| It is amazing how some people who are usually great | | | | constantly going back to your office space during |
| time managers go into business for themselves and | | | | family time, or down time, be ruthless. Lock yourself |
| suddenly find they do not have enough hours in the | | | | out of your office, get someone to take your lap top |
| day, or work in crisis mode, slacking off for weeks and | | | | or go out and leave your mobile at home. If something |
| then working all night to get jobs finished on time, or | | | | is really urgent, fine attend to it, but know what |
| worse constantly asking for extensions! If you are | | | | constitutes urgent or are you just obsessing about |
| setting up a bookkeeping business, good time | | | | what needs to be done? |
| management skills will be essential. | | | | It is important to ensure you have a work life balance |
| If you do find yourself in your pajamas at 9am, make it | | | | especially in the early stages. Draw up a schedule for |
| a point of being ready for work at 9am. If you have | | | | the day or week. Block family time or friend's time, |
| set up your business to be flexible and work around | | | | client work time, client follow up time and importantly, |
| other commitments, that's fine if you don't start at 9am, | | | | your own administration time. Stick to your schedule |
| but make sure you start when you have it on your | | | | when at all possible. After all you stick to it for clients, |
| schedule. As part of our prior processes you | | | | so make your time just as important. |
| understand how many hours you need to work to | | | | It is also important to remind yourself why you went |
| meet your budgets or income targets. Even if you | | | | into business in the first place. It may have to do with a |
| don't have clients at this stage, you can be following up | | | | work life balance, time with family or flexibility. If so you |
| prospective clients, writing letters, making calls and | | | | need to remember that your own time management |
| attending to business queries. Start working the hours | | | | will assist achieving these types of goals. |
| you will be when you do have clients. Developing your | | | | Find ways to work smarter not harder. If you use |
| business will take time and effort and you need to | | | | public transport to get to clients, you can use the time |
| start managing your time. | | | | by reading publications or accounting or bookkeeping |
| Conversely, many people who set up their own | | | | newsletters, business magazines or the business |
| business find they work very long hours in the early | | | | section of the paper. Any spare time you have that |
| stages. If this is the case you also need to be careful | | | | would usually be wasted you can use to your |
| about your time management. Stick to a to do list or | | | | advantage. Make phone calls, if appropriate, or even |
| schedule so you can get all the tasks achieved, but be | | | | pay bills to stay in track of your own paperwork. Your |
| realistic about what can wait until tomorrow. | | | | own time is very valuable and you need to treat it |
| If you are working from home and find you are | | | | accordingly. |