Everyone wants the perfect work life balance; but in order to be able to achieve it, you need to be able to manage your time and you have to be able to say no.

Table of contents

Blocking out time
Managing your time better
Make a schedule
Learning to say no
How to say no politely
Share your experience
Useful resources

Running your own business can be extremely demanding, especially in terms of time, and many owners find it hard to say no. However with a little work on just two areas; managing your time and learning to say no you will be able to get a lot more out of your business and your life.

Blocking out time

The first step in creating a new work-life balance is to set targets for every aspect of both your work and personal life, ranging from what you want to achieve in your business, your holidays and what you want to achieve in your personal life. Having these aims in place will ensure that every hour of your time becomes focused.

Block out every hour of your time so that it is specifically tailored towards achieving a goal, whether this is activity related to your current business, or on achieving tasks to expand your business or a personal goal. By sticking to this plan your working hours will be better spent and this will help you to shut the door on the office by minimising the overlap between your working life and your personal one.

Managing your time better

Time management is the simplest of solutions to the modern day problem of work/life balance. It has a real impact on sales and growth. It costs nothing to implement and is dependant on one thing; yourself.

Good time management can create the personal freedom to let you enjoy your business venture. By effectively organising your time and working proactively to achieve your goals, day by day your business will be more successful and you will have more time to enjoy it.

However, not everyone works well with a strictly formulaic method of time management. Business owners need to find the best method of time management that works for them. Some people are good at multi-tasking, while others like the time-blocking method.

Make a schedule

To make an effective schedule, you have to do more than just think about it in your mind you need to get it down in black and white or ideally on your mobile where you can access it at any time.

Start by writing down all the things you need to complete. This can be daily tasks, or to start more simply, what you need to get done tomorrow.

Group related tasks together, and associate a time estimate to each one. Don’t worry about how accurate the estimate is. If you’re unsure, pad the time a little bit–scheduling more time is much better than scheduling less. And, as you work through your schedule, you’ll get a better idea of how much time each task takes.

Once you have your tasks grouped and estimated, start to organise them into a schedule. Make sure to take into account priority (do the more important things earlier in the day), and also time-of-day requirements (taking time to eat lunch at lunchtime away from your desk). When you get really adept at time management then you can plan out an additional ‘spare’ half hour in case any little things crop up.

Now that you’ve got the beginnings of your time management schedule, work through it. It may take a week or two of refining before you’ve got the time estimates down, and the priorities in the right order.

Don’t be afraid to change the schedule. Just use it as a tool to be more productive throughout your day.

Learning to say no

It’s also tempting to work reactively, because the natural reflex is the courteous one. When someone emails or calls, we reply immediately, without considering whether this is a productive action. Set aside an hour each day to reply to messages and emails. It may be hard to ignore a ringing phone but it’s not always good for business to answer it.

Saying no does not mean you have to be rude or never help anyone out. Instead it is about learning how to politely and firmly say ‘no,’ while still respecting the person and the request. Any rational human being will be aware that sometimes you will not be able to drop everything and carry out their wishes, even with the best of intentions. It is therefore unreasonable of anyone to expect you to do so.

Remember that it is not your job to please everyone all of the time and feeling guilty about saying no will only lead to you taking on more responsibility than you can cope with. This will lead to disappointments for people as you will begin to let them down and a general lessening in the quality of your work, as you will feel rushed and unappreciated.

How to say no politely

So how do you go about saying no in a polite way without seeming blunt, offensive or uncaring? Saying a blank ‘no’ on it’s own can seem harsh. Calmly think about the reasons why you are turning down their request and explain them. Are you very busy with another urgent project for example? Would you be able to complete the task if you were not busy? Is there is another person more qualified to perform the task since it is not something you feel capable of completing? If you do not mind completing the task at a later time or date then say so. Could they give you more time to complete it so you can schedule it in for the next day? In this way you can demonstrate that you are doing your best to help them.

Consider carefully the way in which you make your denial. While it is important to be clear about why you cannot carry out a request, you can also soften the blow with the language you use. For example, you could say ‘I would love to do that, but unfortunately I have to complete an urgent task this morning. Perhaps I could work on it later?’ This sounds polite and shows your regret at not being able to help them immediately.

Ultimately good time management involves a lot of self-discipline, and it’s not going to be an easy process, it’s something you just have to practice, and the more you practice the better your life will be.

Share your experience

Have you managed to learn to say no to work? Is your life hectic? Let us know how you plan to get a better work life balance, or tell us any handy hints and tips you have for making your working life better.

Useful Resources

A good way to organise your life and to get out of the office and spend more time with clients, friends and family is to get a phone that allows you to work from anywhere. Get the right smartphone for your business – If you need help working out which smartphone is right for your business, Vodafone’s handy Business Smartphone Selector will make choosing simple.