If you were to look back into my life 1 year ago, it was pretty chaotic. I had no real plan, no schedule, no clear intentions. I was just doing the things to stay busy. I thought “busy” was my key to being successful. I had it all wrong. All I was doing was creating more stress for myself, more “busy” work and less time with my kiddos. The constant tug-a-war was happening in my life between work and business. Can any of you relate? If this is you, then keep listening.
This is Episode 3: All about TIME BLOCKING and how it can help you balance work and family!
I get it mamas! We have dreams and goals and we want to do ALL THE THINGS to be super successful, or at least we feel we have to do all the things. Before we can create the habit of time blocking, it’s important to PRIORITIZE what’s best for our business. So ask yourself these three questions:
- Is this making me money right now?
- Is this expanding my brand or mission directly?
- Does this bring me joy?
If none if those are a yes, don’t do it! Prioritize the stuff that you can answer all three with a yes!!!
Now I know what you’re thinking….I want to do things down the road. GREAT! Create a long-term vision board for your business and add it to the list. It doesn’t need to be resting on your shoulders now.
Now that your priorities are set, let’s get to TIME BLOCKING!
First and foremost, if you want to alleviate stress and take back control over your existence, then you MUST purchase a planner! And not just a calendar that hangs on your wall or use your calendar in your phone; legit, a real 8.5 x 11 paper planner to write in. (I’m an old soul so grab that pencil.)
I use a Tools4Wisdom planner and I love it.
Ok, so remember those goals that you prioritized! It’s time to break them down. So let’s break down your number one priority that you want accomplished before the end of the year.
First step is to break down that goal into monthly actionable steps. This is what we call reverse engineering….start at the end of the year with your accomplished goal and work backwards to figure out the steps to accomplish the goal.
For each monthly action step, break that step down into 4 weekly tasks. And remember, you’re writing all these goals, action steps and tasks in your planner to keep yourself accountable!
I like to work in what I call, POWER HOURS. I schedule (or for today’s podcast topic, TIME BLOCK) my tasks in 1-2 hour windows spread out in the week that works around my family. See what I said there, “works around my family!” Setting up your business to work around your family and not the other way around will make you and your family a lot happier.
For each week, I look to see what’s going on in my life (school stuff, sports, appointments, etc.) and I fill it in my planner. Then I add power hours throughout the week, only focusing on 1-2 major business tasks. One week I might schedule writing captions and batching a couple blog posts. Then the next week I might schedule 1-2 photo shoots and a podcast interview.
This is TIME BLOCKING…taking year end goals, breaking them down to monthly actionable steps, then chucking them into weekly tasks and scheduling it in your calendar. Sound simple, because it is!
Having a clear plan and a method for breaking down your goals will set you up for success and help you enjoy the process as well. Of course, real life does get in the way, so if something in your planner doesn’t get done, it’s OK! Give yourself grace, move it somewhere else and move on. We are human, not SUPERMOMS.
Thanks for listening!
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