How to get the most important things in your new business done first.

You probably already know, there are a million things to do when starting your own business, and sometimes it can be hard to know where to start. Here I will give you a method to help you figure out what tasks are most important, and where to start.

By prioritising the to do list you will be able to always work on the tasks that creates the most value for you at any given time. But to be working with this method, it is important that you already have a specific goal for your business.

If you have not specified the goal for your business yet, and want some help doing that, you can read this article on goal-setting.

You need to have a specific goal, because this makes it much easier to help you determine which tasks in your business are the most important. Both in the longterm, and on a day-to-day basis.

The method I want to tell you about is called the Eisenhower matrix, and when using it, you evaluate your task from 2 perspectives: Are the task important and are they urgent.

When you use this matrix you get four types of tasks:

The Important AND urgent tasks – These are the ones you need to do first
The Important but NOT urgent tasks – These you schedule for later
The NOT important, but still urgent tasks – These tasks you delegate
The neither important or urgent tasks – These are, according to the model, the tasks you eliminate. In my opinion the things in this box can also be things that do not add any direct value to your business, but are valuable for you as a person to do.

Like i mentioned before, it is much easier to determine if a task is important and/or urgent when you have a specific goal to relate it too.

Lets say your goal is to build your business to have 10 clients within the next two months. Then it is also important to be working on the activities that will help you land the new clients.

And you have a to do list looking like this:

Create a blogpost
Make a facebook group for my new business
Create a website for my new business
Make a post on my social media about going into business
Client work – Client 1 – due the day after tomorrow
Watch Netflix
Workout
Client work – Client 2 – due in 3 weeks
Meeting potential Client

You would maybe say that, wow I have client work for two clients and a client meeting, I need to get all this done before working on any of my other tasks. It might not be the smartest thing when looking at the list in relation to your goal.

Then your matrix might look like this:

DO

The tasks in the DO, is the things you need to be working on today

– With a deadline 2 days away, its a good idea to finish up the client work on client one today.

– The client meeting is a given, as it was scheduled for today

– Making the post on Social Media, is also important, because it helps you let your network know that you have a business and are open for new clients, thus hopefully helping you get to 10 clients faster.

Schedule

The ‘schedule’ tasks, you should set a specific date and preferably also time on those when you plan your day.

– The client work, for client 2 you can wait some days to do, and instead focus on tasks that will help you land new clients, as you still have time to work on this clients tasks before the deadline.

– The blogpost is important, because this is one of the things that help you become an expert in your field, and land clients in the long run, so you need to schedule this on a regular basis.

– Creating the Facebook group is also important for your business, but its not that urgent, so you just need to decide on a specific time and dato the make this.

– Workout, important, you of cause just need to plan this into your days so it fits your schedule, I do recommend to have this at specific days, to create a routine for yourself.

Delegate

Some tasks your are better off delegating, often because you do not have the time to, or do not want to learn the skill to do the task before you need the thing done.

– Your website, some will argue that it is not urgent, but this depends on if you want your won platform to post your blogposts on. This is why I have put it in this category. Here could also be your social media strategy
development.

– If you want to create a business without a website, you can find a platform like Medium to post your articles on

Eliminate

Last but not least the Eliminate/ procrastinate

– This is all the things you do that is not productive for your business, like watching Netflix when you should be working.

An example

An example of how to determine where a task should be:

Paying taxes is important (YES IT IS), but whether it is urgent depends on two things. 1 – Are you near the deadline, so that you will be fined if you do not pay. 2 – Do you use the money for other things if they are in your account.

If you can say yes to any of these two statements, then paying the taxes are both important and urgent.

Any questions?

I hope this helps you plan your tasks for your business, and get you more focused on the things that will help you succeed in your business faster. If you have any questions feel free to write me an e-mail.

Always remember – Have fun and Get Shit Done!

Diana Lund