NFIB

Don't Let Routine Work Rule Your Day
09/ 29/ 2003

by Jeffrey Moses

Routine daily tasks, such as filing bills and following up on e-mails, can eat up the time of even the most organized small business owner. Even though you cannot avoid doing these routine tasks, by following some proven tips you can perform them more simply and efficiently.

To start, take a few minutes and write a list of every activity you consider routine. Your list might include, among others:

Paying bills;
Filing bills and other correspondence;
Answering e-mails and regular mail;
Cleaning and organizing your office;
Returning calls from customers;
Balancing your checkbooks;
Purchasing and ordering supplies;
Running to the post office or the bank.

Whenever possible, set aside a specific time of the day for each type of routine activity. This should not conflict with more important activities, such as contacting new customers. For instance, you might pay and file bills late in the workday (immediately before leaving for dinner) or early on a Saturday morning -- both times when contacting new customers is usually difficult.

Organize your office early in the morning when you're fresh (and before your more important activities begin). That will get the day off to a good start and help induce a positive feeling through the day.

When running errands, group all your errands together so you have to make only one or two trips during the week. Running out several times a day eats up time and greatly reduces your productivity.

Go to the post office or the bank no more than once a day. Ideally, you could schedule these trips at the same time -- and at a time of day when lines are normally short, such as late in the morning or early in the afternoon.

Return calls when people will most likely be at their phones. The best time to reach someone by phone is usually from 9 - 10 a.m. When leaving voice messages, give a specific time for them to return your call, such as between noon and 3 p.m. the following day. This will help reduce unnecessary back-and-forth phone tag.

Keep lists of office supplies needed so when you go to the store or place orders on the phone, you'll be able to complete your order quickly and all at one time. Having to go to the store or place additional phone orders a second or third time during the week cuts into productivity.

Balance your checkbooks as soon as statements arrive. This ensures that you will have the fewest possible outstanding checks, and will make your accounts easier to balance. If you find that your account is hopelessly out of balance, and you're spending hours trying to find out where you went wrong, consider "retiring" the checkbook for several months and letting the outstanding checks all come in. In the meantime, you can use another checkbook for your payments.

Organize your office so that it allows you to be as efficient as possible. Keep materials in file folders, rather than strung around on your desk. File materials using a system that allows you to put your hands on important information quickly. If your office is disorganized beyond hope of redemption, consider contacting a "clutter buster" to come in and help you. Often for less than $150, your entire office can be transformed.

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