As a small business owner, time is one of your most valuable resources. But it’s not always on your side.
Here’s why! According to Microsoft’s Work Trend Index Report, workers spend a significant portion of their day—about 4 hours and 33 minutes—handling emails, attending meetings, and managing communication through various team apps. And this is only one part of the pie. 🥧
This time spent on communication and coordination tasks can add up quickly for small teams, leaving little room for the work that truly drives growth. Unsurprisingly, 68% of workers feel they don’t have enough time to focus on what matters.
In this blog, we’ll explore practical time management strategies and time tracking tools to help you reclaim your schedule, prioritize tasks, avoid poor time management, and drive your business operations toward success.
Time Management Tips for Small Business Success
Summarize this article for me please1. Understanding Your Tasks and Goals
Streamlining workflows should be a top priority for small businesses that manage multiple responsibilities. To do this effectively, each task should have an owner who is clear on their goals and responsibilities.
Elon Musk once said,
Time management strategies help you measure tasks against goals, making it easier to track what you’ve been working on. This also brings clarity to what your focus areas should be.
So, how do you map all those daily tasks to clear long-term goals? Enter ClickUp, the everything app for work that’s designed to help teams manage specific tasks, track progress, and improve collaboration.
Use ClickUp Goals to help you set, track, and achieve your business targets faster, all while maintaining clarity and organization.
Here’s how ClickUp Goals can help you manage work:
- Stay on schedule: Set deadlines for goals, manage Sprints, and track progress with weekly scorecards to ensure your team stays on track
- Share goals effortlessly: Assign single or multiple owners, control access permissions, and seamlessly collaborate with your team or stakeholders
- Organize goals in one place: Use folders to categorize objectives like OKRs (Objectives and Key Results), Sprints, or employee scorecards, making it easy to manage and prioritize
- Measure success accurately: Use numerical, monetary, true/false, or task-based Targets to track progress toward goals such as weekly sales or sprint milestones
When you have the big goals sorted out, ClickUp Tasks makes capturing priorities easier, breaking them down into sub-tasks, assigning owners, tracking progress, and keeping everyone aligned. With Custom Statuses, you can create workflows tailored to your process—whether simple, like ‘To Do’ and ‘Complete’ or more detailed. Customization ensures your team stays focused and productive.
A small business owner on Reddit, ecommarketingwiz gives a great time management tip:
Summarize this article for me please2. Analyze Your Time Usage
For small business owners and startup founders, every second counts. Between managing day-to-day operations and strategizing for growth, losing track of where your time goes is easy.
One of the best ways to analyze how you’re spending your time is by tracking it for a week or so.
Once you’ve got a sense of where your time is going, break it down into categories—what’s really moving the needle (like strategy or client outreach) versus stuff that’s just taking up time (like endless meetings or admin tasks).
This gives you a clear picture of what you should be focusing more on and where you might need to delegate, automate, or cut back.
Whether you’re setting up deep work hours or following the Pomodoro technique of 25-minute focus bursts, ClickUp’s Time Management platform has features that cater to every time management strategy, plus ClickUp Automations to handle those repetitive tasks for you.
For instance, ClickUp’s Project Time Tracking offers an efficient solution for analyzing your time, improving your time management skills, and setting realistic expectations for yourself and your team.
Here’s how ClickUp makes time tracking effortless:
- Track time anywhere: Record time on desktop, mobile, or web with ClickUp’s free Chrome extension, and link tracked time to any task
- Set estimates and add notes: Define how long tasks should take and attach detailed notes to entries for clear tracking of your efforts
- Manage billable time: Mark time as billable to simplify invoicing for clients
- Rollup totals: View the combined total of time spent across tasks and subtasks for an overarching perspective
- Edit and adjust: Manually add or subtract time entries for accuracy
A ClickUp user, Max Segal, Computer and Informations System Manager at XYZ says:
Still not sure where the time went? Let’s visualize where you wasted your time to divert your attention to what needs focus. You can use ClickUp Dashboards for this.
Setting up a personal dashboard allows you to visualize your productivity and identify time-wasting activities that derail focus. This personalized daily dashboard lets you prioritize tasks, track progress, and maintain an organized workflow tailored to your goals.
For a deeper understanding of time spent, include widgets that track deadlines, show task statuses, and provide real-time updates on team activities.
Summarize this article for me please3. Organize, Prioritize, and Cluster
When projects lack structure, small details often slip through the cracks, leading to missed deadlines, misaligned goals, and, ultimately, frustrated customers. For small business owners juggling multiple initiatives, this can quickly snowball into chaos.
The key to managing complex workflows is creating a clear hierarchy that organizes tasks, ensuring everything is accounted for. With a solid structure in place, you can break down big projects into smaller, actionable steps and prioritize them effectively.
That’s where ClickUp’s Project Hierarchy and task organization features can revolutionize your workflow. It allows you to organize your projects, tasks, documents, and tasks using dedicated folders, lists, and spaces, making sure that everything is structured and easily accessible.
Here’s how Hierarchy and task organization features can simplify your workflow:
- Workspace overview: Visualize your entire company or organization at a glance, giving you a big-picture view without losing sight of the details
- Nested subtasks: Break down big projects into manageable steps with multiple levels of subtasks, ensuring every detail is covered
- Checklists within tasks: Create detailed task checklists within tasks for step-by-step tracking of complex processes or projects
- Task collaboration: Assign tasks to team members, add descriptions, update statuses, and engage through comments to keep everyone aligned
- Customizable lists: Group related tasks into Lists to organize projects, campaigns, or databases and quickly access what you need
- Priority levels: Sort tasks by urgency, from low to critical, making it easy to focus on what really matters and avoid unnecessary distractions.
ClickUp also comes with free time blocking templates, such as the ClickUp Time Box Template, to make the setup easier for you.
Here are some key features of the template:
- Custom Statuses: Easily track task progress with customizable statuses such as ‘Done,’ ‘In Progress,’ and ‘To Do’
- Custom Fields: Add a custom attribute like ‘Type’ to capture essential task information and visualize task data clearly for better decision-making
- Custom Views: Open four distinct views to organize and access information such as the ‘Tasks Planner view’ for task management, ‘Time Box Schedule’ for managing time blocks, and ‘Tasks Status’ for tracking the current progress of tasks
➡️ Also Read: Free Time Management Templates (Calendars & Schedules)
Summarize this article for me please4. Create a Schedule
Start by looking at your week as a whole—allocate specific days or time blocks for recurring tasks like meetings, marketing efforts, financial management, and client work.
For example, you might set aside Mondays for strategy and planning, Tuesdays for client meetings, and Wednesdays for marketing or content creation. Once you’ve established your weekly structure, break it down into daily tasks, prioritizing the most important and time-sensitive activities first.
Each day, identify the top 3–5 tasks that must be completed and block time on your calendar to focus on those, leaving room for unforeseen challenges or interruptions. Be realistic about how much you can accomplish, and make adjustments as needed, ensuring you remain adaptable while staying focused on the big picture.
When implementing this, ClickUp’s Calendar View and Timeline View offer the flexibility and customization you need to stay on top of your work.
Here’s how you can leverage these features to create daily, weekly, or monthly schedules:
The ClickUp Calendar View is ideal for visualizing work, rescheduling tasks, and aligning project timelines. It allows you to switch between daily, weekly, or monthly views.
Follow these steps to get started:
- Visualize your work: Switch to Calendar View in ClickUp to see all your tasks laid out in a calendar format
- Create and adjust schedules: Drag and drop tasks directly on the calendar to adjust their due dates or durations
- Manage project timelines: Break down large projects into smaller, actionable tasks and schedule them over days, weeks, or months
- Sync with external calendars: Integrate ClickUp with Google Calendar or other scheduling tools to keep all your events and tasks in one place
Timeline View in ClickUp offers a linear, detailed approach to scheduling tasks and managing workloads. It’s perfect for gaining a bird’s-eye view of your projects and deadlines.
Here’s how to use it:
- Visualize tasks over time: Use the Day dropdown menu to switch to weekly, monthly, or even hourly views for better planning
- Customize your timeline: Customize your view using task colors based on their List, status, or Custom Field value. You can choose to show or hide weekends, depending on your workflow
- Future recurring tasks: Enable or disable the display of future recurring tasks for better clarity
You can manage your time effectively with the ClickUp Time Management Schedule Template without starting from scratch.
This template is designed to help you analyze how you spend your time and boost productivity.
Here’s what’s included:
- Activity log view: Track all the activities you complete throughout the day to identify patterns and improve efficiency
- Daily activities view: Plan tasks, set priorities, and structure your day effectively
- Workload view: Get a clear snapshot of all tasks and their estimated time requirements to balance workloads
- Getting Started Guide view: A step-by-step setup guide to help you create an effective schedule quickly
💡 Pro Tip: Invest in yourself by setting aside time to learn new skills, attend workshops, or read industry publications. This can maximize productivity and enhance decision-making abilities.
You can always track your work with ClickUp Gantt Chart View for long-term and efficient time management.
When it comes to long-term planning and effective time management, this feature is designed to help you simplify workflows, prioritize deadlines, and eliminate bottlenecks. Here’s how:
- Visualize project workflows: Consolidate your Spaces, Folders, Lists, tasks, and subtasks into one unified view
- Drag-and-drop simplicity: Adjust task timelines and dependencies effortlessly using the intuitive drag-and-drop interface
- Color-coded organization: Use color coding to categorize tasks by priority, status, or team member for easy identification, ensuring nothing is missed
- Real-time updates: Stay on top of your projects with live progress percentages and real-time updates, allowing you and your team to collaborate effectively and celebrate milestones as they happen
- Sort, filter, and focus: Use advanced sorting and filtering to hone in on critical tasks, identify potential delays, and allocate resources wisely
Summarize this article for me please5. Avoid Multitasking
Multitasking may seem like a productivity booster, but it often has the opposite effect.
Neuroscientific research shows that reducing cognitive overload by creating a plan and prioritizing tasks can help us achieve more and support our physical and mental health at the end of the day.
Multitasking, however, increases cognitive overload, leading to:
- Reduced focus: Switching between tasks fragments your attention, lowering the quality of work
- Inefficiency: It takes more time to complete tasks when constantly shifting focus
- Stress: Overloading your brain with multiple tasks increases mental fatigue and stress
ClickUp’s Me Mode is designed to counter the pitfalls of multitasking and enhance time management.
By filtering your Workspace to show only the tasks assigned, Me Mode helps you focus solely on your responsibilities.
This allows you to see:
- Personalized task view: See tasks that need your attention without distractions from others’ assignments
- Automatic assignment: Create Tasks in Me Mode so they are instantly assigned to you, simplifying your workflow
- Universal across views: Stay on track without impacting others’ perspectives as Me Mode applies across all ClickUp views in your Workspace
Summarize this article for me please6. Take Breaks
Regular breaks are a crucial yet often overlooked aspect of effective time management. While pushing through long hours might seem productive, it can lead to burnout and reduced efficiency.
Incorporating intentional breaks into your schedule helps rejuvenate your mind, improves focus, and sustains productivity over time.
We get around five hours of leisure time daily, but spending this free time unintentionally may affect your overall well-being, even when not working. Structured breaks can maximize your leisure time, enhancing productivity and well-being.
ClickUp Reminders can help you easily integrate breaks into your day. Here’s how you can use it:
- Quick setup: Create smaller, standalone reminders for scheduled breaks, ensuring you step away at the right times
- Delegate break reminders: Assign reminders to yourself or your team to encourage a culture of regular, mindful breaks
- Comment-triggered reminders: Set reminders directly from a task comment, making them actionable and independent of the original task
Summarize this article for me please7. Delegate and Outsource
Sharing responsibilities and organizing tasks help you to focus on high-priority work, reduce overwhelm, and ensure your projects move forward efficiently.
One useful framework for delegation is the Pareto Principle (also known as the 80/20 Rule), which suggests that 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts. Applying this theory means identifying the most impactful tasks—those that drive business success—and focusing on those while delegating the other 80% of tasks that are important but not as critical.
Another helpful theory is Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory, which differentiates between motivational factors (e.g., achievement, recognition) and hygiene factors (e.g., salary, work conditions).
When delegating, consider the task at hand and how it might motivate or demotivate your team. Tasks that align with employees’ strengths and provide opportunities for growth and recognition should be delegated to those individuals, enhancing their job satisfaction and performance.
The key to delegation lies in providing clear instructions, setting expectations, and fostering trust, while also creating an environment where team members feel empowered and valued.
Use ClickUp Assign Comments to simplify delegation and task management:
- Clear delegation: When delegating a task, provide specific instructions in the comments section. Clearly state who the task is assigned to and any specific requirements
- @Mentions: Use ClickUp @mentions to directly notify the assignee and keep them updated on any changes or requests
- Checklists: Create checklists within the comments to break down complex tasks into smaller, actionable steps
- Delegation status: Create a custom field to track the delegation status of a task (e.g., ‘Not Delegated,’ ‘Delegated,’ ‘In Progress,’ ‘Completed’)
- Automate notifications: Set up custom automation rules to send notifications to the original task creator and the delegatee whenever a task is delegated or its status changes
➡️ Also Read: How to Create a Time Budget to Get More Done
Summarize this article for me please8. Minimize Distractions
As a business owner, distractions can easily derail your day. The key to mastering time management is identifying and addressing your time wasters head-on.
One proven method is using a time management matrix to prioritize tasks based on urgency and importance, helping you focus on high-value activities. It divides tasks into four quadrants: urgent and important, not urgent but important, urgent but not important, and neither urgent nor important. By using the matrix, you can better allocate your time, reduce stress, and focus on long-term success.
Remember, staying focused also means stepping away when needed. Astonishingly, over 765 million vacation days go unused annually in the U.S. Taking breaks isn’t just a luxury—it’s essential for productivity and avoiding burnout.
Set boundaries to minimize distractions: Mute notifications during deep work, delegate tasks effectively, and schedule focused work blocks.
The ClickUp Date and Time feature allows you to set start dates, due dates, and reminders, ensuring you finish tasks on time while staying organized. Beyond deadlines, this feature lets you plan your schedule by dedicating specific time slots to tools, apps, or devices, keeping your day structured and intentional.
Moreover, ClickUp’s availability across Android, iOS, Windows, and Mac means you can stay connected to your schedule anytime, anywhere.
Summarize this article for me please9. Use Time Management Apps
From planning your day to prioritizing tasks, productivity and time management apps can help you organize your life. They can be your personal assistant, keeping you on top of everything.
Whether you need help with time-blocking, task management, prioritizing, or organizing meeting schedules, there’s an app for it. With ClickUp Integrations, you can take time management to the next level by connecting over 1,000 tools and bringing the best productivity features to your workspace—for free. That’s right, no more switching between tools.
Here’s how these integrations can help simplify your workday:
- Seamless time tracking with Everhour: Unlike most time tracking tools, Everhour integrates controls directly into the ClickUp interface, saving time and reducing data entry errors
- Instant time tracking with Toggl: Enable the Toggl Chrome extension to track time effortlessly within ClickUp
- Sync your schedule with Google Calendar: Connect Google Calendar to ClickUp for real-time synchronization
- Native time tracking: ClickUp’s built-in time tracker lets you log hours directly within tasks
Summarize this article for me pleaseFuel Your Productivity with ClickUp
When you manage your time well, you free up mental bandwidth to focus on growing your business, fostering creativity, and achieving a healthy work-life balance.
This is where ClickUp shines as an all-in-one platform. It helps you manage important tasks, integrates seamlessly with popular tools, and tracks your time spent on projects. As we have seen in the tips above, centralizing workflows also empowers you to focus on what matters most while reducing distractions and staying productive.
So sign up for ClickUp today and tackle time management challenges!
Everything you need to stay organized and get work done.
