Welcome back to another bonus episode today. I’m going to walk you through how I set up my week to stay focused and on task, stay aligned to my goals and my personal goals. Awhile back, I was feeling like I was always behind, feeling a bit stressed and the to-dos on my list were compounding and that’s just not a good feeling. I was time-blocking, but my workflow was still a mess. And I’ll explain what I mean.
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Full transcription available at the bottom of this blog post
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Full transcription:
Okay, so let’s talk about, about your week. About six months ago, I realized that I was time-blocking what I needed to do in my business, but time blocking was just not enough for me, what I was doing. I was finding myself at the end of the week that I was actually forgetting certain things that I needed to do in my business, because honestly, I didn’t write everything that I needed to do in my business to keep the needle moving forward. So if this is what’s happening with you, don’t feel bad. I think all entrepreneurs go through this stage in their business, where they start off doing, you know, a few tasks, a few things to get started in their business, and they’re trucking along. They’re doing good, but then as you grow and as you evolve, more things, more tasks are put on your plate to keep your business growing.
So time-blocking was just not enough for me. I realized about six months ago that I was forgetting to do things. I was feeling stressed. I was feeling that I was missing something and I felt like I wasn’t moving forward. I just felt that I was just sort of stuck in this time loop of doing the same thing over and over. So I’m going to share with you how I got out of this rut and I’m going to give you ideas of what you could do. So time-blocking yes. I think it’s key to stay aligned with your goals and what you want to build in your life. I think it’s safe to say we’re all entrepreneurs and we’re all trying to get away from that nine to five lifestyle, right? We are building our business so we can have more time with our family. We can spend more time enjoying the things that we love in our life.
Maybe it’s traveling, maybe it’s reading, maybe it’s, you know, just more movie nights with your kids, whatever it is. That’s why we’re doing this. But I found myself actually working like nine to five every day and feeling that I wasn’t moving or scaling as quickly as I wanted to. So here’s how I am designing my business. Boosting week, hands down, number one, I brain dumped all the non-negotiables in my business. What do I need to do each and every week? What is non-negotiable in my business that needs to get done to keep my business moving forward. So that would be your first step is brain dump. All the non-negotiables get a blank piece of paper, whatever you have to do, write them down. Then what I did is as I took all those note non-negotiables and I kind of categorize them, what categories, you know, I’d not only did I categorize them, but I also realized how much time would it take me to accomplish that task?
So this is what I did. I’m a huge proponent to Google spreadsheets because not only do I have access to the Google spreadsheet, I’m on my computer, but I also have it available on my phone. I have my Google account linked to my phone so I can look at my spreadsheet on my computer and my phone if I’m out on the goat. So what I did is I started a very new spreadsheet and it, I titled it, my weekly project workflow for business success. Let’s go back to those categories. I’m going to give you some examples of my business categories. Non-negotiable to keep my business moving smoothly and moving forward, I have a category for social media and content creation. I have one for personal development, learning, email marketing, Pinterest podcast, client work, new projects or courses, and then CEO bookkeeping. Those were like my main categories to keep my business going.
So what I did is I created my spreadsheet. I have columns Monday through Friday. I took those categories and assign them to specific days of the week. So on a specific day of the week, I know exactly what task I need to work on. So it’s going to keep me laser focused on that task and keep me moving toward my business goals, my end goals. So for example, what I did is on Mondays, I, that is my social media planning, batch day number, why that is a specific day. And that is the only task for that day is I know that that is going to take a huge chunk of my time blocking for work that day, because I am planning all my social media content for Instagram, and then I’m repurposing that content on all my other platforms. I’m also batching videos for IETV and reels or I’m creating trainings for my social media platforms.
I’m also updating my hashtag list on Mondays. So Mondays is hands down, my social media planning, batch day, Tuesdays, I’ve assigned it to Pinterest, email marketing and personal development or learning. I know that Pinterest will only take me a little bit of time. I know email marketing will only take me a little bit of time, and I’m also making sure that I am putting in my personal development, learning time, at least a half hour to an hour on Tuesdays. Now, Wednesdays is my podcast day. So hands down, Wednesdays is all my recording and my editing. I batch my graphics. I’m uploading it to pod beam. This is what I’m doing. All my interviews. This is what I’m doing. All my podcast pitching podcast takes me a lot of time. So I time block that for Wednesdays on Thursdays. I have assigned client work in coursework.
That is when I work one-on-one with my clients. I only take discovery calls on Thursdays. If I work one-on-one for my VIP clients, all those calls are done on Thursdays. That’s what I’m doing, my follow-up in my materials to clients. And then of course, if I have any additional trainings to, to put in my online courses or to review the trainings or materials in my courses, that is all done on Thursdays. And then Fridays is like kind of my CEO kind of backup day. So of course we know that life is life, right? It sounds good. It’s it? The workflow is a great system, but life happens. So whatever, I don’t get accomplished Monday through Thursday, I’m going to Mark it down and put it on Friday as a catch-up day. Fridays is also my bookkeeping day or any extra projects. So I set up that system in Google spreadsheets and each and every day, when I sit down at my computer, I have this Google spreadsheet open it’s in my face.
I know exactly w you know, the day of the week, I know exactly what I need to be working on. Now on top of that, I look at my calendar because let’s not forget. We are entrepreneurs to build the life that we want. So not only am I time-blocking my business task. I also want to be a very well rounded, happy person. I want to have a very well-rounded happy life. So I want to make sure that I work in other aspects. I want to work in my physical wellness aspect of my life. So I’m going to make sure on my calendar, I’m going to Mark down. When I’m going to exercise lately, I’ve been very spiritual. 2020 has, was my year that I got closer to God. So my spiritual aspect of my life is very important to me. So I make sure that I time block when I’m doing my Bible study, self-care is important to me.
So I time block within my workflow. When am I going to take time for myself? And for right now that looks like reading. I am so into thriller mystery types of novels. I make sure that I put that on my calendar. And then of course, family time, that is huge. That is so important to me. And I’m really good about setting boundaries. So I know certain days of the week where my kids are still hybrid. So they’re only going to school right now, two days a week. And then they’re home the three other days. Now, my oldest he’s 16, he’s in high school. He can totally handle himself. He doesn’t need my help, but my youngest son, who is 13 years old, he is in seventh grade. And, um, some of you may not know this, but my 13 year old is on the spectrum.
He has autism and there are days where he really needs my assistance. My help. I know certain classes that he needs help with. I don’t put anything in my calendar for that time because I’m going to make sure that I am available at that time to help him with that certain class, because there are certain classes that he just needs assistance. And I don’t want to see him frustrated, and I want to see him succeed. So that is a priority in my life and in my calendar. And I make sure that that is time blocked in my weekly schedule to help him. I also have boundaries. I don’t answer emails. I try my best, not to answer emails after four o’clock. And even in the evening, if you find yourself scrolling Instagram or Facebook, and you’re getting DNS and you’re getting Facebook messages, you guys set boundaries.
It doesn’t mean that you need to answer them. At that time. I am trying my best to not answer them in the evening because I’m trying to build a life that I want. And that means more family time, more time, freedom with my kids. So why would I answer a DM or a Facebook message at night? No set boundaries. Don’t do it. Just push it to the next day. Okay. I also want to let you know, two other sections in the Google spreadsheet that I recently added. So I not only have Monday through Friday, I have my workflow. I have my specific categories on the days of the week of what I’m going to work on. I also added a section, fill my cup because you know what? I’m looking at this every single day. And I want to make sure that I fill my cup with positivity.
So I have written down exercise, drink water, daily journal, daily Bible study, read, go for a walk, listen to music, call or text a friend. And I have in bold letters here. Be kind to myself daily. I think it’s really important to have that in your face each and every day, because sometimes being an entrepreneur can be a little isolating, especially in the world that we are right now with we’re still, a lot of us are still on, locked down with the pandemic, being a solo preneur. Yes. Working from home. I love it. I wouldn’t change it for the world, but there are days where you feel isolated and you’re not talking to people. So I make sure that that section fill my cup is in my face daily. I also added a section rainy day projects and ideas. I don’t know about you mamas, but being a multi-passionate mom, my head is always spinning with ideas.
What I do is I jot down the idea or a little blurb in the Google spreadsheet. So it’s there, it’s in my face, but I will put it on a rainy day project. If it is not aligned with my goals right now, if it is not going to help me build my business right now, it’s in that category or in that column for rainy day projects. All right. I hope this was helpful. I hope this helps you set up your business boosting week. I also wanted to invite you. If you need more help, you need more support. You need more accountability. If you don’t like feeling isolated as a solo, mompreneur come hang out in Facebook group, social media for mompreneurs. We have a lot of fun in my Facebook group. I’m always giving ideas. I go live in that group. There’s always trainings. There’s guest experts, and there’s always opportunities for you to network and collaborate with other moms in the group.
You can share your freebies. You can share your business. You can pretty much, it’s just a great place to hang out.
