Can you believe it? 2022 has arrived! If you’re like most Americans, you set a resolution or two for the new year.
The funny thing is, most of those resolutions will be thrown out the window by the time February rolls around! Over the years, I’ve learned to focus more on setting tangible goals and less on big-picture “resolutions”—and seem to have more success that way.
One such goal that could provide quite helpful if you’re carving out a space in the franchising world? Better time management.
While I could fill you in on all the details about what works for me, time management isn’t a one-size-fits-all deal. So, let’s talk about a few different strategies that might make an impact.
The Pomodoro Technique
While pomodoro sounds a bit like a type of pasta, it’s actually a technique for managing your time and responsibilities that can be quite helpful for some people.
Using this strategy, you use a timer to break up your workday. You work on one task for the length of the timer—between 20 and 30 minutes is most common and effective—and then get up and take a short five-minute break afterward.
Once your break is complete, you start the process again. After a few segments like this, you can take a longer break.
The Eisenhower Matrix
Yes, this one is related to that Eisenhower! While serving in the military during WWII, President Dwight Eisenhower created a matrix to help him determine how to prioritize tasks.
To use this strategy to help you manage your time, you divide your to-do list into four categories—important tasks that are urgent, important tasks that are not urgent, unimportant tasks that are urgent and unimportant tasks that are not urgent.
Tasks that are urgent and important obviously need to be tackled first, while those that are neither urgent or important can probably be disregarded entirely.
Time Blocking
You may have heard about this strategy because it’s been in the news a good bit the last few years.
If you’re time blocking, you assign every bit of time in your day—from the moment you wake up to when you go to sleep—a task. These tasks are not all work-related, and most of them aren’t complicated. You may include “brushing your teeth” as a task, for example.
This system is pretty regimented, but it can also be pretty successful, especially for working parents who have tons of things on their plate.
Ready to put your time management skills to work in a new franchise? Get in touch today to learn more!