MANAGEMENT • 4 MIN READ

9 Time Management Skills You Need To Scale From 6 To 7 Figures

Are You Stuck Working “IN” Your Business?

As an entrepreneur you either control your time or your time controls you.

It’s one of the main reasons business owners get caught in the “hustle”, and struggle to scale from 6 to 7 figures…

It all comes down to your TIME MANAGEMENT!

Time (and how you use it) is the benchmark for everything you do.

Each day you’re given 1,440 minutes. That’s it. You’re given the same as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Oprah. Those at the “top” don’t have more of it than you do, but one of the biggest differences between seven-and-eight-figure entrepreneurs is how they use their time.

And most people (business owners, especially) use their time all wrong!

The #2 most common answer related to (you guessed it)… TIME!

This is why Time Management is one of the first things we work on with ALL our clients at 2X.

Once you take your Time Management Skills to the next level, your productivity increases at a phenomenal rate — you’ll literally regain 10+ hours per week (at least) overnight!

This means you wake up each day:

Crystal clear about what you’re doing (and what you are not) …
With plenty of time to reflect on your day, never dashing from meeting-to-meeting …
To an efficient business built around PROVEN systems (meaning no fires to put out) …
Focussed on the tasks you need to do, delegating EVERYTHING else to your world class team …

In this article we’ll show you how

(with the same advice we give those in our 2X Accelerator program).

So to regain 10+ hours per week (at least)… read on! These 9 Time Management Skills will change how you play the game 😉

Time Management Skill

#1: Make Your Calendar Work For YOU!

The most successful business owners and CEOs don’t work from a never-ending to-do list.

They work from their calendar.

As long as a task is on a to-do list, it has no value. But as soon as you put it on your calendar you give it an allocation of time. It now has a value. It has purpose, and you know you need to do and when.

BUT… you have to make your calendar work for you.

Don’t try and put every task, commitment and idea on there. All this does is create massive overwhelm, which does not help your productivity levels. Instead, only put what matters on your calendar:

Family time…
Thinking time…
Strategy time…
Time for developing your team…
Personal Development and education time …

If it’s important to you, put it on your calendar.
If it’s something you need to do, put it on your calendar.
If it’s something that adds value to you / your business… put it on your calendar.

Work from it, make it work for you and take back control so it no longer controls you.

This is what mine looks like:

It’s what I work from. But it doesn’t control me… I control it.

If it’s on my calendar, it’s important..
I color code it so I get an instant visual.
I work from it, but I’m not defined by it.

#2: Batch Your Work.

I used to try and theme my days, so I only did certain tasks at certain points in the week.

That didn’t work for me, because it kills all spontaneity. I hated that. As an entrepreneur, I imagine you can relate to this because you became one for more freedom… right?

Sure. Which is why BATCHING your work is a gamechanger!

Like theming your days does, Batching Your Work improves your focus and productivity levels. But unlike theming your days, you have the freedom to do this whenever you like / need.

This is what it looks like:

Don’t pay your invoices… Batch ALL Your Financial Tasks into a 1-2 hour chunk!
Don’t take a single phone call… Batch 4-5 Phone Calls back-to-back!
Don’t check your email… Batch your Email, Social Media and Texts together!

Switching between different tasks is one of the most unproductive things you can do.

Each time you switch tasks, it can take up to 25 minutes to find your flow.

Throughout the day… this is A LOT of wasted time and energy.

So if you want get more done in less time… Batch Your Work!

This has had a massive impact on my productivity levels, and it’s improved my decisions making massively (and if there’s one thing that determines your success… it’s the decisions you make).

The more successful business owners I meet, the more I see this method used.

Batching your work… WORKS!

And when you match it with this next Time Management Skill, you kill it!

#3: Have Crush IT Days!

Imagine you have zero distractions!

No meetings …
No social media or email …
No clients bugging you …

You have a clean slate of 8 hours to use as you wish.

To get your most important tasks finished!
To focus on the 20% that creates 80% of your results!
To dive into strategy, so you can continue to grow!

Would that be valuable for you?

For sure it would!
And all this is possible.

I have this each week.
It’s what I call, my “Crush It” day.

It’s one of my most effective time management hacks (now it’s yours, too).

For A Video On What A “Crush It” Day Is And Why You Need Them, Watch This!

You only have so much time, and it’s important you work on ONLY the most important work.

This is what it means to work “on” your business and not “in” it, and making sure you have 1-2 Crush It Days each week is HUGE!

No email!
No meetings!
No social media!
No non-urgent tasks.
NO DISTRACTIONS OR FIREFIGHTING (more on this soon)!!

I typically dedicate Wednesday’s to this, meaning I don’t take meetings or calls or anything that isn’t part of my MVP list. I get more done on these days than the rest of the week combined.

But this is only possible by Batching Your Work!!

By batching your smaller tasks it frees up more time for you to dive deep into your 20%.

And it’s your 20% that drives your Business Growth, enables you to scale to the next level and make more money (for you and your business).

Batching Your Work + Crush IT Days = one of the best time management skills you will ever learn 😉

#4: Create A Daily Commitment List.

Most entrepreneurs have “to do” lists, but this is a terrible idea:

They’re long…
They continue to grow (seriously, do you ever reach the end?) …
They add more stress and complexity to your day (not clarity) …

I don’t do to-do lists. Not a fan.

But I do create a “Daily Commitment List” each morning, where I write no more than 5 CORE TASKS I need to get done (most days it’s less than five).

These tasks are what I need to get done.
These tasks will have the biggest impact on my business.
These tasks will help me make the most progress today.

I write this list the night before, and review it in the morning.

(more on how to create the perfect morning and evening routine next)

My aim each day is to complete every item on this list by 9am!

Imagine that… getting your five most important tasks finished while most people are brushing their teeth. This frees you up to work “on” your business the rest of the day, and focus ONLY on what you need to.

Anything else you achieve after this is a bonus 😉

It’s one of the greatest productivity hacks I’ve ever implemented, and one of the big reasons why 2X has grown so quickly in recent months.

#5: Create The Perfect Morning Routine.

Mark Twain once said, “If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And If it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first”.

This sums up how I approach my morning.

I like to start fast.
I like to start focused.

I’m not the only one…

You won’t come across many successful people who don’t have a great morning routine:

Tony Robbins has an intense 30-minute morning routine that includes mediation, nutrition and exercise …
Tim Ferriss starts his day by making his bed and diving into 20-minutes of meditation and reflection …
Benjamin Franklin woke up each morning asking: What Good Shall I Do This Day?

This IS NOT about waking up early.

What’s more important than how early you wake up is HOW you wake up!

Start your day with intention and purpose.
Start it faster than anyone else you know.

Make those first couple of hours count!

I personally wake up between 5am — 5:45am every day, and go through my morning routine:

I open my blinds, clap my hands once, and get my mind excited for the day right from the start…
I listen to a 3 minute affirmations-type audio I created and review my vision board …
I drink water and rehydrate …
I sit down and look at my plan for the day (and re-plan / tweak the plan if necessary) …
I get clear on what my ONE thing is and then I’m off to the races!

This short (and slightly strange) morning routine allows me to start FAST.

The thing is, all this actually begins the night before…

#6: Create The Perfect Evening Routine

The best morning routines start the night before.

Each evening (when I’ve finished working and am ready to “switch off”) I spend 5-10 minutes reflecting:

Too often, entrepreneurs (in particular) hustle through their days without thinking or reflection.

Days blend into weeks, which bleed into months… and before you know it you’ve wasted a lot of time doing tasks you didn’t need to do. An evening routine like this removes you from the hamster-wheel.

What are tomorrow’s 3-5 main tasks?
What is tomorrow’s ONE thing? (the top priority of all)
What will you work on when you first begin your day? (so you can start fast)

By planning for tomorrow the night before, you ensure you start the next day FAST!

It’s one of the most powerful time management skills in this entire list, and it’s something almost nobody does!

#7: Plan For Firefighting.

It Doesn’t Matter How Productive You And Your Team Are, There’s Always A Few Fires To Put Out …

Mistakes happen
Clients call.
Issues arise.
Opportunities come about.
New employees need assistance.

As a CEO, you NEED to proactively plan for this in advance.

In time, you won’t need to.
Your ship will run smoothly.

But until it does, you NEED to plan time each day to put out these fires

(I suggest the afternoon when your brain begins to tire)

Whatever you do, DO NOT put these fires out throughout the day. This is a productivity killer that removes you from your flow and stops you from doing the work you need to.

It forces you to work inside you business, instead of “on” it …

You waste your time constantly “reacting”, and if there’s one thing successful CEOs and Business Owners do not do… it’s build a “reactive” business!

Each day, overcome all your “fires” in one go.

It’s amazing how much firefighting you can do when you approach it like this. Whereas if you react to every issue or problem, you will never escape the hamster-wheel and build the business you need to.

#8: Live By Parkinson’s Law.

Parkinson’s Law says whatever time we give ourselves, we will fill it.

What’s the lesson to learn here…?

STOP giving yourself so much time to complete a task.

The most successful CEOs “shrink” their time by setting challenging deadlines.

This forces you to FOCUS and go “deep” into a task.
It gives you less time for distractions, and less reason to jump from task-to-task.

You commit to what’s in front of you 100%!

You get more done in less time, and more important… you complete what you start.

One of the least productive things you can do is revisit the same task twice, or give yourself so much time to do something that you have time to spare (or to multitask and procrastinate).

Shrink your time!
Challenge yourself!

Live by Parkinson’s Law.

Once you do, your productivity will explode!!

#9: ONLY Do CEO Tasks!

I used to love telling people I’m an entrepreneur…

Not anymore!

An entrepreneur loves to get their hands dirty, break-and-fix things on a daily basis.

This is fine…
In the beginning!

As you build your first six-figures, this is the only way to do it. But if you want to scale from 6-7 figures (and beyond) you need to evolve from an Entrepreneur into a CEO.

A CEO works “ON” their business (not inside it as a glorified employee) …

There are certain jobs a CEO should do, and a lot they should not!

(I actually wrote an article about the 8 income-producing tasks a CEO should focus on)

So if you continue to do the tasks you shouldn’t be doing, all the Time Management Skills we’ve talked about in this article mean nothing.

You need to focus ALL your time on the right “stuff”.
You need to focus on income-producing activities that let you grow.
You need to focus “on” the business so you consistently scale to the next level.

This is what the most successful CEOs and Business Owners do, and this is how you not only level-up your Time Management and Productivity… but explode your business’ growth!

This Is What We Help Our Clients Achieve At 2X…

We don’t help them just save time so they can make more money and growth their business… we show them WHAT to focus on and HOW to do it. We’ve helped dozens of successful entrepreneurs in recent months make this leap, and their Time Management Skills ALWAYS play a role (without exception).

These 9 Time Management Skills will help you take the leap too — but we’ve only scratched the surface.

I recently recorded an in-depth Training Session where I shared 36 more Time Management Tips!

We received such great feedback from that training we’ve turned it into a 25+ Page Guide Called: Elite Productivity & Time Management Strategies For Entrepreneurs.

If you like what you’ve read here, you will love

Grab your copy now for free, because it not only shows you step-by-step how to up your Time Management and Productivity Game… but how to then use this extra time effectively.