This is your daily reminder to breathe deeply and drink water. If you’re like the 1000+ store managers we surveyed you have probably been too busy to make time for yourself.

Store owners are hard workers and put in a lot of work. 61% of those we spoke to said they held more than one role and worked more than 40 hours a week.

While they might be proud of their efforts, 84% feel they aren’t using their time efficiently. This is the greatest problem for store owners today.

Make the most of your time

There are only so many hours in the day, and eventually, you will run out. Even if you don’t, you will likely feel exhausted. This can eventually lead to “burnout”

This is not only bad for your mental health but also your business. While it may be necessary to work longer hours for a short time, this is not the best solution to your time management problems. This is a critical problem if you want your business to grow.

So how do you do it?

1. Audit your time

First, you need to determine how much time you spend daily. Although you may believe you know what you do with your time, when you measure it, you will be surprised.

Write down your week and classify each task into one of the following groups: finance, administration, marketing, or sales. This information can be recorded in a spreadsheet, or you can use an app to make it more simple.

After you are done, look closely at your time. Are you among the 33% that believe marketing is key to success but only give it 17%?

It’s not the goal to restrict your time in every area of your business. The goal is to find out which areas aren’t being utilized efficiently or worthwhile and to reduce your spending on these tasks. It’s fine to budget a lot for a particular area, but it’s fun and helps you reach your goals.

2. Streamline your work

Start your time management overhaul once you have identified the areas you need to improve. Do not try to fix everything. Instead, focus on the area that is causing you to spend the most time and not helping you achieve your goals. These are some quick tips to streamline your calendar.

• Most humans don’t multitask well. You can practice time blocking so that you only work on one task for a few hours before moving on to the next.

• Take a look at the processes in your store. Are there ways to reduce the number and complexity of these steps? Can you reduce the number of approvals? There are more steps, which means more time and more chances for things to go wrong.

• When working on tasks, set a timer. You might only need to edit blog posts for one hour before you move on to the next task.

It is important to think of ways you can work smarter and more efficiently. Setting a timer can help you stay on track and focus so you can do more work in a shorter time.

3. Look for an outside solution

You may find it impossible to cut down on the amount of time you spend on certain tasks. It’s time for you to outsource. It is impossible to work as hard and efficiently as you can before exhausting your resources.

It doesn’t mean you have to hire a whole new team. You can instead use automation tools to automate certain tasks or hire a freelancer who will take care of other tasks. It might be worthwhile to invest in another employee if you are seeing higher returns on your time over a month.

Your eCommerce store will determine whether you hire a team or hire a freelancer. Consider your long-term goals. It is a good investment for your store’s future and your mental health.