When you’re running a business, one of the most precious commodities of all is your time. Psychology Today defines time management as “the ability to plan and control how someone spends the hours in a day to effectively accomplish their goals.” Notice the words plan and control. How many times have you said “I don’t have any time!”? While no one can accomplish everything in one day, if you automate just a few of your tasks, you’d be surprised how much of your time can be freed up to do more of what you love – teach!
So, how do you figure out what to automate?
Try tracking your tasks and the time you spend on them for one week, either in a spreadsheet or a free time tracker app. This can include teaching lessons, emailing families, coordinating schedules, personal time and everything else you do. How is your time being split? Are there tasks that are taking up more time than you thought? Are there any tasks you can automate?
For example, do you send out invoices or handle cash and checks regularly? Instead of doing this manually every billing cycle, consider a software or service that automates these tasks for you (check out our auto-invoicing and auto-pay features!) to put your finances on auto pilot.
Check out services like Hootsuite and schedule all of your social posts. Also, don’t be afraid to delegate. Giving up control to someone else can be challenging especially as a business owner, but start small. Is your studio on social media? Consider having an assistant or another teacher create posts for you.
People often underestimate the value of time. Because it’s not a physical thing that we can hold in our hands, it becomes somewhat of an abstract concept. This isn’t the case though; time is measurable, and more importantly valuable. If you could eliminate one hour of administrative tasks each week with automation and use that saved time to teach instead, what would that do for your yearly income?
My Music Staff can help you save time on admin tasks, and get back to what you love most – teaching music! Try it now with a free 30-day trial.
