You’ve heard the motivational quotes and read many How-To articles or books about productivity. If one more person quotes Churchill “If you plan to fail, you fail to plan, ” you may scream.
Hate to burst your bubble, but it’s true. And I fight conformity and schedules like a toddler at bedtime so for me to tell you there is FREEDOM in scheduling and preparing, there has to be something to it.
Failing To Make A Plan
Building your business takes some serious planning especially if you work a day job. You can make all the To-Do lists you want but if you have no clear plan of what to do and when or, even worse, do not execute your To-Do list, your plan will fail.
“I don’t like a schedule. I enjoy my flexibility.” Well, I hope you enjoy working for someone else, then.
I’m not only referring to setting aside a block of time each night to “work on your business.” That’s too vague. Do you have a clear strategy that gets -ish done and creates momentum in your business? Are you executing the right projects – revenue generating tasks – that will bring in real paying clients or customers? That’s a strategy.
Sunday Strategy Day
I use a project management approach to my business treating myself as a client. Well, as far as workload goes. Working in big time chunks, or sprints, project goals are mapped out in 30-60-90 day time frames. Then, I work backward to plan out what needs to be done monthly, weekly, and daily. This is a core principle in my marketing strategy – knowing what to do when to create the most impact.
Each week I look back and determine what worked and what didn’t. What do I need to move to next week and what needs to be done right now. This includes tasks I can delegate to a virtual assistant, contractor, other outside resource and what I personally must do.
Some people plan their week the Friday prior or on Monday morning. On Friday, I am MENTALLY DONE with the week and ready to spend time with my family. Waiting until Monday seriously stresses me out leaving me feeling behind schedule already. Trello, an online project management program, helps me keep track of each project status so I don’t have to keep all the gnarly bits of info in my head.
Gain insight by reflecting on what worked and what didn’t each week.
I choose Sunday evening to plan out the coming week based on my overall 90-day sprint goals.
Armed with my personal schedule, each Sunday night I plan out my week based on my priorities and available time frames. The priorities were previously set when I mapped out my goals. now it’s a matter of using my knowledge and experience to plug those into my calendar making sure I dedicate time, energy and money to revenue generating tasks that will create real momentum in my business.
As you move through this week ask yourself a few questions:
- When am I most productive?
- What do I really want to accomplish in this time frame?
- How can I break this down into bite-sized pieces?
- How much time do I really have to work on this project?
- How much time should it take (if I turn off GOT and all my notifications)?
- What are my high priority revenue generating tasks?
- What worked or didn’t work last week that I can correct this coming week?
You don’t have to suffer through another week of overwhelm.
Taking some time to schedule out your goals relieves stress and guilt. You can free up your mind for more creative, fun activities. You’ll discover FREEDOM in scheduling your own time, opening up more time for your family, friends and maybe even a girlfriend spa day!
If you’re struggling with your messaging or setting your 30-60-90 goals, reach out to me. Schedule a free 30-minute consultation with me to get some answers to your questions and see if you’re on the right track. Send me a note here.
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–
If you find these helpful or have additional tips to share, I’d love to hear from you. Like my Facebook business page and drop me a line!
If you purchase anything through a link in this article, you should assume that I have an affiliate relationship with the company providing the product or service that you purchase, and that I'll be compensated in some small way at no extra cost to you.