An entrepreneur’s daily checklist

The life of an entrepreneur is demanding. It means facing risks, meeting challenges head-on, taking responsibility for lives reliant on you, and dedicating yourself to bring the business forward towards your goals. If you take a look at it, it is not an easy role, but the emotional, financial and social gains of its success are tremendous.

While you keep your eye on the vision, which may be a long-term one, you need to break down your goals into tasks to make them achievable. To do so, a good form of discipline, order and commitment can help you get through your day-to-day undertakings and obligations. Successful entrepreneurs have daily checklists and routines that enable them to manage the tasks on hand while not losing sight of the result.

Here are some of the things that effective business owners do. Of course, you have to tailor-fit your checklist towards your needs and priorities. More importantly, you have to be flexible. You can always adjust your checklist depending on something that suddenly props up or on its relevance to your over-arching goals. But they can be overwhelming sometimes and you may want to get some ideas on what to do daily.

Plan your schedule at least a day ahead

You wake up with a fresh mind if you already have an idea of how to go about your day. The best option is to plan. As they say, “take care of your tomorrow today.” Managing a team or a business effectively starts with managing yourself, which includes your schedules and activities. Visualise how your day will unfold and consider the things which you can control and those you can’t. See if you have any pending or unaccomplished tasks that you have to carry over the next day so that you will be able to tick it off your checklist of to-dos.

Think of what you want to achieve on this day and work around it

What are your top priorities? What do you need to achieve for the day? Is it meeting a sales target, approving new product designs or mentoring your understudy? Whatever big or medium goals you want to accomplish, break them down into doable tasks for the day, such as calling a prospective client or visiting a supplier’s workshop. And think also beyond work. Include your personal goals and those for your family and community.

Reflect and meditate

Always allocate time for reflection or meditation. It may be starting your day with prayer or simply breathing in and out while driving to work. Do something that you find therapeutic. And while you’re at it, reflect about your inner self, on what makes you happy and contented, and of what you want to achieve. 

Nourish yourself and take care of your body

Take good care of yourself so that you can take care of others. As a business owner, you have a team to supervise and lead. Many entrepreneurs are also parents, so they also have to oversee their household’s needs and make sure their family is okay. Be sure that you are physically, mentally and emotionally able. Eat breakfast and don’t skip meals. Exercise or do activities to keep your body fit and healthy. De-stress when you fell burdened or burnt out. Get enough sleep and rest when your body shows signs of tiredness.

Talk to important people in your life

Whether it’s a morning conversation with your loved one, bedtime storytelling with your kids, brief updates from your managers, meeting with your client or one-on-one forum with a fellow EO member, make sure that you allow time to talk with important persons in your lives. They may be family members, colleagues, team members, fellow entrepreneurs, customers or friends who can provide you with valuable insights, inspire you to keep going or encourage you to be the best that you can be.

Clear your inbox

In this digital age, it is also important to keep your gadgets and devices free from clutter. Delete unnecessary files. Make it a habit to clear your inbox regularly. You can either allot a schedule when you can check your emails or set your account to only notify you of urgent messages or from important people.

Clean and arrange your desk

Having a clean environment has a positive effect on one’s mood and mental state. Some people find order amidst the clutter, but it’s still best to have some system and arrangement in place even when your desk may be full of papers and other things. Separate things that need your immediate attention and put them in an area that can easily be seen. During the day, take a few minutes arranging your stuff and throw what needs to be in the wastebasket.

Develop yourself

Listen to a TED talk podcast or read a book. You can enrol yourself in a short class and allot an hour or two for practice or study. Indulge in your hobby or do a creative activity. Always include an item in your to-do list that can contribute to your personal or professional growth and development. It may not be too big or noble. It can be a simple thing that will add value to yourself.

Inspire others

Do something where you can inspire or help others. It may be a simple smile to a person you meet on the street, a tap on your team member’s shoulder, doing a podcast, writing a short sweet note to your life partner or family member, or a pep talk to a community of entrepreneurs. Each one of us can uplift somebody else. Include that in your daily checklist and see how it can do wonders to your day.

There may be days when you may not be able to accomplish a lot of things in your checklist. That is fine. Don’t be too hard on yourself. But if it keeps dragging on, see what causes the slump. Review your list if they are still relevant or if they are truly attainable. And if you need help from people around you, do not hesitate to let them know about it.

To be or not to be (a multi-tasker)

Every morning, you browse through your emails on your laptop while sipping coffee, then answering and making calls in between. In one sitting, you have ticked off several tasks in your to-do list. It goes on for the rest of the day. Yet, before the morning is over, you are already exhausted, often skipping lunch and short breaks or spending sleepless nights finishing a lot of things.

In this busy and fast-paced life, you often find yourself doing so many things at the same time, trying to fit everything in your 24-hour schedule. There are definitely advantages to those who can multi-task, but it may also easily use up whatever energy you have for a day. Let’s face it, not everyone can be a multi-tasker. But even to those who are able to do it, there are certain things to watch out for in order to minimise the adverse effects it may bring.

If you are someone who can or prefers to do several chores at the same time, be on the ball on the pros and cons that come with it.

Benefits of multi-tasking

Accomplishes a lot of things in less time. If you have 50 tasks to do in a day, regardless of scale and importance, and you get to do 4 or 5 of them in less than an hour, you are able to shorten that list faster, which can give you a sense of fulfilment. It allows you more time to do other things, increasing efficiency and productivity at work.

Fills in lull periods. Multi-tasking keeps you from having lull periods, which makes your day less boring. When you undertake various jobs at the same time, there’s no place for idleness. You find something to fill in time while waiting for one task to finish.

Keeps the mind going. You crave for progress and multi-tasking gets you on the go. Since it enables you to do simultaneous tasks, you are able to clear some items from your checklist and move on to the next pending job quickly. While your computer may be at a loading mode, your mind is already set on the upcoming work ahead.

Copes with chaos. When new undertakings suddenly prop up, you are not easily shaken because you are used to juggling many things at the same time. Multi-tasking conditions your mind that it allows you to cope with the chaos around you. As they say, you find order in chaos because you don’t get overwhelmed with so much work and can manage to finish something despite the various demands coming from different directions.

Drawbacks of multi-tasking

Causes stress and burnout. When you work faster than everyone else, you tend to absorb more work than what is normally done. However, you can only do things based on the energy you have, and when you do more than what you can take in, it leads to you feeling tired and burned out. Sometimes, the waiting time for tasks to finish is the little breaks that can help you recharge. But when fill that time with other things to do, you don’t get the opportunity to relax a bit for the bigger tasks, which can lead to more pressure and stress.

Affects the quality of work. Not because you get a lot of things done quicker means the job has been finished. Sometimes, you miss seeing the gaps and cracks of your work and it can affect the quality of your output. That may often result in repeating your work due to some minor mistakes you overlooked.

Instigates distractions. Juggling things need a great amount of focus. But when you’re doing too many little things at the same time, you get distracted by those mundane tasks that you end up not giving your undivided attention to more important matters.

Confounds priorities. More urgent things are often pushed to the background and screened by the many jobs you multi-task. At the end of the day, you may have shortened your to-do list by accomplishing a lot of minor jobs but fail to complete the bigger and more important matters. It gives a misleading notion that so many things were done, yet in reality, not being able to achieve the real purpose of the project or of the business.

Multi-tasking may be good, especially if you wear too many hats. When you are starting out, you often need to perform several jobs at the same time. However, take time for short breaks and to stop and evaluate your work and how you manage it. If you have people around you, it is better to delegate those little tasks than juggle them all. Learn to sift through your to-do list where you can work on things that are more important and let go of those that may be carried out by others. Aim to achieve the position where you are on your business rather than in your business.

Time management for entrepreneurs

Juggling different tasks in business, roles in your personal life, positions in your various associations and commitments in other interests can be tiresome. “Time is gold” rings true to every entrepreneur, which is why there is a need to manage it well. Otherwise, you’ll end up doing too many mundane things that may take up a lot of your time and energy.

The best way to approach the rigorous demands of running a business is to put a system in place that will allow you to organise your schedule and thoughts while reaping positive results. You may hear a lot of suggestions and advice on how to deal with effective time management, but we narrowed down five important tips that can help you structure your work with your other responsibilities.

Break down your goals into small tasks

Huge goals can be overwhelming at times. If you have several projects to finish, it is better to break them down into small tasks that you can check every day. Make these tasks very specific and time-bound so you can easily monitor their progress. Designate a few minutes to go over your checklist at the beginning and the end of the day.

Categorise tasks according to their urgency

Not everything is urgent. Organise your tasks according to priority so you can easily spot the things that you need to focus on and set aside other things at the bottom of your to-do list. Review your tasks and distinguish which ones that need your immediate attention and those that may be delegated to others or at another time. Use applications or software that can make your task and schedule easier to manage. Allow a few hours each day for emergency cases, but learn to sift through your appointments or undertakings to avoid getting your day swamped with too much work.

Set aside time for each role

In your business, you can allocate time for your different responsibilities, roles and departments. When you are home, centre your attention to your family and loved ones. Make a timetable for your other commitments as well. If you are involved in business groups like EO, have a day specially dedicated for this interest. What you’re trying to avoid here is overlooking obligations outside of work that you end up neglecting your other accountabilities.

Delegate to your team

You don’t have to do all the things by yourself. Learn to entrust tasks to your team members. Invest in skills training and professional development of your staff so that they can also exercise leadership capabilities. Schedule a regular meeting with them for them to know your directions and business style, which they can imbibe in their work.

Give yourself a break

As an entrepreneur, what sets you apart from office workers is your culpability over the many lives that depend on you. You cannot take care of your people if you do not take good care of yourself. Don’t overwork yourself. Instead, allow yourself some short breaks to relieve your mind and body from stress. Stretch your muscles, do small exercises, have a nap, walk to the pantry or nearest café for a cup of coffee, watch the scene outside your window or breathe in some fresh air. These breaks will give you an opportunity to recharge and re-organise yourself, especially when there are too many fires to put out or decisions to make.

Most of all, listen to your mind and body. When you’re tired, take a rest. Remember that there are only 24 hours in a day and seven days a week. Know your limitations. Go after quality over quantity of things done. If you need to let out stress, find like-minded individuals or mentors who can listen to you and help you sort things out. Once you’ve mastered your day and the tasks you need to do, you can get through the challenges with more confidence and determination.