Check and lists

As a business owner, whether you work in the office or at home, planning your week is a key step to staying focused and productive. Having a system for organizing your tasks and priorities at the beginning of the week can help you manage your time efficiently. And if you can manage your time better, then that means you can spend more time with your family and friends and not feel guilty that you have to work or that you haven’t done enough.

When you’re a small business owner, there are so many things that need your attention, and oftentimes, the boundaries between your personal life and business life can become very blurry.

We’re a small business too, and we understand the challenges.

The trick is to establish a system that you and your team can follow consistently. We do that by making lists and checking them off.

1. Develop a checklist for everyone to use - This is a simple way to create a process in your business. (keep reading for a checklist template below)

2. Make sure everyone completes their list at the beginning of the week and sends it back to you or your team leads. - A weekly checklist that is completed by everyone on your team is an efficient way to keep everyone organized and also to keep everyone accountable for their work. At the end of the week or month you can review your team’s progress and discuss in person if needed;

   a) What went well last week? 

   b) What didn’t go well last week? 

   c) Where are you struggling? 

   d) What are the top 3 things you’ll be working on this week? 

3. Set aside time to grow your business. – Now that you’re managing your time, you can set aside time to think about the future of your business.

4. Take this one step further and plan your year. You can include;

   • Your annual goals. 

   • Your vacation time 

   • Important events. 

5. Cross off items on your list as you complete them and feel a sense of accomplishment. No matter how small or big the task may be, you’re being productive and moving forward. Small steps every day can lead to big things at the end of the week/month.
   

To help you get started on this process; we’ve created two checklists for you.

1. A Daily To-Do List – includes four separate categories to organize your day with spaces and numbers to prioritize and write down your tasks.

2. A Weekly Plan Checklist – includes five separate categories to prioritize your week with sales goals and marketing goals.
   
   

You can email these lists to your team members and ask them to complete electronically and share it with you or your team leads. You can also share on Google Drive and make copies for everyone to use and share in folders. You can print, but be mindful of the waste and recycle.  

We use these checklists at Fierce Media to stay on track, and it’s really helped us.

Let us know how they work for you.