Get Organized as a Small Business Owner: Mini PWTs
Author: Paul de Meo /// Length: 3 Minutes
Want to succeed in growing your business? It starts with you. If you can successfully manage yourself, you’ll be on the right track to successfully manage others. It’s that simple. Get it right and both productivity and your capacity as a manager (and eventually leader) will skyrocket!
Kick-off each day with 15 minutes Personal Work Time (PWT) to plan your day. Add it to your calendar. If it’s not calendarized, it’s not happening. Make it happen.
When? Choose a time when you won’t be disturbed and preferably before your day really kicks in. Close your door. Put your cell on silent or airplane mode. In short, make sure you don’t have distractions. That may include writing offscreen rather than onscreen.
REAL-LIFE EXPERIENCE: BEFORE
Arriving at the office, staff would greet me but I’d come across as being “distracted” or “cold” as one senior manager pointed out to me. “You’re not cold boss, but you come across that way in the morning.” Ouch, the comment was a sucker punch. That said, I really appreciated the feedback. On reflection, I realized I was often mentally prioritizing my day while walking to my desk. So when folks asked me a question or greeted me, I indeed came across as cold. I was completely distracted and only gave them partial attention - rude! Unintentional but nonetheless damaging to morale and definitely not the best human resource practice. At the time our company was experiencing growing pains - adding $5 million of revenue and an additional 50+ staff - a good problem to have but it comes with challenges.
(If you’re reading this thinking, “I have plenty of personal work time - I have no staff.” The principle applies to you too! The key is to have a designated time that sets the priorities for your day.)
After only a week of building this habit, you’ll notice a profound difference.
If there are items you find particularly stressful as a small business owner, deal with them first. Tackling your most stressful task early, makes the rest of the day a lot easier. Don’t procrastinate. Others may follow.
COACH TIP
Practically, identify the key deliverables for the day. Hold yourself accountable by writing them down and prioritizing them. Some people like to use the One Metric That Matters (OMTM) approach while others prefer a Top 3. Whatever your preferred method for capturing your goals, the key is to identify what is mission-critical for your business? What actions today will substantially move your business forward tomorrow? Are there any items that I’ve been avoiding? Then prioritize accordingly.
Coach Tip:
If there are items you find stressful as a small business owner, deal with them first. Tackling your most stressful task early, makes the rest of the day a lot easier. Don’t procrastinate. Others may follow.
If you’re looking for a practical tool that syncs across all your devices, look no further than Trello. [More on how to setup the ideal Business Mission Board later.]
REAL-LIFE EXPERIENCE: AFTER
My location of choice for my mini private working time? My car. Yep, real classy. At home I had little kids running around and from the moment I arrived at the office, my day was in full swing (…and maybe I didn’t want to come across as cold - ahem). I took 15 minutes parked somewhere on route to prioritize my day. Critical actions, calls, emails, meetings, etc. While I might have already had meetings arranged in the calendar, taking the time free from distractions to consider what really mattered to the business and our customers, really helped. It was a daily fresh perspective. It empowered me to stay on top.
The result? When I hit the office I was able to give people my undivided attention. This had a positive knock-on especially where in many cases a simple greeting was my only interaction with a person in the whole day. Equally critical, the 15 minutes away from the daily noise of the running a business enabled me to accomplish more company goals in a shorter time.
Lastly, a mini PWT is not a complete solution to become a great manager and eventually leader. However, it is a fundamental practice that gives you a solid base to build on. It’s simply good business and ultimately will save you time and money.
ACTIONs to AVOID:
Bumbling into your day without a clear plan. (And potentially also coming across as cold - ahem!)
ACTIONs to take:
Get your recurring mini PWT in your calendar now. Start your day with an action plan. And most importantly, be the boss.
To learn more about leadership, transformation, and growth for your business, talk to Grow Montgomery today. Unleash your businesses’ full potential with a small business consultant. Book a FREE Consultation.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Paul de Meo
In addition to his own ventures, Paul spent the early part of his career working with entrepreneurs ranging from a serial entrepreneur and billionaire to a service entrepreneur managing the Beatles label (Yes, he did have meetings sat at Paul McCartney’s desk!). Paul holds a Project Management BS from the #1 architecture school in the world (The Bartlett at UCL) and an MBA from #1 ranked entrepreneurship program (Rice Business). Paul has started, managed, and sold businesses varying from small family businesses to larger corporations - he’s had his fair share of successes and failures. As a business coach for Grow Montgomery he shares experience in a no nonsense and direct approach from hard knocks in the trenches. Paul is based in Montgomery, Texas, with his wife and three kids.