How does your calendar look like?

If you’re anything like me as an entrepreneur, your brain is going a million miles per minute knowing that the moment you get one thing done on your to-do list, there are 5 more things waiting for you. 

Unfortunately, this means that not even that first thing gets done. Procrastination, overwhelm and frustration creeps in and what should have taken you maybe 30 minutes to an hour to do has now turned into an afternoon affair with constant distractions and chaos. 

So what’s the solution? 

With so much to do, it can almost feel impossible to turn your brain off to it all and focus on one thing. 

Let’s try something. Pull up your calendar right now. It could be digital (like Google Calendar or iCal) or a physical planner or agenda. Whatever it is, grab the one you use the most.

 

Step #1: The Quick Fix

1. For today ONLY: What are three things that you have to get done? Pick only three. 
2. Now: in your calendar, block off the time it will take to complete them. Start from 30 minutes from now, because I have another quick activity for you to do.

If you haven’t read our last post The Ultimate Weekly Checklist for Your Biz, it’s time to define some of your weekly activities. 

 

Step #2: Write down everything that you do on a weekly (or monthly) basis

Some examples could include:

team meetings, expenses updates, blog post creation, post scheduling, payroll + salaries, website analysis review, newsletter scheduling, invoicing, client check-in, etc. 

 

 

Step #3: Group those tasks by category

Categories could include:

admin, team management, strategic planning, marketing (and feel free to add any other category if you have one specific to your business). 

Now, let’s head back to your calendar. 

 

Step #4: Schedule that time

For each category, schedule the amount of time you’ll need to complete those marketing tasks every week (all at once). 

Examples: 

• Thursdays between noon-3pm are dedicated to marketing, 
• Fridays between 8 am – 11 am are for strategic review + planning, 
• Mondays between 8 am – 10 am are for team meetings and management, etc.

 

I challenge you to try this method for one month and tell me how it goes. The ultimate benefit – in case you’re an “I need to know why first” kind of #boss – is knowing that you have time dedicated and set aside for specific tasks. Eliminating the chaos from your week so that you can focus on that day’s tasks only not only reduces stress and overwhelm in your life, but also keeps you more organized AND steps up your creativity. 

When you sit down and get started on content creation, you get in the flow for the amount of time that you’ve allowed yourself. Nothing else matters in that time frame. And the rest of the week? You’re carefree about your content. It’s already created, scheduled, and ready to rock. 

Just give it a shot. Just try it. At this point, you’ve already tried the ad-hoc, wasting time to waste time methods. And if you need help with this or a better idea of what an optimized work-week looks like, well… ya know where to find me; just send me a PM. 😉