Do you know what your biggest time-waster is? Many people struggle to be productive throughout the day because they get caught up in needless tasks. There are only 24 hours in a day, and learning how to manage your admin time well helps you make the most out of it. Running your own business makes it especially important to use every minute to the fullest.
When you are able to focus on your work, you have a better bottom line, and you can focus on your favorite past times. Being productive in the office means you can spend more time with friends and family who mean the world to you. Reducing administration time while boosting productivity levels should mean better profits without sacrificing your work-life balance as an entrepreneur.
These time saving tips will help you reduce your administration time and boost your productivity levels.
How to Reduce Admin Time and Win Your Time Back
As a business owner or leader, you have a lot of responsibilities that can’t go unmet. The pandemic has only exacerbated the financial pressure on small businesses, according to the Federal Reserve.
However, you also have a life, and you need to be able to focus on things outside of the workplace.
How can you achieve company growth and security without sacrificing your personal time? In order to find your free time, it’s important to boost efficiency throughout your workday with these time saving tips.
Automate Emails and Other Basic Processes
Automation is the key to reducing most of your busy work. If you have a redundant task, like data entry or customer responses, then you can set up the software to automate the response you would typically do manually. Of course, automation only works on the communications where you have a definite message to send. For example, you can automate announcements on a pre-login time clock screen to keep your team in the loop.
You can also set up automated reminders to keep you on track for your upcoming appointments or meetings. Automated features will allow you to stay on track without feeling like you forgot something. When you automate the other side (sending out a confirmation request), you can further improve your efficiency by reducing no-shows.
Take Notes on Even the Smallest Ideas
Your ideas might seem small and unpolished, but you will want to track them just the same. Small ideas can often become big ideas when they are able to simmer on the back burner for a while. Utilize note-taking software to keep track of even the smallest and stupidest ideas. You never know where inspiration will occur.
Down the road, you might look back and choose to develop an idea you initially thought had no legs. Always keep track of your ideas just in case you see potential in something later. You can browse your ideas periodically to see if any are worth being fleshed out. What might seem silly or obvious during a 6 am shower could spark true genius when you revisit it later.
Leverage Time and Billing Software
The mundane practices of tracking time, checking invoices, auditing accounts, and billing customers can become extremely inefficient. As a business leader, you can reduce admin time by automating your financial processes with time and billing software. After using Time Tracker by eBillity, company leaders have reduced administration time by 30+ hours and reported impressive results.
For example, you can automate alerts to keep you informed of overtime. The eBillity Time Tracker software shows graphic representations and not just timestamps. Time Tracker can instantly integrate with QuickBooks, Sage, Invoice tracker, and more. It is also available on convenient iPhone or Android apps for on-the-go tracking.
Use Templates for Repetitive Emails and Tasks
There are many tasks you need to take on that you’ve already done before. When you have to respond to a customer with the same response you’ve given ten others that week, you should eliminate the duplication. However, there are many situations that can’t quite benefit from automated email responses.
Use templates to simplify your emails and speed your process without sacrificing your quality. You might find other tasks benefit from the template concept as well. For example, if you have to respond to coworkers or bosses, the template starting point can offer stress relief and clarity. A template simply gives you a starting point and lets you change anything for improved communication; you will be able to save your time by avoiding a complete re-write without sending a one-size-fits-all message.
Organize Your Data
In today’s world, it’s easy to get lost in the overwhelming amount of data needed to run a business. A lot goes into tracking trends, researching industry pricing, predicting consumer behavior, analyzing outcomes, and more. Keep your data organized in one place for clarity, and make sure it is formatted to work in your system.
If you get data from a wide variety of sources, you can use software to convert your unstructured data into the formats you need for your systems. It’s crucial you stay on top of your finances. Many small businesses succumb to failure because of their inability to manage cash flow.
While you should pass off the responsibility to manage your accounts, you should still have a firm grasp of what’s happening. Keep your accounts organized and transparent, so you aren’t caught off guard.
Find Time Saving Hacks to Achieve Work-Life Balance
The goal isn’t to work harder but to work smarter.
There is a big difference between being busy and being productive. Using the right software can help you achieve more growth while spending less of your valuable time. Our Time Tracker software makes it easy to manage employee time and reduce your administrative work. With our system in place, you can:
- Track employees for real-time team data
- Schedule employee shifts and manage coverage
- Utilize a time clock kiosk for teams with multiple locations
- Communicate important alerts with your team
- Audit timesheets and payroll before syncing to accounting
Are you interested in achieving more? We would love to help. Check out Time Tracker’s free 14-day trial or contact us to learn more.