How to Create and Benefit from a Business Downtime List
By Acey Gaspard
Keeping busy with the right business task can be productive and rewarding. Sometimes you’re so busy running your business that you can’t keep up.
Other times you have nothing to do and yet, at times, you just don’t want to work on your current issue.
Your business tasks fluctuate, and that’s something you’ll have to get used to. Having nothing to do may make you feel unorganized or give you the feeling that something is missing. Then you may start to look for something to do. This wastes time in itself. When you’re searching for something to do, you’ll probably end up working on something that doesn’t need to be done.
Having nothing to do is a situation I refer to as downtime. I came up with a plan that will get me through downtime. It’s a simple list of important, but not urgent, tasks to complete. I call it my Business Downtime List. I update my list any time with anything that’s important but does not need my immediate attention.
The great benefit of a Business Downtime List is that any time you can’t figure out what to do, just pull out your list and choose any task. Using your Business Downtime List will help you organize your business, make excellent use of your time, and keep your momentum going strong.
I also recommend listing tasks you do regularly, because sometimes those tasks just slip your mind. Before I created my Business Downtime List, I would miss many of my daily tasks simply because they slipped my mind.
Don’t confuse a Business Downtime List with a to-do list. They’re different. A to-do list has a deadline and usually needs to be completed on the same day or in the near future. A Business Downtime List is a list of issues that are important but have no deadline and can be completed any time.
Here are some examples of what might be on a Business Downtime List:
Your list will be different than this example. Write anything you want on your list anything that needs to be done but has no deadline for doing it.
- Organize my desk
- Organize my file cabinet
- Remove old paperwork
- Organize my e-mail list
- Change passwords
- Back up my files
- Delete old files
- Call clients to keep in touch
- Do some brainstorming for new marketing ideas
- Find some new products
- Read something related to my industry
- Brainstorm for some new ideas
- Read and update my goals
- Check into my profits for the past few months, and determine if they’re better or worse and why
- Optimize my websites and check for broken links or pages that load slowly
- Look at my business to determine if it’s running on track
- Learn new software
Here are some tips for creating a useful Business Downtime List
- Keep it close by. That way, any time an important task that needs to be done sometime in the future comes to mind, you can add it to your list.
- Keep it neat and clear. The tasks on this list may be on there for a while because there are no deadlines. And you don’t want to spend time trying to figure out what you meant when you wrote it.
- Use it often. If you write down tasks but never refer to it, then it’s of no use to you.
Making use of downtime can help you organize and streamline your business without investing any extra time, because you’re using it during a time that would have been wasted anyway. Create your downtime list today, and you’ll be happy you did the next time you use it.
Action Steps To Help You Create a Business Downtime List
- Create a file on your computer, or get a notebook and write down a few tasks that are important to you but that you haven t had the time to complete.
- Keep your downtime list where you can see it. That way you’ll get used to using it.
Important Points to Keep In Mind When Creating a Business Downtime List
- Your business tasks fluctuate, and that’s something you’ll have to get used to.
- Having nothing to do may make you feel unorganized or give you the feeling that something is missing.
- When you’re searching for something to do, you’ll probably end up working on something that doesn’t need to be done.
- Using your Business Downtime List will help you organize your business, make excellent use of your time, and keep your momentum going strong.
- Don’t confuse a Business Downtime List with a to-do list.
- A Business Downtime List is a list of issues that are important but have no deadline and can be completed any time.
About the Author
Acey Gaspard has over 20 years of business experience. His site, A Touch of Business.com, www.atouchofbusiness.com is steadily growing with well over 1,100 original pages to help you run and market your small business. Get Tips you can use today! www.atouchofbusiness.com/tips.html
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