Take our Profit assessment

Productivity & Systems

Maximizing Your Time (Part 2 of 2)

by

When you first start working for yourself, you feel so free. All of a sudden you have all this time to fill the way you please. It’s exciting, until you realize that now you have to strategically choose how to manage your time. Before, you were told what to do and when to do it and this made things very simple. Now you want to make sure you are using the time you have to the best of your ability.

Over the years, I’ve come up with a few ways to maximize my time and I can’t wait to share! In this blog I talked about time-blocking and intentionality. Here are my two other methods:

Powering Down. When you’re intentional with your time and block out your day efficiently, you allow for much-needed downtime. We all need a chance to regroup after hustling through a long workday. We are just like our phones – we only have a finite amount of energy and require a regular recharge.

Before I had this realization, I had this idea that there was no time to relax and that time spent relaxing was time wasted when I could have been accomplishing something. That just isn’t realistic and it meant I wasn’t taking care of myself. Self care is so important as an entrepreneur. Relaxing is more than just a pause, it’s a rebuilding of energy and inspiration. You can come back to work with a fresh perspective that could help you expand the potential of your business. 

Systems. Setting up systems is similar to setting up a foundation for your business. Systems can be broken down into the people, processes and tools like software, that you use to accomplish things. It is an actionable foundation. To maximize your time, you need to let the system work for you! It’s all about streamlining your processes, automating your tools, and delegating the right person to maintain the system. 

Ultimately, I am here to help you turn your passion into profit. Maximizing your time is key to making that happen! Start with your passion and each building block will lead you closer to maximizing your profit. Setting up an efficient system will give you more time, which allows for more freedom. More freedom leads to more relaxation and recharge so all of your energy can be put towards making a profit.

Maximize Your Time (Part 1 of 2)

by

Time is incredibly valuable, especially for a business owner. It’s a precious commodity so we have to spend it wisely. That’s why I want to talk about some ways that I maximize my time and how you can implement these same practices into your business.

Time Blocking. The first thing you should do at the start of every workday is to sit down with your schedule and organize it in order of priority. I refer to this time management method as blocking because you are blocking out time dedicated to focusing on a specific task or set of similar tasks. If there’s something you are dragging your feet on but needs to get done, blocking out time to work on that and only that, will ensure the completion of that task in a timely manner. Focused time is more efficient than time spent bouncing around from task to task or email to email.

After years of running my own business, I’ve found that it’s best not to start the day checking my inbox. It’s far too easy to fall into a rabbit hole of emails and find that you’ve spent your whole day putting out fires rather than accomplishing tasks that are better aligned with your goals and are more urgent. 

Intentionality. Part of time blocking is prioritizing. But how do you know what to prioritize? I find that having a focus word for the year helps me determine what’s most important. My focus word serves as a guiding principle for everything I do and helps me stay focused when outside forces demand my attention.

In the past, we talked about creating stretch goals. Putting your focus and intentions into your stretch goals gets you closer to your overall goal, just like an athlete has to get their muscles moving before they start playing. Otherwise, their game objective (and your goal) will be harder to achieve. We always want to work smarter, not harder. 

The start to any time management method is making sure you’re focusing on what is most important. No more wasting time on tasks that don’t get you any closer to your goals. As long as you keep your focus, you’re on the right track.

Stay tuned for Part Two of Maximizing Your Time next week!

Want results? Here’s how…

by

Ever have one of those weeks where you really need to focus on something and realize you get busy multi-tasking (or maybe that’s a nice way of saying procrastinating)?

(raises hand) I have. Last week I really needed to spend some time focusing on studying for and preparing to take my Quickbooks Online Advanced Certification. And like you I’m pretty busy during the week, with client meetings, client work, home & family needs, a Netflix bing every now and then…you get the point.

I knew I really needed to block my time & my calendar so I could set myself up for success to study & take my exam (which in the past I have dragged out over weeks). This year, I was determined to drop the drama and stress over taking the exam.

Want to know what (and how) I passed the advanced certification on the first try? The first thing I did was to block out my calendar.  Like really block out time. No taking any unexpected or unnecessary meetings.  And then I went a bit further.  I set time aside within each block to actually study for the exam. Then I blocked off Friday to take the exam. 

Whew! Let me be honest here…actually blocking of the time to study and blocking off the actual time to take the exam made it feel real!  And I felt a relief knowing I’d set aside real time I was going to need. Because I’d blocked out my time, I had enough time to gather all the materials I needed, time to actually do the studying, and when I sat down to take the exam, I felt confident.

And I passed the exam on the first try! I’ll pause here to say I’m super proud of myself and excited that I was able to know this giant, looming, scary task off my to-do list.

“Congratulations on passing your certification exam, Michelle! That’s great. But…how does that help me focus in my business?” I’m so glad you asked. The focus I needed to study and pass that exam is the same focus you need in your business.  If there’s something you want to accomplish in your business (whether it be finishing a course, getting your content prepped for the month ahead, reaching out to those prospective leads), you need to block out that time.

Literally. Look at calendar for the week and block out time each day (or a whole day if that works better for you) to get that task accomplished. Then set reminders for 15 mins before that schedule time.  When the reminder pops up, finish up whatever you’re doing at the moment, gather whatever you need to complete the task, take a few deep breaths…and get your focus on!

Follow us for more empowering expert financial and business advice, delivered weekly!

Youtube Instagram Facebook Linkedin

Get in Touch: 269.359.0590

© 2021 Mitchell Consulting. All Rights Reserved