You will certainly know how important it is to be efficient if you work in an environment where you have to account for every single second of the day. Many small-business consultants and professionals work on the basis of billable hours, where they have to provide a certain set of services to a client and record the amount of time that is spent. We categorise this according to the amount of time that we spend brainstorming or researching, or devoting to an issue that may be billed at a set rate, or even by reference to the physical amount of time needed to perform a task.
In all cases, when calculating a client’s bill according to the passage of time, time management and measurement is very important. This skill is not something that we are “born” with unfortunately and is something that must be practised and fully understood. As human beings, we react to many different external stimuli and we often have complex lives, multi-dimensionally distracting us at any given moment. From the time that we get up, we are constantly thinking and planning and focusing on a huge variety of different elements as we plan the future of our lives. Our complex thought processes do not make it easy for us to focus on being wholly efficient when it comes to time management and we sometimes have to rely on external tools such as time management software.
Sadly, a typical workday is littered with non-billable tasks and other actions that quite simply can be referred to as wasteful. You might be a rather carefree spirit and hate being told what to do or feeling the pressure in this respect, but you must be able to prioritise and categorise if you rely on billable hours for your income.
You have to avoid unnecessary non-billable distractions. Anything that can be classified as “optional” should be discarded if it impinges upon time that could otherwise be billed. Often, requests for your time can fall into a rather “grey” area, but you must understand that sometimes attendance at events or meetings that could primarily be classified as “non-billable,” could be valuable client or fellow employee-building relationship events. You never know when something very valuable could develop from these events in the future.
If you use time tracking software you will be amazed at how much more efficient you will become with this valuable asset. Focus on each box of time and you will be able to see whether you have used that time efficiently or not. Once you find that you have been inefficient, don’t make the same mistake again – as that would be almost criminal!
By consistently using online time management tools you will free up additional time for billable work. Audible and visual clues will be given by the software to tell you when it is time for you to move on and you should not ignore these guidelines. If you find that you have not completed the task in question, make additional time for it later on – and once again, make sure you do not make the same mistake in future.