4 Time Management Tips for Startup Owners

by Startacus Admin

Time is a precious resource for every startup business. Here are 4 time management tips for startup owners to help juggle a huge number of tasks. 

Time is a precious resource for every respectable business - and even more so for startups, who are pressed to find a scalable model for their businesses as fast as possible.

In essence, startup owners have to carry a lot of responsibility for maintaining growth, as well as juggle a huge number of tasks, all with limited resources, and in a short amount of time.

To help you achieve just that, here are 4 time management tips for startup owners you can try: 

Delegate as much as you can

Delegating is all about resisting the urge to control and observe everything that goes around in your startup - if you've hired a competent team, the quickest road to success is letting them contribute to the work.

The easiest and best way to do so is to:

• Develop a priority system for tasks - tackle most important tasks on your own, but delegate other urgent tasks to your team members. Everything will be finished before the deadlines, and you’ll be free to focus on crucial tasks.
• Play to the worker's strengths - learn your team's strengths and skills, and then delegate tasks to people whose skills show they’re the best for the job.
• Once you delegate, include instructions - this includes specifics requirements for the task, as well as specific deadlines. If you include precise instructions, you'll ensure the task is executed in the best possible way.

Bring meetings under control

Regular employees spend 6 hours, and that senior executives spend 23 hours a week on meetings - that’s a lot of time you could be spending more wisely.

Avoid having meetings for every single thing that comes up in your startup company - prioritize by holding meetings only for crucial matters.

Also, schedule your meetings smart - Tuesdays at 2:30 p.m. are perfect for meetings, because everyone has finished their most important tasks for the day, but they’re also still alert enough to pay attention and contribute to the discussion. 

You can further tame meeting-time by following these simple tricks:

• hold meetings during meals - you and your team have to eat, and if you also have to conduct a meeting that day, why not hold the meeting during lunch time?
• conduct virtual meetings - if you and your team are geographically apart, a skype call will save travel time, and still be equally effective.
• create a meeting agenda, and stick to it - list one or two most important subjects you’ll tackle, designate 15-20 minutes for it all, and don’t let the discussion go off topic.

Track how you spend time

The best way to make sure you manage your time well, is to keep track of it, with the help of a time card calculator. Simply, instruct everyone in your team to note in the times they spend on activities, and also enter your times as well. 

If you and your team log all the time you spend at work, you’ll be able to assess:

• How productive everyone is with their tasks - this practice is also likely to make everyone more accountable with their share of work
• How everyone spends their time at work - you’ll gain insight in whether you spend enough time on crucial matters, or waste it on less important tasks
• The state of your resources - you’ll understand whether certain activities pay off, in relation to the time you spend on them, and the gain they actually bring.

If you keep track of the time you invest in your startup, you’ll be able to break your tracked data down by task and time period, and then make further conclusions on the potential improvements you all can make regarding your time management.

Stick to a schedule

When working with limited resources and time, scheduling is your best friend - knowing what you have to do, and when you have to do it, will minimize procrastination, as well as eliminate the time you usually waste thinking about what you have to do next. 

Every evening, make a to-do list of the tasks you’ll have to tackle the next day - list them in order of importance, to single out the priority tasks you’ll start working on first thing in the morning. 

Then, decide on the times you’ll focus on these tasks - block specific hours of the day for specific tasks, and stick to these time blocks.

Once you delegate tasks, make everyone aware of their deadlines, so they too can make their own schedules, and make the most of their time.

In the end, once you’ve made it a habit to track time you invest in your startup, delegate what you can to your trustworthy team, schedule everything, and minimize less important matters such as meetings, you’ll perfect your time management and be one giant leap closer to a successful startup. 

Marko Maric is a marketer who’s been involved with several startups over the years. He’s currently working at Clockify where he’s trying to make the world a more productive place.

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Published on: 7th December 2018