Make Your Dream Schedule a Reality
PRODUCTIVITY HACKS
So…you recently left your 9-5 to pursue your passion and start your own business.
You’re imagining yourself working on patios in the summer, and sippin’ on cocktails on luxurious vacations whenever you feel like it...right?
You get about two months into working on your business full-time and finally reality starts to set in. You barely have enough time to brush your teeth in the morning, how did you ever think you were going to have enough time to plan a vacation, or even a break!?
This dream lifestyle you envisioned just isn’t happening for you and you start to feel like you’re never going to get there.
It happens to the best of us, and truthfully I was in your shoes not too long ago. To put it lightly - I was drowning. I didn’t have any time or motivation to work on new proposals, or put time and effort into looking for new opportunities. Heck, some days I even forgot to shower, or go outside - true story, folks.
I’ve put together this blog post to help you - the freelancer, the business owner, the solopreneur that does it all without asking for help. You don’t need to do everything on your own, and it’s okay to ask for help. You’ll find a step-by-step guide below to help you take control of your business and realize how you can save yourself from drowning in your to-do list.
STEP 1
Try to take a break to reflect if you can - you deserve it!
Since I realized I had no time in my schedule to manage these tasks, I knew I had to make time.
Think of this as an investment in yourself, and your business. When I first made the decision that I was going to take two weeks off, I was completely plagued by worry and anxiety. How would I book clients for the next quarter? Would my existing clients be worried about me taking a break, and pull out of projects?
No and no, to both of those answers. The result of taking a break actually doubled my monthly profits. Once you gain clarity on your business needs, I promise you’ll be rewarded.
Can’t afford to take two weeks off? I get it. Everyone’s financial situations are totally different and maybe you don’t feel like you can take a whole two weeks off. If this is the case for you, try carving out a day, or even a few hours to allow yourself to get reorganized and gain clarity. I can almost guarantee you’ll save yourself more time in the long run.
STEP 2
Start analyzing how you spend your time
Two weeks before I decided I was going to take a break, I started really analyzing my time. I track all my time in Toggl, and it was truly an eye-opener to see the things I was spending time on, and what tasks weren’t getting enough TLC.
I realized I wasn’t spending nearly enough time on the things that were important to me, like taking long walks in the park with my doggo Lilly, making nutritious meals for the week, spending time with my partner, exercising - basically all the things that make you a human being. I was a business-owner machine.
STEP 3
Make a big, fat list of all your tasks
If you don’t use a time-tracking app that does all of this for you, then you can use pen and paper to start jotting down what things are keeping you busy throughout the day. Here are a few examples of tasks and to-do’s that are on my daily to-do-list:
Checking and Responding to Emails
Social Media Engagement
Posting on Social Media
Working on Client Projects
Managing Clients
Bookkeeping
Cooking a Healthy Meal
Exercising
Forward-Planning/Business Development
STEP 4
Analyze your task list and make time for things that have a purpose
Now that you’ve made your big, fat list of all your tasks, grab a coloured marker and start circling tasks that you feel good while doing. I like to circle these in a green marker to visually see all my feel-good to-do’s.
Now, take a different coloured marker and start circling all the tasks that you don’t feel good about while doing. These are what I now call, icky tasks.
Now, take a different coloured marker and put a star beside the tasks that you could outsource or automate.
Then, make a separate list of the things that you’re NOT doing, but you’d like to start. I like to prompt this response by asking the following;
What would be one thing that you could do every morning that would set you up for an awesome day?
What is one thing that would make you a lot happier if you added it to your daily schedule?
What is one thing that would make your client process easier if you added it to your schedule?
You should now have four lists; a feel-good task list, an icky-task list, a list of your tasks that could be outsourced or automated, and a new task list of things that you’re not doing, but would make your day a million times better.
STEP 5
Start scheduling your ideal workweek
The key to scheduling is blocking off enough time to get everything done. I like to break things down on a weekly basis, so I started envisioning my perfect week. You can use any calendar app to track this - my personal favourite is the Google Calendar.
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