If you’re like me, there are so many things you want to get done, but somehow, they get put on the back burner.
Most business spend their time serving their clients, and putting them first- which is great. But it leaves little time to work on your own business, even when you know there are things you want to get done. From streamlining your processes to cleaning out a file cabinet, these tasks often get pushed aside while we focus on our clients needs.
I recently made it a point to get to a couple of these things (this blog being one of them). Still, I was getting distracted with other things I needed to get done.
How can I ensure I set time aside for myself, and for my own business so that I can start knocking things off this list?
For me, the answer was actually pretty simple once I put my mind to it.
I organize my day using my Google Calendar. It keeps track of my meetings, phone calls I need to make, the kid’s schedule and everything else. I’ll typically add my tasks to it as they come up during the week, and spend Saturday morning making sure my next week is all lined up and ready to go so I can check out for the rest of the weekend knowing that when I get to my desk Monday morning everything will be lined up and organized.
That brings me to this simple solution.
To make sure I make time for these tasks, I’ve made an appointment with myself for thirty minutes every workday.
Most of them don’t even take that much time- it’s just making the time to make sure they happen.
So on Saturday morning, when I’m getting myself organized for the upcoming week, I schedule in at least 30 minutes a day for my own projects. This time gets blocked off my calendar, and the appointment even gives me an alert on my phone. When a client wants to schedule a meeting, that time is already blocked off my calendar, and that visual reminder helps me stay on track.
Some of the bigger tasks that I know will take more than 30 minutes are the toughest. I can give up thirty minutes of my day, but I find it hard to give up more than that. This usually makes these longer tasks even harder to get started.
But I’ve found that once I start them, they usually take less time than I think, and I can break it up across several days.
The hardest part is just getting started.
The truth is, when you can cross off all these things from your list, you’ll be more productive, more present, and give better service to your clients. It’s amazing the psychological effects even small accomplishments can have on your attitude and outlook.
So whether you schedule your day around an online calendar, or still go the pen and paper route, make sure to take some time for yourself and your own business each day.
What things are you trying to accomplish? If this hack helps you, drop me a line in the form below, I’d love to hear your thoughts!
P.S. – This post was a scheduled task in my calendar, time to cross it off my list and start my day feeling accomplished.
