7 Top Tips To Save You Time Every Day

It can be hard to keep on top of everything when running a bookkeeping business. You are constantly juggling client work, marketing, invoicing, networking, responding to emails, client meetings…. the list is endless.

Running a business is even harder if you are juggling other responsibilities. You may be caring for children or elderly relatives, dealing with health issues or holding down a job until you can leave to focus solely on your business. As a business owner, your time really is precious and needs to be used wisely, especially if you have other responsibilities eating into your time.

The great news is that you do have an amount of control over how that time is spent.

Here are 7 top tips to find yourself a bit of extra time each day.

Plan Ahead

Every day before you switch off your laptop, write out your to do list for the following day. Pick two or three important jobs that absolutely need to be done that day.

The next day as soon as you switch your laptop back on, you already have a to do list to work though, starting with your important tasks. No more faffing and wondering where to start. You can get cracking straight away and blast through your to do list with ease.

Schedule Your Inbox

Rather than checking your inbox regularly throughout the day, pick a couple of times per day and check only at these times. You could check in the morning after you’ve done your important jobs for the day, once after lunch and then about an hour before you finish for the day.

Checking your inbox in this way stops you getting distracted by incoming emails throughout the day. If you are worried about not responding to emails immediately then set up an auto responder saying thank you for your email. I check my emails three times per day. If your email needs urgent action, please call or text me.

Streamline

This can be time consuming at the start, but once you’ve done it, you will then start to save so much time. Think of all the tasks in your business that you do repeatedly such as sending out new client contracts, chasing payroll information, invoicing or answering frequently asked questions by email. For each task, think of the fastest and easiest way to do it.

If this is something that you struggle with, ask a Virtual Assistant or Virtual PA for a couple of hours of their time. Most VA’s are very tech savvy and will know the best tools to use. They will come up with faster ways of doing these tasks, that will save you many hours.

Batch Tasks

Try doing similar tasks together. Things such as sending out invoices, payroll, replying to emails, making phone calls or updating social media can be done in batches. This saves you time because you are focusing on the same kinds of tasks together and you can get into the zone.

It can be hard to flit from creating memes for your Facebook page, to ordering new printer cartridges, to completing a bank reconciliation, so keep like tasks together.

Limit distractions

You know how it is, you have a VAT return to finish and it must be done that day. What should you do to get that VAT return finished? Turn off your phone or put it in another room, stay away from social media, leave your email inbox for a couple of hours and get to work.

Try setting a timer to keep you focused. Give yourself a challenge, a time limit and off you go! When you give yourself a time limit to complete a task, this helps you to stay focused and avoid distraction, which is an unnecessary waste of your valuable time.

Evernote

I love this app! Say goodbye to scribbles on the back of envelopes and scraps of paper cluttering up your desk. Use it for to do lists, lists of books you plan to read, notes that you make when you listen to webinars and ideas that pop into your head.

The best part is that not only is it free, but you can also access it on your mobile so if you are out and about and you think of a great idea for a blog, just record it in Evernote on your mobile.

No more time spent searching through your office for that scrap of paper that you scribbled on.

Outsource

Within your business there will be tasks that need to be done but you may find them hard, boring or an unnecessary use of your time. Just because these tasks need to be done, it doesn’t mean that you must be the one to do them.

Outsource these tasks to someone else (who will probably to a better job in faster time). Think of the time that this will save you.

I hope that those tips help you to claw back some much-needed time. Which tip are you going to try first? Can you think of any other tips that could be added to the list?