In the last 20 years, time spent at work has increased by 15%, and leisure time has decreased by as much as 33%!

Yet despite that, are you still struggling to keep up with meeting your agency’s goals? Are you always busy, but making little progress? If the answer is yes, join the not-so-exclusive club. In fact, it’s a club nobody wants to be a part of, but we all drop by one at one point or another.

And it’s especially tough when you are the one everybody else turns to manage their time and resources. That is why we have put together a post in which we take a closer look at the most common time management problems agency owners face, and more importantly, ways to solve them.

Poor time management is something that can be fixed, and for every reason behind it, there are multiple solutions. Here is our round-up of the biggest time management enemies and things you can do to combat them:

1. Procrastination

“Can we please start a support group for procrastinators?
-Tomorrow.”

According to a survey that included 2,000 full-time workers in the UK, the average person spends 2 hours and 9 minutes every day procrastinating!

You have probably done something similar, and then entered “beast mode” just so you can get it done with only minutes to spare.

While it’s something that happens to almost everyone, it becomes a huge problem if turned into a habit, as the constant stress and anxiety of missing deadlines and suffering the consequences can wreak havoc on your mental health.

Why did I let this happen? I’ll never do it again!

You’ve probably told yourself this so many times, and in order to never do it again, we need to find out the why, before we can deal with the how.

The most common reasons for procrastination include:

• Difficult, tedious, or stressful task: In any of these cases, the mere thought of tackling a task makes you shiver.
• Perfectionism: You have set too high of a bar, so the task seems to become more difficult over time, so you put it off or make endless changes and improvements or start over from scratch.
• Hard decision-making: You need to make a hard choice that can lead to a negative outcome.

Now let’s look into the how.

Solution: Break Up Work Into Smaller Chunks So You Don’t Get Overwhelmed

You’ve proven time and time again that you can squeeze a week’s worth of work into one day, which means you can be productive. But, you get overwhelmed easily too, which is why you need to try some of the following:

• Set a timer for a short period of time: Some procrastinators have trouble getting over the initial hump of actually starting work. If you can relate, try and set a timer for a short period of time and start working until it runs out. You will find that the momentum you’ve gathered will have going way past the timer.
• Create subtasks: If your task seems too complex, break it down into smaller, more manageable tasks and assign a deadline for each which you can deal with more easily.
• Set goals: It’s reverse engineering basically. Imagine what a complete goal or task would look like, and then work your way back to what you need to accomplish in the next hour, day, week, or month in order to get it done.
• Read Tim Urban’s blog post on procrastination: Author and blogger Tim Urban’s use of humor and hand-drawn illustrations in order to explain procrastination is just about the most relatable thing ever written on the subject. Do yourself a favor and read it.
• Coworking: Being accountable to show up at a certain time and place and be surrounded by other people who are productive might just push you to do the same.

2. Multitasking

Or attempted multitasking, as we like to call it. While multitasking may seem like a way to accomplish several things at once, you don’t actually end up being more productive. In fact, when you add up the time, you’ll realize that you would have been better off doing tasks one by one.

Because you are switching from one task to the other, especially if they are totally different, you’ll have to shift your focus constantly. That way, none of the tasks get your undivided attention, you waste precious time, and the quality of your work also suffers.

And we get, it as an agency owner, you will have to juggle several things are once sometimes, but there are still plenty of ways to cut it down to a minimum.

Solution: Focus on One Task at a Time

By doing tasks one by one, you will do them more efficiently and thoroughly, and there is something to be said about the rewarding feeling of completing a task, no matter how small, which helps motivate you for the next one.

If find that you simply cannot avoid multitasking, take breaks to clear your mind and decompress, create lists, or simply use AI tools to handle some of the repetitive manual work, such as putting together emails, formatting content, or even doing research.

3. Not Utilizing Technology

As a manager or agency owner, you are probably using technology quite a bit to make your life easier. We say that you are not using it enough.

Do you spend hours every day putting together emails for different clients and stakeholders and trying to get to the tone just right? Are you keeping tabs on your projects and the activities of your team by filling in Excel sheets manually?

If so, then you need to let technology work for you and not against you.

Solution: Use Productivity Tools and Software

Using a whole bunch of different software tools only creates additional clutter, stress, and distractions. With ActiveCollab, our productivity workspace, you can attack time management problems from multiple angles.

For instance, you can track the workload of your team members as well as your own through its time-tracking feature. With a bird’s eye view of who does what and when, you can delegate tasks to the appropriate people and focus on your core activities as a manager.

ActiveCollab also automates some of the manual and time-consuming tasks that hinder your progress, but which still need to be done, such as creating automated emails related to the projects you are working on.

And when it comes to putting together reports, there is a powerful reporting feature in ActiveCollab that enables you to utilize filters and generate custom reports for your team and project stakeholders.

If you are simply looking for quick boosts in productivity, ActiveCollab’s Time Tracker can keep track of how much time you’re spending on tasks, or set a timer to give yourself deadlines throughout the day.

4. Taking on Too Much

If you are having a hard time managing your time, then you may not have enough of it, plain and simple. Taking on too much is something we’ve all been guilty of at some point.

While you may have to burn the midnight oil every now and then, once it becomes a regular thing, it will inevitably lead to stress, missed deadlines, and burnout.

Start by identifying the reasons behind this behavior:

• Enthusiasm: It’s easy to get excited about a particular project or task, but once you actually start doing it, you realize that a million other things have happened that have eaten away at your availability.
• You can’t say no to people: Not wanting to let people down is a wonderful trait, but you can’t keep doing so at your own expense.
• Micromanagement: It’s not easy to hear this, but if you are having a hard time delegating tasks or constantly controlling what your team is doing because you don’t trust them to do it correctly, you are a micromanager.

Solution: Learn to Say No

Before taking on a task, simply ask yourself these three questions:

If the answer is no, then it shouldn’t end up on your workload. Saying “No” to the task, but “Yes” to the person can be done. Be clear, polite, assertive, and honest about how much time you have on your hands, and you will find that saying no every once in a while won’t hurt your relationship with others.

Also, learning to trust the people you have selected in your organization and delegating tasks to the appropriate team members should be a rule, not an exception.

Last but not least, set boundaries. It’s perfectly acceptable not to take on extra work that eats away at your weekend or decline to respond to calls and emails after work hours.

5. Lack of Self-Discipline

This is a big one because, as an agency owner, you are expected to self-manage. Poor self-discipline carries an additional negative impact since it leads to other time-management issues, such as procrastination, poor task prioritization, and proneness to distractions.

It also affects your approach to work, because you start to feel forced to do your tasks, instead of having the internal motivation to do them yourself.

Without self-discipline, you easily lose focus and fall behind on your task, plus your productivity becomes heavily dependent on your motivation levels.

Solution: Set SMART Goals

To start developing self-discipline, consider several strategies, the first one being the concept of SMART goals. This involves setting goals that are:

• Specific: For instance, answering 5 client emails in under 15 minutes instead of just answering as many as you can over an undefined period.
• Measurable: Including metrics in your work helps you track and quantify your progress. For example, you can set a goal of making $100k in gross profit for Q1.
• Achievable: Having ambitious goals is great and it can motivate you to do great things, but they have to be attainable and in alignment with your resources. Otherwise, you are setting yourself up for failure and disappointment.
• Relevant: In addition to being specific, measurable, and achievable, your goals need to be relevant to your agency’s objectives and values. Relevant goals give you a sense of purpose.
• Timely: Once your goal has a deadline, you will have to hold yourself accountable for reaching it and prioritize your tasks so that you don’t fall behind.

Additional methods and habits you can try to boost your self-discipline:

• Utilize time-tracking software: Use them to schedule and prioritize tasks, and establish balance in your personal and professional life.
• Meditate: Meditation is known to reduce stress levels and improve your focus. You can also try other methods, such as taking a relaxing walk.
• Make your bed: While it may seem trivial, starting your day off with a task will make you feel like you’ve made a small accomplishment. Plus, it helps you form a habit of making your bed every morning. Incorporate as many useful, habit-building micro-tasks as possible into your daily routine.

6. Frequent Distractions

Whether you are an agency owner, head of marketing, or a project manager, it’s pretty much a given that you will be wearing multiple hats all the time, which means there are multiple distractions to be had as well.

On one hand, you are receiving emails and requests from clients and stakeholders, and on the other, you have members of your team, each with their own set of questions, concerns, and problems. And all of them are preventing you from focusing on what you should be doing.

Then there are your laptops, tablets, and phones. There is no easy fix for this because you cannot simply ignore messages and emails. However, you can change the way you respond to them.

Solution: Do Away With Distractions

To minimize distractions around you, try one or more of the following methods:

• Use apps that block access to distracting websites: Install apps that block you from accessing distracting content for a set period of time. Mute your notifications during deep work sessions.
• Work in a quiet and productive space: Set your status as away and block off time, so that your coworkers and team know you’re unavailable. If you are working from home and you keep getting interrupted by family members, set up a dedicated area in your home reserved for work.
• Invest in quality noise-cancelling headphones: If just cannot drown out the noise or you work in an open space office, look into buying a good pair of noise-cancelling headphones.

7. Being Busy As Opposed to Productive

There is no shortage of work when you are running an agency, but not everything you do contributes to the big picture. In fact, you can spend an entire day working reasonably hard and still accomplish very little.

How is that possible? Let’s say you have been answering emails all day, putting together a to-do list, clearing your inbox, and organizing files on your computer. It makes for a super busy day, yet you haven’t moved an inch forward in terms of goals.

It cuts into your progress and introduces anxiety, whereas productivity fills you with a sense of accomplishment.

Solution: Prioritize Your Tasks

Here are some quick fixes that will enable you to prioritize your tasks and make actual progress:

• Use the ABCDE method: A are your most important tasks, B are less crucial, C are tasks without consequences, D are those you can delegate, and E are tasks that can be eliminated.
• Consider applying the Pareto principle: Or the 80-20 rule. In other words, focus on 20% of high-value tasks that produce 80% of the results.
• Apply the 1-3-5 approach: Focus on completing 1 large, 3 medium, and 5 small tasks within a day.

8. Burnout

This is arguably the most harmful manifestation of poor time management. Burnout settles in when you are constantly exposed to high-stress situations, long hours, and a huge workload.

It’s a vicious cycle: poor time management leads to burnout, and burnout causes you to fall behind even further. It not only impairs your cognitive ability but also affects you emotionally and physically.

Ultimately, you take more time to complete tasks, you become more prone to mistakes, and your mental and physical health takes a turn for the worse.

Solution: Organize Your Tasks and Practice Self-Care

You will need to attack burnout on several levels:

• Prioritize tasks: Make a list of all of your tasks, their deadlines and the effort they require, and make high-value tasks your sole priority.
• Communicate with your team and stakeholders: As an agency owner or manager, you are the person everyone turns to. By clearly communicating what’s on your plate at any given moment, you enable your team to understand your availability and workload.
• Create a step-by-step plan for each project: Once each project you are working on is broken down into smaller parts, you can take note of deadlines, milestones, and responsibilities and make an effective work plan.

9. Not Getting Enough Sleep and Rest

“The body cannot live without the mind.” – Morpheus

And we say that vice versa also rings true. In order to be more productive, you sacrifice rest, leisure time, and even sleep, and it does work for a short while. Over a longer period, you actually start to fall behind schedule because you are only partially recuperated.

Once you eliminate most of your free time, it can easily lead to other time management issues, such as burnout and overcommitting.

Solution: Adopt a Healthier Lifestyle

To keep your body and your mind functioning properly, practice some of these self-care methods:

• Take plenty of rest: Address the quality of your sleep and try to stick to a consistent sleep schedule. During the day, take small breaks to quickly recharge your energy levels.
• Eat a more balanced diet: We love fast food and candy as much as anyone, but they only provide you with a short boost before causing you to crash. Instead, opt for healthier choices, such as fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and fish, and cut out unhealthy fats and carbs.
• Introduce physical activity: Too exhausted to go to the gym or run? No problem, because low-impact exercise, such as walking, riding a bicycle, or swimming, can be just as effective.
• Create a separation between work and personal life: We’ve already touched on this, but try and keep your personal and professional lives separate both physically and mentally by not taking your work home and having a dedicated workspace.

The Importance of Good Time Management

Your average person gets interrupted once every 8 minutes, which works out at 50-60 times per workday. That is actually insane, and it gets even crazier when you are running an agency.

The majority of those interruptions contribute very little to your progress, yet then can burn through about 3 hours of your day.

And if saving 3 hours every day is not enough of a reason to start managing your time more intelligently, here are other major benefits of doing so:

• Tasks get done on time: By practicing good time management, you make sure every task is done and that you reach your goals, but there is more to it. It leaves you with enough time to decide to practice self-care and pursue additional opportunities.
• Higher quality and quantity of work: When you are well-rested and you have your schedule planned out, you will be able to do more without compromising on the quality of your work.
• Improved efficiency: Breaking your workload into smaller chunks, and prioritizing and delegating your tasks will help you focus on your core activities as an agency owner or head of marketing.
• Less stress: Crossing things off your list helps remind you that you’re making progress and it reduces anxiety.
• Better quality of life: Because you are making regular progress and optimizing your workload, you will be able to dedicate more time to your personal life as well and feel good about your career too.

Conclusion – Become a Master of Time Management with ActiveCollab

The most valuable asset you have is time, and learning how to manage is absolutely essential for you as a professional and agency owner.

Sure, it’s impossible to be 100% all the time, but if you aren’t savvy about making the most of it, common time management mistakes will start to creep in. Before you know it, you are neck-deep in stress and anxiety.

Use ActiveCollab to manage your and your team’s time more effectively. From short bursts of productivity to completing entire projects successfully and optimizing your productivity in the process, ActiveCollab’s platform is your biggest ally when it comes to time management.

Do you want to become a master of time management?

Then sign up for our 14-day free trial, or book a demo, and see how ActiveCollab can help each workday count!