Time is a major cause of stress. Too little and we panic! Too much and we worry...worry...WORRY!

Time management is an area many small business owners struggle with. The average person spends 45 minutes a day simply looking for stuff. This could be lost electronic files that you know you saved into a really obvious place last week, actual lost pieces of paper in all your seventeen piles of other work, or lost parts or tools in the back of your ute or van.

A few of the following strategies can help with your time management, and how well you deal with upcoming stress:

• Start your day with a clear focus.
• Have a dynamic task list.
• Focus on high-value activities.
• Minimise interruptions where possible.
• Stop procrastinating - look to time block your work so you dedicated yourself to short one or two hour stints.
• Limit multi-tasking. Focus on just one job at a time.
• Review your day.
• Use your time wisely.
• Be organised

When I know stress is on the radar, I like to use a traffic light system to help manage it. A key piece of advice I give my clients is to establish your own traffic light system based on YOUR key stress points.

GREEN - all good. You feel ok, you're managing your day to day activities and feeling on top of the workload. Great!

ORANGE - Things are starting to get a little bit out of hand. You can feel yourself getting a bit frazzled or trying to multi-task to get things done. Slow down. Take a breath. Get some fresh air and stay focused on one task.

RED - You can't focus on one task, you're feeling overwhelmed and everything seems to be speeding at you with deadlines passing, too much on your plate, and too little time. Take time out - it's ok to have an hour (or a day) off from work. Focus on one thing and do that well, then the next thing.

If any of these points relate to you, or you're finding yourself progressing regularly from orange to red,  get in touch. I'm here to ensure business owners work in the green zone, with a healthy work/life balance.