How to Manage Your Time as a Consignment Store Owner

As a consignment store owner, you probably feel like you’re wearing most of the hats. You’re constantly juggling between all your tasks, and it’s hard to manage your time. Effectively managing your time is hard, but you need to find what works for you. Learning how to manage your time as a consignment store owner takes a lot of trial and error. Here are some ideas to help you get started on your time management journey.

Do you value your time?

Valuing your time is the first step. This means taking the time to decide what tasks are worth your time. A task that may seem quick may actually take up more of your time than you think it does. It’s important to analyze this so that you can delegate some tasks to other people.

Consider the opportunity cost, which is essentially what you give up (the benefits of the next best alternative) when you make a choice. Take a look at all your tasks for the month and see how many take up too much time. An easy fix is to find ways to automate those tasks. For example, if you’re posting on social media daily, try a scheduling app.

Another option is to decide how much you are worth an hour. Say someone is paying you $20 an hour to complete a task, would you do it for $20 or no? That can help you decide whether a task is worth your time. If it’s not, then you can review the options that benefit you most.

The easiest way to decide whether or not you should be doing something is to look at your motivation. Do you have tasks that you often find yourself procrastinating on? This is something you can probably have someone else do. If you don’t already have people that can help, you can find freelancers online or find apps that will complete those tasks for you.

Use these methods to determine when it’s time to delegate tasks.

Plan ahead

Planning has many steps, the first being to get organized. When you organize both your tasks and your workspace, you can have a clear mind. After you get organized, write down all your tasks and decide when they need to be done. If you have recurring tasks, set a specific day of the week for those tasks. Doing so will help free up time for those tasks that come out of nowhere. If you have daily recurring tasks that you have difficulty organizing, create a checklist for yourself to be sure they were completed. Additionally, creating a checklist for the daily opening and closing tasks will reduce any stress or anxiety you may experience.

Get ahead

When you plan, it also frees up the opportunity to get ahead. By that, I mean being as ahead as you can get, whether it’s a week ahead or a month ahead. Getting ahead will help relieve you of stress because when unplanned things come up, that’s all you have to put your energy towards. It can be helpful to find out what time of the day you feel most productive. That may mean waking up early to have extra alone time in the morning or coming in an extra day. Whatever that means for you, do it if it helps you be more productive.

Practice time management

If you feel like you spend too much time on a task or don’t manage your time well, try keeping track of how long certain tasks take. When you were in school, were you ever told not to get stuck on a question for too long? This is similar to that. Getting stuck on a task will not only waste time, but it’s also discouraging. When you feel stuck on a task, maybe switch gears and work on something else. Come back to it later with an energized mind.

Taking breaks is essential when practicing time management. After you complete a task, be sure to take even a couple of minutes to drink water and disconnect for a little. It may also help to do a lap around your store. Working different parts of your brain and body helps us as humans stay energized and motivated.

To sum up, everything that has been stated so far, learning what works for you when learning how to manage your time as a consignment store owner is tricky. I have provided you with some key starting points and ideas. Use these and let us know what worked for you!

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Paulette Squicimari