Introduction to Time Saving Strategies
Running a small business often feels like spinning plates. Owners wear many hats—sales, operations, HR, finance—and the result is long hours with too little to show for it.
If you’ve ever ended a week wondering where your time went, well this is very common.
The good news? Small, intentional changes can add up to big time savings.
In this article, we’ll cover five proven strategies to save time, boost productivity, and reduce stress—so you can focus on what really matters: growing your business.
Most companies I’ve worked for or with experience this whether they have 1 employee or 1,000. It’s certainly harder to watch when someone who owns their own business in a trade or service ends up spending 50-60 hours a week just to get everything done.
Some people will write this off as it’s all part of the hustle and grind and even wear it as a badge, but in reality it’s draining and devaluing their earnings.
And let me be clear, it’s all about where those extra hours are going. You’re an expert in your field which is why you ended up starting your own business, but half your time on admin tasks is not sustainable and will really hinder your growth.
In my work with Informed Insights, I’ve seen how simple adjustments in process improvement, resource planning, and strategic insights can free up hours each week.
Some people will default to throwing money at the problem and hire an admin rep or some big fancy tool, but really people generally just need help focusing on either learning a new skill or strategy to drastically cut down on this time.
1. Prioritize High-Impact Work
Not all tasks are created equal. Many small business owners get stuck in reactive mode—answering emails, solving urgent problems, putting out fires.
But urgent doesn’t always mean important.
The Strategy: Focus first on tasks that drive revenue and long-term growth. Simple tools like the my resource planning template allow you to take a step back and really take in what you’re doing and how long it takes which can help you separate “must-do” from “nice-to-do.”
In my worklife history one example comes to mind of a time I walked a team through the resource planning exercise and we identified 10+ tasks the team was collectively actioning at an equal level.
After discussing and prioritizing we realized 1-2 of those items had such a high value to the team and customers that actioning them first actually reduced the workload in the other areas substantially.
All of a sudden they had time to focus on the top tasks and do them so well that it had a snowball effect on their entire work structure. This kind of review is not rocket science, but when you’re drowning in backlogs it’s hard to stop and evaluate without bias.
This kind of shift is exactly what resource planning is designed to achieve—ensuring the right people are focused on the right work.
2. Streamline and Automate Repetitive Tasks
Repetitive tasks eat away at valuable hours—whether it’s sending invoices, scheduling appointments, or reporting on weekly metrics.
Automation tools can handle these for you.
The Strategy: Use your existing tools effectively. Most people don’t realize how much automation you can get out of tools like Outlook, Excel, and Google Sheets.
These applications have robust abilities to automate a variety of tasks and create dashboard reporting to reduce manual effort with no extra cost.
Not everyone is a master at coding, and it’s certainly not expected that every business owner becomes an expert in all functions of these applications, but just acknowledging the potential can get you started.
Again, instead of throwing money at a fancy CRM (Client Relationship Management) tool that 9/10 times won’t give you 100% of what you need, focus on using what you already have effectively.
Most of my experience revolves around finding these kinds of solutions. All teams and companies are sitting on an untapped wealth of data that can easily be spun into informative dashboards using tools they already possess.
Sometimes this alone can be a game changer when it comes to running a business.
Utilizing CRM alternative solutions or data analysis to get these set up compared to buying a tool which costs hundreds per month is a no-brainer.
Process improvement isn’t about making people work harder; it’s about freeing them from repetitive work so they can focus on results.
For more guidance, check out our process improvement services.
3. Delegate and Empower Your Team
One of the biggest barriers to growth is a leader who tries to do everything.
Delegating isn’t just about handing off tasks—it’s about empowering your team to take ownership.
The Strategy: Create simple SOPs (standard operating procedures), assign clear responsibilities, and build trust so tasks are done without constant oversight.
Tools like workforce optimization can make this process even more efficient.
I’ve worked with business leaders who carry a deserved sense of pride in what they do and how they do it.
Taking things to the next level means letting go of some tasks through automation or empowering your team to do them just as well as you.
This not only gives you business continuity, but also gives you back time to focus on the top 1-2 things that directly impact company success.
Sometimes businesses need a temporary boost in leadership capacity—strategic insights to help plan this transition in an effective way while developing the internal team.
4. Plan Your Week with Intention
Time isn’t just saved—it’s allocated. Planning your week in advance ensures the most important tasks get done.
The Strategy: Use time-blocking to protect focus time, batch similar tasks (like emails or calls), and review your goals weekly.
Even one hour of planning can save multiple hours of wasted effort.
At the start of each week I look ahead to everything pre-booked, calculate the time to prepare for each engagement, and group tasks into focused blocks.
Throughout the week I note times when focus is broken and make updates to future weeks.
This ends up saving large chunks of time spent refocusing or catching up.
With clear insights, business leaders can plan their weeks around impact—not distractions.
Our strategic insights services can help structure this process.
5. Know Your Limits but Don’t Limit Yourself
Time-saving isn’t only about doing more—it’s about not doing everything.
Saying yes to every opportunity can quickly derail focus and ultimately lose you opportunities.
The Strategy: Define your business goals clearly, understand how much you can do on your own, and know where you’d start to feel pressure.
If you run a home inspection business and it’s just you, then you have a clear idea of how many inspections you can effectively handle each week.
Say it is 20 inspections; you know if you get a call for the 21st inspection, you might be under pressure to maintain quality.
Contingency plans are important, and workforce optimization and resource planning come into play here.
A strong business consultant can help map these scenarios comfortably, reducing pressure and worry.
Conclusion
Time is the most valuable resource for small business owners. By prioritizing high-impact work, automating repetitive tasks, delegating effectively, planning intentionally, and protecting your time strategically, you’ll unlock hours each week to reinvest in growth.
If you’d like to explore how these strategies could apply directly in your business, I offer workforce optimization services and tailored support for small teams.
From process improvement to resource planning, the right changes can turn complexity into clarity.