, too. Whether it’s tracking your family’s activities to create a cohesive schedule, coming up with a structure of your budget, or a multitude of other activities, organization is a critical component. As a result, as you hone that capability at work, you’ll use it more effectively across the board, allowing you to streamline all aspects of your day-to-day.
Prioritizing
Small business owners understand that you can’t do everything that needs to happen all at once. Instead, you have to focus on high-priority tasks first, ensuring the must-dos are handled in a timely fashion.
By applying your prioritization skills to your personal life, you can ensure that you address must-do tasks first. Additionally, you’ll have an easier time identifying low-value activities, allowing you to eliminate tasks that might not be necessary.
With prioritization, you don’t just stay on top of important activities; you also maximize your time. You’ll learn to focus on what actually matters, ensuring low-value tasks don’t bog you down. Plus, by eliminating low-value activities, you can give your high-priority tasks more attention, allowing you to do your highest-quality work where it counts most.
Flexibility
When you run a small business, things rarely go entirely to plan. As a result, you learn to pivot quickly, ensuring you can keep moving toward your goals even if the unexpected occurs.
By applying the same flexibility to other aspects of your life, you’re better equipped to roll with the punches. An unanticipated event or sudden hurdle won’t fully derail you. Instead, you’ll see the situation for what it is and work to navigate it, ensuring you can get back on track as quickly as possible.
Delegation
Delegating can actually work in all aspects of your life. For example, by separating out chores among household members, you can divide and conquer. The burden is split between everyone, reducing the stress on each person individually.
Similarly, getting outside support for personal or professional tasks can work wonders. If handling cleaning tasks at home is too cumbersome, you could find a housekeeper to help. If your yard is more than you can manage, you could hire a landscaper. Bear in mind that this isn’t just about freeing up time. Certain improvements to your home – including renovating your home office – have the added benefit of increasing your home’s appraisal value, as well!
Being a small business owner comes with a lot of challenges – but with a little planning and tenacity, you can thrive, both in and out of the office.
HR Solutions assists organizations with services to define, align, and sustain their desired corporate culture through leadership development, workforce training, meeting and event facilitation, human resource consulting, leadership success coaching, and speaking engagements. Let us know how we can help you and your business!
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