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9 Best Time Management Tools For Small Business Owners

A vector representation of time management tools for small business owners

Time is the greatest asset for any small business owner. The key to maximizing productivity and achieving success is learning how to manage your time and resources efficiently.

This can be challenging for a small business that’s just starting out because you may find yourself struggling to keep up with your daily tasks. In order to keep your business from falling behind, it’s essential that you make the necessary changes to ensure you’re using time management tools for small businesses.

After all, your time is the biggest resource when you’re embarking on a small enterprise journey.


How to Manage Your Time Effectively When Starting a Small Business

A lot of business owners get caught up in the “I’ll get to it” mindset. This is when they spend more time on what used to be their hobbies than running a successful business. 

They start putting off important tasks and let things slide until it’s impossible to catch up. For example, one priority may be getting back in touch with clients who haven’t heard from you in over six months. If you don’t begin making contact soon, however, all those leads will run dry, and your sales will suffer because of it. 

On the other hand, if you’re able to stay on top of your marketing efforts through experienced case studies and effective time management tools for small businesses, then there should be no reason why you can meet (or exceed) your quotas.

Creating a to-do list is the most obvious time management tool for small businesses, but it’s not always enough, especially since even the best-laid plans often go awry. Knowing when you’re in danger of being overwhelmed by your workload is just as important as organizing your tasks into categories. 

1. Get your priorities straight

One reason why many entrepreneurs are unable to manage their time effectively is they have no clue what activities contribute most to the growth of their business. According to a marketing research firm, Pew Research, 97% of adults own cell phones in the United States.

This means that you can be easily interrupted when trying to accomplish a major task during the day. That’s why you need to make a priority first when starting a new task, so you don’t get mixed up and easily distracted when working on the assignment.


2. Take a break

The Pomodoro Technique is very effective in increasing your productivity without draining your energy. It was created by Francesco Cirillo in 1987 and divided work into intervals of 25 minutes of hard work followed by 5-minute breaks after every interval.

Make sure to take sufficient breaks between work. You’ll realize that having a break can improve your productivity by a lot. (cdphpfitnessconnect.org)  


3. Don’t do it alone

If you work at home, try co-working with other entrepreneurs so that you can share ideas and save on rent. Or, if you run your own business, hire freelancers to help out with different tasks so that they won’t take away time from your main activities.

Delegating tasks to team members can help you save time. You can use it to do a more important task, such as a strategy to drive your business forward. 


4. Track your time use

There are tools that allow you to see where your time goes during the day. This way, you can determine whether certain websites are taking too much of your time and whether it’s necessary to block them for a limited amount of time each day. These time management tools also include reports which will make sure no minute is wasted today or tomorrow.


8 Time Management Tools For Small Businesses

While you can use a number of different applications and techniques to track everything from billable hours to social media followings, the following management software will help you understand where your time is going so you can get more done in less time.

1. Google Calendar

This is one of the most widely used time management tools for small businesses because it’s simple and easy to use. It features an app that can be accessed through any mobile device or desktop computer, making managing your schedule quick and convenient. 

With Google Calendar, you don’t need additional data integration tools to connect your working apps with future schedules. You can also set up customized notifications so that you’ll know exactly when you need to leave in order to arrive at your next meeting.


2. Timecamp

This is a more personalized time management tool for small businesses because it’s based on your specific needs. It works by automatically categorizing your online activity and identifying remote work tracking that allows you to know what activities take up most of your day.

Timecamp will then generate reports and statistics that show you just how much time you’re wasting on websites that aren’t productive and which tasks are taking up way too much of your day.


3. RescueTime

This tool runs in the background of your computer as a free webpage or app, so it doesn’t require any extra effort on your part to use it. The software tracks website usage, application usage and gives clients an overall productivity score so business owners can ensure they are utilizing their time wisely throughout the workday. The service has both free and paid subscriptions, depending on the features you select.


4. Time Doctor

If you want to keep track of time spent on different tasks throughout the day, this is a lifesaver for business owners. A free version is available for small business owners who would like to test out the product before purchasing it but limits you to five projects with only one user at a time. 

This tool also provides detailed reports about staff members’ daily statistics and activity levels and screenshots of their computer screens every 10 minutes that are sent directly to your email. It’s not about spying on employees but keeping an eye on how they are spending their work hours so you can make sure they’re staying productive instead of checking Facebook constantly.


5. Trello

Also known as “post-it note by another name,” this free time management tool helps you get organized effortlessly. Employees can use this online project management application to keep track of all their tasks on a virtual corkboard. 

You can assign specific tasks, add notes and mark when they are completed directly in the inbox, or go back in time with old tasks that haven’t been marked off yet. You can also communicate with your employees by leaving comments on specific cards (which is essentially like sending an email) for them to respond to later.


6. Web Time Tracker

This nifty tool allows your employees to enter the hours worked for each day right from their desktops without having to download any software or fill out complicated forms. Just like its name suggests, you’ll be able to see how much time each one of your employees has. Or the time you use in a day.


7. Clockify

Clockify is a fantastic tool that provides you with reports on how your employees spend their time, week by week. You can also see how much time each of them spends working while clocked in and even view the times when they do not work. In addition to viewing reports, some great features allow you to communicate and onboard with your employees through comments or emojis-like images called Clocks.


8. ProofHub

ProofHub is a time-tracking tool that combines project management and team collaboration features – all in one place. It helps you stay on track, manage your team’s work schedule, and streamline communication across teams without last-minute rush and stress. 

You can stay on schedule, get visibility into your team’s workload and availability, track time spent on tasks using a timer or manually, and get tasks done to meet deadlines. ProofHub offers a suite of other features like kanban boards, Gantt charts, table view, calendars, file management, file proofing, chat, discussions, notes, and reports. ProofHub makes it easy without having to switch between multiple apps for time tracking and project management.

9. Appointy

Appointy is automated scheduling software designed to help you manage your appointment scheduling activities and routines. It’s an easy-to-use and powerful user interface. The software can control business hours at both the staff and service levels giving you the flexibility you need.

With Appointy, you will increase staff productivity by reducing no-shows and filling empty time slots. It offers real-time notifications, automatic Google calendar sync, and can be accessed through any mobile device or desktop computer to ensure that you control your business anywhere.


Conclusion

Time management is important for small businesses if they want to operate successfully. However, not every small business owner understands the importance of time management skills until they have no time to work on multiple projects.

In order to help rookie entrepreneurs, time management software is there to try out. They will help business owners manage their time wisely. The tools outlined above are not only effective but easy to use at the same time. So, you should consider using one of them for your company to improve your productivity.


About Appointy

We at Appointy, help business owners grow and run their businesses with our online scheduling software. This blog was a part of our ‘Manage your Business’ category, where we provide expert tips, and resources, or simply talk about the challenges that small and medium businesses face every day. 

If you have any thoughts on this blog or would like to chat about your business struggles and achievements, let us know in the comments below. 

We love a good talk!