5 Ways to Take Control of Your Schedule and Start Managing Your Time Better Today
Do you struggle to meet deadlines? Are you constantly working against the clock? Do you want to grow a successful side hustle and take it full time but don’t feel like you have the time in the day to do it? Then KEEP READING! Today we’re talking all about time management tips for business owners that you can start implementing TODAY that will keep you on track and on time.
Oftentimes, business owners are growing their side hustle alongside a 9-5 corporate job. This means limited hours to work on growing their small business and a lot of times, it leads to some pretty late nights. I remember in one of my first jobs out of college I was squeezing every possible second out of the day that I could. Taking phone calls on lunch breaks, answering emails in between meetings, I even recorded a podcast episode with Audrey Bailey (@brushandbarley) during my lunch break, which you can listen to here.
If you’re a full-time business owner, you know that you are one person, typically wearing a million different hats like admin, email, social media marketing, customer service, digital ads manager, and many more things all rolled up into one person. And honestly the same is true even for those of us that haven’t quite gotten full time yet. All this chaos can make a person feel stretched and strapped for time. So how do you manage your time well? How do you get more time back in your day?
I’m here to give your some simple tips that you can start implementing into your time management strategy today. And if you don’t have a time management strategy, then you’re in the right place! Let’s dive in!
Plan out your day the night before
As you’re wrapping up your day, get a head start on what’s happening tomorrow! Start your day before it begins by writing down the top 3 things you HAVE to get done tomorrow. Tackle those projects first thing the next morning. Don’t let yourself move on to a new task until you complete the one at the top of the list and so on.
If you are a team of one for your small biz or side hustle, you should still be putting time blocks on your calendar for certain activities! Maybe you need 2 hours to finish up a client project, or maybe you need to devote time to your marketing efforts, block it out on your calendar!
You can also try blocking out shorter increments of time to work on one project every day of the week. For example, if your goal is to start building an email list, it’s probably going to make you feel a little overwhelmed to start building that email list and finish it all in a day (ps you can’t do this all in one day anyways :).
To build a successful email list that will generate strong leads for your business, you need time to create free content for your audience that will prompt them to take action. You need time to create a lead magnet! You also need time to set up automations and this probably feels like a daunting task just reading this.
Instead of trying to tackle it all at once while you have several other things on your plate keeping you busy, aim to spend 30 minutes a day working towards growing your email list. Evaluate your progress at the end of the week and repeat the process!
Decrease Your Distractions
So much of our daily plans are thwarted by useless distractions that don’t actually serve us in any way. I’m all for a little time to scroll insta in the evenings and I LOVE sending funny memes to my husband all day long, but the truth is, the mindless scrolling on social media can easily steal an hour of my time before I even realize it. Take a look at your screen time report on your iPhone, this is a great way to gauge if your phone is becoming a hurdle to your small business success. Have you ever thought that your cell phone might be keeping you from reaching your goals? It’s true! Think about what you could do with two extra hours in your day if you cut out 2 hours of screen time! What would you do with it? Would you reach out to potential new clients? Write content for your blog? Create a freebie for your email list? There’s a lot you can do with just 2 hours of time back in your day!
Do your best to eliminate the distractions, turn on a playlist that motivates you, light a candle, do whatever you need to do, but commit to solid work time that goes uninterrupted so you can truly focus and be present with your work. You’ll thank me later!
Forget Multitasking
We are not as good at multitasking as we’d like to think we are! It’s virtually impossible for us to actually switch back and forth between multiple tasks at one time and still do them well. Focus on one priority at a time, you’ll actually get them done faster that way, believe it or not!
Give yourself the time and space to focus on one thing in the moment, and don’t move on to the next until you’ve finished that one task. Attempting to multitask might result in loss of attention to detail and careless mistakes that could’ve been avoided had you been giving your current task 100% of your attention and focus!
Create a Schedule
Map out your priorities for each week and have dedicated days for specific tasks and projects. If you’re a photographer, maybe Wednesdays are the days you edit photos and Fridays are the days you schedule content for social media!
Do something to develop a rhythm and process for yourself, something that feels good
Work on things ahead of time if you can, like content calendars for social media and blog post content
Another important component of your schedule? Creating time in your schedule for rest. It’ll be so hard to be productive in your business if you’re waking up every day feeling wiped out and exhausted. Rest is important, give your body the rest it needs before your body taps out for you.
Lack of sleep and stress can cause serious harm to your body! According to a study from the CDC, 35.2% of adults in the US are getting less than seven hours of sleep every night. Their research showed that having a sleep deficit is linked to lasting physical and mental health problems. Take your rest seriously so that you can show up every day as your best self!
Plan Your Day Around Your Peak Productivity Hour
Peak Productivity hour is a period of time when you are most productive, this might be a span of a few hours that are the most productive for you in a day. Are you a night owl? An early bird? Peak productivity is the equivalent to a photographer’s golden hour. This is when the best stuff happens!
Consider your working habits, when do you spend the most time zooming through tasks and checking things off the list? Do you feel an afternoon slump hit at 2:30?
My peak productivity window is typically between 9:30am-11:30am or even all the way up to noon. I am typically a pretty quick worker in the mornings and very productive, so I have a list of things I know I need to knock out during that time for each day, all written down in my agenda that are ready for me to tackle as soon as I sit down for work for the day.
Get Organized! Have a Process!
I don’t like to do anything without a plan! Take it from me, deadlines are SUPER easy to miss when you try to store all your details and information about current tasks and projects in your head. Create a process and plan for keeping track of everything. Start with an agenda, write things down, do SOMETHING to help yourself keep the details straight! I love to use Papier planners for my business! Here’s a link to the planner I use!
If you’re a service based business, I highly recommend keeping a document with a running list of all your projects and where things are currently at. Keep the doc updated on a weekly basis for best results. I update my document after every call I have with a client so I don’t forget details.
Bonus Tip
Remember that not everything can get done in a day. You are only on person with only so much time in a day. Prioritize your “must do’s” and accept it when the “maybe do’s” can’t get completed in a day. It will be okay, you have more time than you think you do! Sometimes it even helps me to take things off the list if they’ve been sitting for too long. I have an expiration date for certain items on my list. Once it’s been on for too long and it’s becoming more of a lag and source of guilt than an inspiration, it comes off!
Which of these tips resonated with you the most? How will you put them into practice? Let me know in the comments or send me an email with any additional thoughts at simplysophiedesigns@gmail.com.
PS…..are you looking for more help with growing your small business? Look no further! Click the button below to join the waitlist for Passion to Profit, my online course for small business owners (current and aspiring)! The waitlist is completely FREE to join and you’ll learn what the course is all about and when it launches before anyone else does!
