But first, let’s look at the benefits of owning a small business. Why would you want to go down this route? Is it just for the monetary benefits?

“To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business, and your business in your heart.”

—

Thomas Watson Sr.

Owning a small business comes with incredible benefits beyond just financial rewards. One of the biggest advantages is flexibility—you have the freedom to set your schedule, work on projects you’re passionate about, and create a business that aligns with your lifestyle. Unlike traditional jobs, you can adapt quickly, pivot when needed, and take control of your future.

Another major benefit is creative independence. You get to shape your brand, make decisions without corporate red tape, and innovate in ways that feel right for you.

Personal fulfillment is also a huge factor, knowing that your hard work directly contributes to your success and happiness.

Finally, small business ownership offers unlimited growth potential. Whether you want to scale your business, build long-term wealth, or simply enjoy a fulfilling career, the possibilities are endless. With the right strategies, you can create something truly impactful.

However, in spite of all these benefits, you will face some challenges as a small business owner due to limited time. It can feel like there are never enough hours in the day, and your to-do list can feel endless.

You can easily get overwhelmed between handling clients, marketing your business, managing your website, and keeping up with emails. This is why it is important to figure out how to prioritize tasks for optimum performance.

So, how can you do this to get more work done without burning out? Let’s break it down step by step.

Step 1: Get Everything Out of Your Head

One of the biggest stressors of an overloaded to-do list is keeping everything in your mind. To overcome this, brain dump everything you need to do.

Take five to ten minutes to list every task, big or small, that is occupying your thoughts. You can do this on paper, a notes app like Evernote or Notion, or a task management tool like Trello, Asana, or Slack. The key is to write down all of your tasks so you can organize them logically instead of reacting emotionally to what feels urgent.

Step 2: Categorize Your Tasks

Once you have everything listed, categorize your tasks into different buckets.

A simple way to do this is to sort tasks based on urgency and importance:

• • Urgent & Important – Must be done immediately (e.g., responding to a high-priority client email or meeting a deadline).
  • Important but Not Urgent – Strategic tasks that will move your business forward but don’t require immediate attention (e.g., marketing, content creation, building partnerships).
  • Urgent but Not Important – Things that seem pressing but could be delegated (e.g., scheduling social media posts, responding to routine emails).
  • Neither Urgent nor Important: Tasks that may be distractions (e.g., tweaking your website endlessly, browsing social media without a purpose).

Now, focus your time on what’s both urgent and important while making space for the important but not urgent tasks that drive long-term success.

Step 3: Apply the 80/20 Rule

The Pareto Principle, or the 80/20 rule, states that 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts. This means that not all tasks are created equal. Some will generate more impact on your business than others.

Ask yourself: Which tasks will bring the biggest return on my time investment?

For example, if you’re a health coach, spending two hours recording a high-value podcast episode that attracts clients is more impactful than two hours perfecting an Instagram post. Prioritize accordingly.

Step 4: Use the ABCDE Method

The ABCDE Method, developed by Brian Tracy, helps you assign priority levels to tasks:

• • A – Must be done today (serious consequences if not completed).
  • B – Should be done soon (moderate consequences if delayed).
  • C – Nice to do (little to no consequence if postponed).
  • D – Delegate (if possible, outsource or automate).
  • E – Eliminate (remove tasks that don’t add value).

Go through your to-do list and mark each task with a letter. This makes it easier to focus on the most impactful work first.

Step 5: Time Block Your Day

Instead of working through your to-do list haphazardly, try time blocking—allocating specific chunks of time to specific tasks.

For example:

• • 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM: Work on client projects
  • 10:30 AM – 11:00 AM: Emails and admin
  • 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM: Content creation (blog, podcast, social media)
  • 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM: Business development (networking, partnerships)
  • 2:30 PM – 3:00 PM: Break or buffer time

This structure helps prevent distractions and ensures your high-priority tasks actually get done.

Step 6: Automate and Delegate

If your to-do list is too long, it may be time to outsource or automate certain tasks. Many small business owners feel they must do everything themselves, but that’s often a fast track to burnout.

Consider outsourcing tasks like:

• • Managing your website – See our services here
  • Scheduling and posting social media content
  • Handling email and calendar management
  • Setting up and managing your CRM software
  • Editing and uploading podcast episodes

Hiring a virtual assistant (like me!) can free up your time, allowing you to focus on growing your business instead of getting stuck in daily admin work.

Step 7: Set Realistic Goals & Limit Your Daily Tasks

One major mistake new entrepreneurs make is overloading their daily to-do list. Instead of listing 15+ tasks, focus only on 3-5 key priorities per day.

A good rule of thumb is the 1-3-5 method:

• • 1 big task (a major project or deep work session)
  • 3 medium tasks (client work, marketing, planning)
  • 5 small tasks (emails, quick calls, routine admin)

This approach ensures you stay productive without feeling overwhelmed.

Step 8: Review and Adjust Daily

At the end of each day, take five minutes to review what you accomplished and adjust your priorities for the next day. Ask yourself:

• • What worked well today?
  • What didn’t get done and why?
  • What’s the top priority for tomorrow?

By reflecting regularly, you stay in control of your workflow instead of letting tasks pile up unexpectedly.

Step 9: Give Yourself Permission to Say No

Not every task that lands on your to-do list deserves to be there.

As a small business owner, you must learn to say no to low-value tasks, unnecessary meetings, and distractions.

Ask yourself: Does this task align with my business goals? If not, consider eliminating or postponing it.

Step 10: Get Support When You Need It

If you’re constantly overwhelmed despite trying to prioritize, it’s okay to ask for help. A virtual assistant can take time-consuming tasks off your plate, allowing you to focus on what truly matters—growing your business and serving your clients.

If you’re struggling to stay on top of your workload, let’s chat! I specialize in helping small business owners like you organize, automate, and manage their work so they can focus on what they do best.

Book a free consultation today and let’s get you back in control of your to-do list!

The post How to Prioritize Tasks When You Have a Never-Ending To-Do List appeared first on Brazen Support Services.

This is why delegation is important. You cannot do everything on your own and it is only prudent to have the right support to help you achieve your business goals.

One of the best ways to go about this is to hire a personal assistant. This is a very important role and a good assistant can be very crucial to the growth of your company. When done the right way, this hire can save you a lot of valuable time to focus on more important aspects of running your business by freeing up your time.

So what does a personal assistant do?

Duties of a Personal Assistant

A competent personal assistant can help you with the following:

1. Managing your calendar and meetings

This involves scheduling business meetings, communicating with the other party to ensure that the meeting goes well, following up on them after the meeting, as well as rescheduling future meetings. Your personal assistant can help you prepare the agenda for meetings and relay this information to all the concerned parties.

2. Planning your business trips

Since your personal assistant stays on top of your calendar and knows which events or meetings are coming up in the future, he or she can easily plan and organize your business trips. They can find hotels for you to stay in, book plane tickets, organize your transport in the other location, and ensure that you carry everything you need. This will help you to be comfortable and have peace of mind as you carry on your business.

3. Coordinating with company employees

If you are a busy professional with limited time to meet your employees, your personal assistant can come in very handy. They can keep you updated on what your employees need from you and act as a link between you and your organization.

A personal assistant can also act as a link between you and other leaders of your company if or when you are unreachable. This is because the assistant has access to your calendar and in some cases may have access to a private number you can be reached on in case of an emergency. 

4. Managing your inbox

If your inbox is in chaos, a personal assistant can be a great asset to your business. This applies to both professional and personal email accounts. An assistant can help you fix the chaos and clean up your email. They can also monitor all future correspondence you receive and organize the emails in different folders to make future reference easier. 

5. Managing ad hoc projects

A personal assistant is meant to take the load off your shoulders. This means that they can take on tasks that you would rather not spend your time on, which could include things like preparing presentations, taking minutes, improving office systems, conducting research, organizing company events, as well as managing your office stationery.

Other tasks could include providing support in your personal life, taking care of house shopping, liaising with your family and friends, running personal errands, etc. The list is endless.

A personal assistant is therefore very invaluable, just not in your business but also in your personal life. They have a big void to fill.

So what should you look for when hiring a personal assistant? 

What To Look for When Hiring a Personal Assistant

Before you start embarking on hiring the best personal assistant, there are some key things you need to take note of. For starters, you must know what duties your new personal assistant will undertake. Write down all the tasks that overwhelm you everyday that you don’t enjoy doing, then use that as a starting point.

Next, prepare a list of the key attributes your ideal personal assistant should have. What skills should they possess? How many years of experience do they need to have? What industry should they come from? 

All these questions will come in very handy when reviewing candidates and help filter out the right personal assistant to hire. 

Also, it is important to ask about referrals or reviews from the candidates. What do their previous employers have to say about them? Did they have a good working relationship? How long did they work for the other business leaders?

Another key factor to consider is the number of hours your personal assistant will be required to work every day or every week. Are you looking to hire a full-time personal assistant? Or are you thinking of hiring a part-time assistant first?

In addition, you have to find out whether or not your new personal assistant can work within tight deadlines or under pressure. How fast or slow are they? This is something you can find out during the interview process. Observe their mannerisms, how they respond to your questions, and find out if they have experience working under pressure. 

Another important thing to look out for when hiring a personal assistant is to gauge their confidence levels. You want a person who can confidently speak with other leaders, engage well with employees, and have the courage to speak up in tough situations.

A good personal assistant should also be guided by ethics and good business practices. They should value confidentiality and honesty.

Finally, you have to find out whether or not you have the budget for hiring a personal assistant. Think about the salary you will pay your assistant. Think also about any bonuses or benefits the assistant will expect. Do you have the money to do this?

Conclusion

There are many benefits of having a personal assistant. However, in order for them to carry out their duties well and meet your expectations, you have to take an active role in their recruiting and hiring. 

It is important to take your time in finding the right person who can fit into your company culture. 

We would love to hear from you. Let us know in the comments section below what tips entrepreneurs and business leaders can use to find the right personal assistant. 

The post What To Look for When Hiring a Personal Assistant appeared first on Brazen Support Services.

However, there are a number of factors that can make it difficult to communicate both internally within a business setup and externally with stakeholders. Many of these factors have solutions but are a great challenge at the beginning.

1. Language barrier

Globalization and expansion of businesses have brought with it trading with businesses from various parts of the world. The formal language used for business communication by two businesses in two different countries may not be the same and this can pose a challenge. For instance, a business manager operating in a country where the formal language is English may find it challenging to communicate with another manager operating in a country whose formal language is Spanish.

Because of such challenges, businesses need to invest in their employees and encourage the management team to learn new foreign languages. This would make the communication process easier and ultimately help in bringing in new business opportunities.

2. Physical barriers

These are the environmental factors affecting communication. They include the location of either of the parties in the communication process, noise and size of the room where communication is taking place. In face to face communication, a shorter distance makes it easier to hear the other party and provide feedback. Also, if a meeting is taking place in a large arena or room, it will be difficult for the attendees seated at the back to hear clearly what is being said. This would also lead to a lack of concentration on the part of those who can’t get the message being put across and if nothing is done to avert this, there will likely be misunderstandings.

A solution to this would be to use loudspeakers and reduce noise from the surrounding areas. The meeting can take place in a quiet place away from common noise pollutants. Also, the attendees in an arena can be divided into smaller groups where passing the message would be easier.

3. Physiological barriers

These are related to the state of the human body and mind. They include anger, stress, sickness, tiredness, hunger, etc. If the receiver of the message is in any of these states, he will most likely not be an effective listener and will be distracted. He may only hear and grasp just some of the information and lose concentration. This would eventually lead to misunderstandings and loss of trust by the other party.

A solution would be to find ways to reduce or completely do away with the physiological barriers. Stress management is a very important aspect of human lives because it affects us all and can negatively affect our business dealings and non-work relationships. Also, the parties to the communication process should be prepared by ensuring that they have something to eat before their meeting and take breaks in between if they are having a long meeting. This way they can take the chance to have some rest or grab something to eat.

4. Intellectual barriers

These include the level of education, background, and knowledge on the subject matter being discussed. All parties of the communication process need to understand each other including any words or expressions used. For instance, in a business meeting with a potential supplier, the manager in charge of supply and procurement needs to be conversant with the new technologies currently in the market and the best quality of raw materials needed. Otherwise, he may not do an efficient job on the meeting table and that may lead to losses.

A solution would be for each party to prepare adequately before the meeting and do research on what is to be discussed if something is not very clear to them at the onset.

5. Psychological barriers

These are the attitudes of the parties of the communication process. They may be biased on the speaker based on his appearance, mannerisms, race, gender or cultural background. For instance, in some cultures, women are not required to be leaders or trendsetters in business dealings, and so a woman presenting before a group of people with such opinions and stereotypes may not be well received. The message being delivered will most likely not be well grasped or may be ignored.

The same case applies to cultures where older people’s decisions are taken as the absolute truth and the right way of doing things. They can’t be questioned. Even if a younger executive has a better business proposal, the opinion of the older one is taken into consideration as opposed to the young executive’s.

A solution for this would be to educate people on the importance of incorporating the ideas of all members of the team and do away with bias. This is important because it also makes it easier for the business to interact better and forge more beneficial work relations with international businesses.

Conclusion

It is the intention of every business to maximize returns and in order to do that effective communication is very important.

It can, therefore, be clearly seen from the above points that every business has to consider many factors that act as barriers to effective communication. They need to be addressed early on. And as soon as a barrier is identified, management has a duty to look for solutions for the same.

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