GOLDEN QUARTER NUGGETS #9: 10 tips to help retailers with time management in december

When you’re busy, it’s easy to get flustered, make mistakes or let details slip. Don’t let that happen to you this December. Here are my top 10 tips to get you and your business through the busiest time of year with less stress and increased productivity.

1. Set goals, understand your KPIs and communicate your targets to your team, so that you’re all aiming for the same end result.
2. Know your strengths and weaknesses so you can delegate tasks efficiently and effectively, making the most of your time and your team’s skills.
3. Understand your peak trading hours by day and by week so that you can plan effectively for busy periods and use the downtime you might have to catch up on admin tasks.
4. Get organised by making detailed task lists, operational plans and clear SOPs (standard operating procedures) for the repeatable tasks you may need to delegate.
5. Look at your lists and earmark tasks you can delegate so that you can train your staff. This will free up your time but also encourage team members to take on extra responsibility, which increases morale.
6. Now look at the remaining tasks, identify any that are non-urgent, and add them to a “January List”, which is exactly what it sounds like: a list of tasks you can tackle in the down time during the first few weeks of the new year.
7. You should now have a list of essential tasks, so it’s time to start prioritising. I would also recommend that you cut out any noise or distractions so your focus is firmly on the most important tasks.
8. Manage your time so you’re not firefighting every day. Work out when you work best and schedule the most challenging tasks for that part of the day. Also set reminders if you need to so that nothing important gets missed.
9. If you have a plan for the day, you should be able to schedule daily breaks and review points for yourself to take a step back and assess how the business is running. You can only run a business strategically if you are able to see the bigger picture, and that doesn’t happen when you are focusing on the daily tasks; you have to carve out time to get clear on your goals and whether your current actions are aligned with achieving them.
10. Rest! Running on empty leads to exhaustion and poor decision making, so plan in those breaks.

Do you have any other time management tips? Share them in the comments below.