NEW YORK — During a busy day, the hours can fly by, and business owners, including dry cleaners, can sometimes wonder where the day went. Cleaners who have and maintain good time-management skills, however, will get more done because they have a plan.

Rashelle Isip, a New York City-based productivity consultant and time management coach with The Order Expert, dove into this topic during her recent online presentation, “Time Management Strategies for Small-Business Owners,” sponsored by the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE).

In Part 1 of this series, we explored how a calendar system can keep owners and operators on schedule and prevent being drawn away from tasks at hand. Here, we’ll dive deeper into the daily use of calendars as a critical time-management tool. 

Once predictable items throughout the year are included in the calendar, the next step is to make the system work on a day-to-day and week-to-week basis.

“When it comes to setting up your business workflow, it’s all about learning how to manage the different pieces that are within your calendar,” Isip says. “There’s a tendency to think, ‘If something comes up, I’ll handle it.’ That’s a great mindset to have when you’re in business, but at the same time, there are things that need to be done on a regular basis.”

Plotting out tasks that happen regularly and predictably and giving them definitive times will help to free up other parts of the day. 

“When setting up your business workflow calendar, think about managing recurring tasks,” Isip says. “Instead of handling things as they come up, dedicate blocks of time to specific activities such as administration, projects or staff meetings. Use your calendar to schedule these recurring tasks and create time for rest, review and preparation.”

Defining these blocks of time can lead to getting more done during the day or week, Isip believes.

“There’s administration that needs to be taken care of,” she says. “There are projects and assignments that need to be completed and staff meetings that need to be held. You need to meet with clients and customers. You also need to meet with vendors and contractors. So, starting to think about your calendar in terms of these chunks of time can be very helpful, because they could help you better plan for the future, and they can also just create that space that you need to actually get the work done.”

Of course, there are days when things pop up unexpectedly, but Isip believes it’s important to keep a disciplined calendar habit so things don’t fall off the radar. 

“We might make a meeting with a vendor on the fly, and we forget about including it on the calendar,” she says, “so do your best to actually physically put those things into your calendar so that time is accounted for.”

Owners should also review their calendars for clarity. 

“Calendars are living, breathing things, in that they’re always changing and evolving,” Isip says. “So, if you have a calendar and something doesn’t make sense, you might need to change things. Maybe you scheduled appointments too closely to one another, and you need to give yourself more time to prepare. Be consistent in using your calendar. Schedule tasks and meetings physically in it, review it regularly for clarity, and update it as needed.”

Owners of drycleaning companies should also schedule “start” and “end” work times for themselves — which is something that might not come naturally.

“I know that, in the world of business, anything can happen,” Isip says, “and there may be times when you need to stay late or take care of things after hours. But this, again, goes back to the idea of creating a structure for yourself. You’re going to want to follow this on a regular basis so that you can create sustainable time management habits for yourself.”

Isip suggests creating an ideal business workflow schedule by identifying specific days and times for meetings or administrative tasks. 

“You went into business for yourself,” she says. “You have a preferred way of working or doing things, so why not think about that when it comes to your calendar, and what you prefer to do during certain days of the week?”

By setting aside specific days and times for meetings with people, she says, owners will be better able to plan because there’s a rhythm or flow to the week.

“Place limits on the type and number of meetings to ensure you have time for other work,” Isip says, “and prioritize vacations and break times. This is very important for your business. No one else will prioritize these for you, so make sure they’re planned in advance.”

Come back Thursday for the conclusion, where we’ll examine why delegation is a key time-management strategy.

For Part 1 of this series, click HERE.