Starting your work day with a list of task a mile long can be overwhelming. You don’t want to lose the whole day to one task, but you hate short bursts of working and constant interruptions. Power hours might be a great way for you to manage your time and get the tasks done that you need to get done in your small business.
What are Power Hours, and How do They Help?
Power hours are a time block of an hour that you work on one task. When that hour timer goes off, you stop the task, and move on to the next one. Assign an hour a day to a board category, or specific task, and line up several of the during the day. Write them down in hour blocks in your calendar. Set an alarm or timer, and get started on your first hour task.
If you end your task earlier then an hour first, make a note of how long it took you, so you can better adjust your timing, and do not move on. Use the rest of the time as a break, or clean up. If you’re anything like me, the moment you leave your work space you’re done for.
This is how I did a majority of my time management. I would divide my day up by hour, and include any house work that I needed to get done for the day, since I worked at home in my direct sales business. I would start at 9, after I dropped my kids off at school, and worked until 2 when it was time to stop to go get them.
I found at that time that I liked longer work times, less distractions with starts and stops. Working for an hour at a time let me keep tabs on my time, and let my hyper-focus kick in, so I was able to work like I wanted too. If I got done before the timer, I would stay in my work area until the timer went off.
If you’ve tried other methods, some I’ve even listed in my time management blog post, but you’ve found that all the stopping and starting isn’t something you like, try power hours. They give you an hour of work time, and a to-do list. It keeps you from wander away from your to do list all day, but still gives you some flexibility in what you work on during the day. It can help avoid burn out.
How Long do Power Hours Last?
They’re 60 minute time blocks, where you focus on just the tasks that you’ve assigned for that hour. You can use them for your whole work day like I did, or you can use them for your most important tasks during the day, where you want less distractions. That’s the best thing about being in charge of your own schedule, you get to work your schedule to work for you, your life, your brain and your work style.
Can Power Hours Help with Procrastination?
Yes, it can. It may not work for everyone, since everyone is different. But knowing you only have to work on these tasks that you’ve been putting off for an hour, and stop working on them after that, can help some with the mental block that comes with actually setting to and doing those tasks.
My procrastination task was shipping. I hated doing it, but of course it needed to be done. My printer was the main problem and it was always a fight with the damn thing. So as I began working within my power hours for the day, the shipping would get done, since it was only an hour worth of work, I was able to talk myself into doing it much better than before I started power hours.
The goal with any time management system or technique, is to make something that will help you as a small business owner make the most out of your 24 hours, and help build a better work life balance. Leaving with less stress, not on a full barrel run to burnout, and keeping your time your own.