Everyone’s busy. Clients often speak of having “too much” to do and finding it hard to get things done.
There are 101 books (and counting) on this topic. I have read many of them, and there are lots of people promising that if you follow their advice you WILL become more organised. It’s not really as simple as that – you have to find the methods that work for you and you business and lifestye.
I’m not here to tell you that “my way” is the best way but here are a couple of tips for getting through the week and getting stuff done!
Have a plan
The first principle is a weekly plan. If you watched my Live on LINO meetings then I referred to the weekly plan there. At the end of the week, or first thing on a Monday then review the previous week and plan out the week that’s coming. Look back at what you did get done and consider what works (for you) and what doesn’t. Are you super-productive first thing in the morning? Crack on with difficult tasks then. Do you find you have run out of energy by Friday afternoon? Do some filing or scanning or something that requires less effort – you will still end up with things “ticked off”
Set out your plan – being mindful of the above points and put in “immovable” items such as client meetings or your team LINO meeting.
I like to colour code mine with a highlighter pen. It’s an easy way to see a bit of balance in the week – and I also put in personal things – because they are important too!
Categories
My colour coding is divided into 5 categories:
“Work” – a client call or meeting, preparation for that, things like this live (and prep). The time when I am actually “doing” what I do!
The next category is sales and marketing – including networking meetings
Admin – that I can’t delegate – it might be the process of delegation!
Personal time – including exercise – if I don’t put it in it doesn’t happen
Personal development – including online courses, training and reading. I need to read in order to understand and then deliver to clients.
You may have different categories but these work for me.
You don’t need to (and indeed it would be madness to) fill all the slots. Obviously there will be time-bound slots – like meetings. Others will just be put in to satisfy those slots – like preparation time.
But DO leave some slack – you are setting yourself up for failure if you don’t!
But wait – what happens if you fill your calendar and you can’t squeeze in your personal development time, or time to work on that project?
This brings me to the second principle.
Big Rocks
The second principle is that of Big Rocks. These are the big things in your life or your business that cannot be moved. You may have seen the video – where someone demonstrates that if you fill up your day or your week with the small stuff first, then there is no room for the Big Rocks. If you put them in first, however, then the small stuff will fit around it! This originates from Stephen Covey – see the video below.
So – when you plan out your week start by putting in your Big Rocks – and remeber they are non-negotiable. So yes it might be client work that has to be done and is time-critical – but personal development, spending time with a VA to delegate tasks – these are things that NEED to get done – and if you don’t put them in the weekly plan then they won’t happen.
The small stuff can get rolled over to another day – so the next thing is to plan out each day, prioritise the Big Rocks and then leave time for the less important tasks.
One Big Rock that I put in every day is around the Do One Thing principle – every day set aside some time to do one thing which will move your business forward – that’s another topic!
If you have comments or questions then please do get in touch.