Being your own boss for the first time can often mean that your week lacks structure. No one telling you what to do and often very few “real” deadlines that you have to meet.
That can leave you with a rather blank looking schedule leading to a feeling of stress and “paralysis” as to what to do and when to do it.
This is something many of my clients face when starting out on their own.
There are many advantages to planning your week aside from giving it structure. You will feel more in control, your productivity levels will rise and you will be more focused. So I wanted to share some basic tips that could help you which are broadly based around time blocking.
Here's what to do...
It is important to set yourself goals to ensure you and your business are always moving forwards. Make them your focus. Then, before you start your week, write down a list of things that you need to get done over the coming week.
This may include;
🔸 Tasks that need to be done on a regular basis e.g. answering emails, engaging with social media, general admin.
🔸 Tasks that are ongoing e.g. work related to marketing your business/moving it forwards e.g. networking, having calls with clients, creating content.
🔸 New tasks - e.g. researching a new offering, preparing for a presentation
🔸 Personal/professional development e.g. reading a book/listening to a podcast
🔸 Family/friends time; e.g. meeting friends for lunch, being around for children.
🔸 You time: anything that you need to do that’s good for your health and wellbeing. That includes time to eat!
Next;
🔸 Take a look at your list and see if anything is time specific or non-negotiable and put that straight in your diary.
🔸 Next to each of the remaining tasks, decide how much time you will need to spend each day / over the week.
🔸 Consider how you work best and which times of the day are better for your “creative work” versus the more mundane tasks that require less brain power. Apply to your list.
🔸 Consider which tasks you might find exhausting (either physically or mentally) and whether you need to have a buffer around them.
🔸 Finally, block out chunks of your days/week according to the tasks you have identified, and the best times of the day to do them.
🔸 It may be that you prefer to be less specific and want to simply block out 3 hours, twice a week for marketing. That’s fine too.
Above all be prepared to be flexible...life happens! There may be some days where for whatever reason you cannot do what you had planned to do. That is fine and be okay with that. You’ll simply look at the rest of your week and juggle things around…or decide that something will have to move into the following week.
I’ve seen this strategy work with so many of my clients so I’m hoping it can help you too!
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