Task Management for Small Business Owners

Work Smarter, not harder

ADMINVIRTUAL ASSISTANTHOW TOSMALL BUSINESS

Suzie Jacobs

1/14/20262 min read

Task Management for Small Business Owners – Work Smarter, Not Harder

Running a small business means juggling a lot: clients, suppliers, finances, marketing, ideas, and everything in between. When tasks live in your head, across scraps of paper, emails, or half-written notes on your phone, overwhelm creeps in fast.

A good task management system doesn’t just keep you organised: it gives you clarity, focus, and momentum.

Here’s how to use task management properly to start (and continue) working in a calmer, more intentional way.

Create Projects (Not One Endless To-Do List)

Instead of one long list of tasks, group your work into projects.

Examples:

Client A – Monthly Support
Marketing & Social Media
Finance & Admin
Business Planning

Projects give structure. They help you see what you’re working on and why, rather than reacting to whatever shouts the loudest.

Assign Tasks (Even If It’s Just to You)

Each project should be broken down into clear, actionable tasks.

Not:

“Website"

Instead:

Update homepage copy
Add new testimonials
Upload latest blog post

If you work with a team (or a VA), assigning tasks means everyone knows who is responsible; no guessing, no chasing, no duplication.

Set Deadlines (Your Future Self Will Thank You)

A task without a deadline is easy to ignore.

Deadlines:

Create urgency
Help you prioritise
Stop everything becoming “important”

They don’t have to be rigid, but they give your workload shape and prevent last-minute panic.

Add Comments and Updates

Modern task managers allow you to add notes, links, files, and updates directly to a task.

This means:

No hunting through emails
No lost instructions
No forgotten context

Everything related to that task lives in one place.

Mark Tasks as Complete (Done Is Done)

There’s real power in clicking “complete”.

It gives:

Progress you can see
A sense of achievement
Proof that you are moving forward

Gone are the paper to-do lists, but the satisfaction of crossing things off absolutely remains.

Archive When Finished

Once a project is complete, archive it.

You keep a record of what’s been done without cluttering your workspace. Out of sight, but not lost.

A Few Practical Tips

There are lots of task managers available - Asana, Trello, ClickUp, and others
Free versions are great for figuring out what works for you
Mobile apps mean you can add tasks and reminders on the go
Shared projects allow team members (or a VA) to collaborate easily