By Bailey Frumen, MSW, LCSW ~Recently, I was contacted on two separate occasions to be interviewed for being an entrepreneur. The inevitable question came around both times, “What’s the ONE THING that has made you successful entrepreneur?”
My answer: Time Management.
When I first started my business, I was eager to have my hand in every element of it. I wanted to learn marketing, graphic design, webmastering, webinar hosting—you name it and I was hungry to learn it all. As time wore on, I convinced myself that I had to do it all. Because I had invested so much time and resources into educating myself, I had to be every part of my business.
While that belief had served me well to get started, it wasn’t what was going to take me to the next level in my business. So what did that mean?It meant that I had to get very clear about a few things…
…how did I want to spend my time…
…what did my big vision look like…
…what aspects of my business were in my zone of genius (vs. not)…
And while some of these questions seemed easy, there were definitely hard questions that I was faced with as well…
…what did it really mean to play bigger…
…who would I delegate to…
…was this next level going to cost me more than I brought in?
Ultimately, it came down to 2 big things:
First—My mindset & vision—I needed to figure out what I wanted and believe that I had the ability to make it happen…
and
Second—Time Management—getting out of my own way meant owning my time.
Do you ever wish that you had 36 hours in a day? Do you often feel like you are running around putting out fires instead of consistently moving forward in your business?
Here are 3 tips to point you in the right direction when it comes to time management.
1. Time Blocking: Get clear about your time. When do you want to start and end your workday? When you get clear about the time you have to spend then you will be more conscientious about how you spend your time rather than feeling our time falling through the hour-glass. Buy a planner or use an online calendar system, figure out a system that works best for you and commit to scheduling out how you want to spend your time.
2. Create Clear Boundaries: Ever find yourself calling clients after dinner or checking your inbox right before bedtime? Then it’s time to get clear about how you want to spend your time. After choosing a system for time-blocking, be sure to first put on the calendar your time for self-care, exercise, and socialization BEFORE you put your work schedule on the calendar. This helps us to remember why we are working so hard and what we most want to focus on in creating our life balance.
3. Success Happens in The Planning: Planning our day turns into living our life. Do you want to just be going through the motions or do you want to be moving the dial forward to creating a lifestyle you love? Most people have success when they are able plan ahead. Start by looking ahead at the week that lies before you. As you become more comfortable with planning , start to work toward a bird’s eye view by looking at your month or year ahead.
Just remember, your time is valuable. If you value & respect your time, others will also value & respect your time.
Next steps: Are you ready to take your time management to the next level?
Do this now:
Grab a notebook and record how you spend your time for the next 3 days—from the time you wake up until the time you go to sleep—break down how you are using your time.
After completing your time journal, book a 20 min consult coaching time to connect with our team—it’s important to have a sounding board to help you identify if you are effectively utilizing your time or if there are times when you are giving away your time (and why that’s happening)
Are you ready to figure out what’s holding you back? I would love to see how I can help. Click below to speak with my team and find out how you can make a shift in your life.