5 Time-Saving Techniques of Highly Successful Business Owners

Since Onward Nation started last June, Stephen has had the chance to interview many amazing business owners from all over. Listening to these interviews, we’ve noticed that our guests often had a time-saving technique that has helped them get going in their business and stay on top of what was coming.

Listening to guests, we have noticed 5 time-saving techniques of highly successful business owners. These techniques are simple and can lead to great results for yourself and your business!

#1: Wake up Early

This first one may not be a surprise, but waking up early is a great way to start your day. Christopher Randler, a biologist at Harvard, conducted a study and found that when it comes to being successful in business, those who woke up earlier are more proactive.

Successful entrepreneur Stacy Alcorn, from episode 3, shared that she starts her day at 4:30 am.

“By the time 8:00 am hits, it’s no longer my time. It belongs to my appointments, my employees, and I’m just on a rat race. 4:30 to 8:00 am is when I really get stuff done. During those hours, I focus on a few things, that for in my head, help me win the day.”

Waking up early can certainly help you start your day off right but if you are not an early bird like Stacy, try waking up an hour earlier than you usually do and try that for two weeks to see how much you can get done before you have until you go to the office.

#2: Delegate tasks

When you have a lot on your plate, it is hard to focus on your main priorities for your clients and business.

In episode 177, Nathan Latka, Host of “The Top” podcast explained how he delegates tasks that are not worth his time.

“I like to move stuff away from me. I like to perfect a process myself, put it in a Google Doc, and move it away from me.”

For his podcast, it was taking him 4 minutes and 37 seconds to copy and paste the show notes into his blog. This adds up over time. Nathan wanted to move that off his plate so he asked a company he was working with if they would be willing to paste the show notes in with a little extra pay. They agreed. This helped Nathan stay on top of what was important and accomplish other tasks.

Letting go of tasks can be hard at times, but in order to ensure that you are on top of your priorities make a list of everything that you do. Once that is complete, look it over. Do you seem to have a task that you have to do on a regular basis that could be done by someone else on your team? If you do, sit down with your team and see if there is a way that they can help you move that task off your plate. Our team has done this plenty of times in order to help others succeed. It is a small change that can make a HUGE difference.

#3: Create To-Do Lists

Speaker and Author Lisa Ford, from episode 103, shared how staying organized helps her stay on top of her tasks.

“Before I call it a day, I organize what needs to be done tomorrow that helps create my focus so I can hit the ground running.”

A great way to create a simple to-do list is to use the good-ol’ fashion notepad and have it on your nightstand so when you wake up in the morning, you know exactly what needs to be done today so you can get in the right mindset. If you are more tech-savvy and would like to have something to constantly look at, Evernote and a simple Google Doc works great!

#4: Block Time

Aaron Walker explained to Stephen on episode 108 the method of using blocks of time to get things done.

“If you’re going to write, turn off everything, close the door, and write, if you’re going to tackle this course, or this book, or whatever you are doing, be sure to give it your undivided attention and do that and focus in blocks of time.”

One way you can apply this strategy to your business is to use a timer and focus on a task for 90 minutes. During those 90 minutes your whole attention is on that one task and then once the time is up, then you can give yourself a 15-minute break to check email or stretch. Blocking time can help you stay focused on certain tasks and keep you from being distracted.

#5: Eat the Frog

On episode 194, Serial entrepreneur Heather Ann Havenwood shared how “eating the frog” helps her figure out quickly what the priorities are for her day.

“It’s a mindset of figuring out what your priorities are and what’s going to bring you ROI quickly.”

Heather explained that when you “eat the frog” as fast as you can, you can use the extra time during your day to reconnect, help others out, and create which is beneficial for your business!

There is no real trick or tip to accomplishing “eating the frog” other than to just do it! Once the project or task is accomplished early, you will feel better about the rest of your day and can achieve other responsibilities in your business to keep it moving onward!

Looking through these 5 time-saving techniques, do you think you could apply one of them to your daily routine? Even if you are already doing one of these, challenge yourself and add one more for at least two weeks and see if it works for you.

If you have a time-saving technique that has helped you and your business succeed, don’t be shy, share it with us on Facebook! We love hearing from you and the advice you can give us here at Predictive ROI.