One question I get asked often is how do I structure my week in order to get everything done + tackle goals for growth along the way! I completely understand how hard it can be to try to work in your business while also growing your business at the same time, while also not falling behind! It is honestly quite the balancing act at times.

I have tried so many different tips over the years but here are the 6 that have worked the best for me when it comes to finding some balance and a little extra productivity along the way

 

1. I don’t answer emails first!

I used to wake up and check emails almost immediately but once I stopped I found that I was way less stressed and was able to stick to my to-do list before jumping down the rabbit hole of emails! We all know how one email can derail the entire day – so this allows me to make sure maybe only an hour will get derailed AFTER my bigger work gets done.

 

2. I try to only touch things once!

What this means is, I try my hardest to finish something as soon as I start it to avoid build up of half done projects!
If I started editing a session – I finish it before doing something else!
If I am proofing a blog posts – I don’t stop to answer an email!
If I am working on emails – I don’t stop to respond to instagram messages!

I stay in the task at hand as best as I can until it is done and I can mark it off the list!

 

3. I write down 1-3 bigger tasks that need to get done that day!

Now I say 1-3 because some days I will have 3 small but important tasks, two medium sized tasks, or maybe on big task that will take 3-4 hours to accomplish. No matter the number, I write those tasks on a sticky note and put it at the bottom of my desktop screen so I can see it in front of me as motivation to keep focused! – Plus it feels good to remove a sticky note and toss it in the trash because that job got accomplished!

Once these tasks are accomplished, I hit my inbox or other daily small tasks!

 

 

4. I give myself a time limit for tasks!

I know about how long each task I need to do should take and I try my hardest to stay in that time limit in order to keep me moving along. Some people use timers and set the timer in order to keep them motivated, I personally just watch the clock and keep a check on how much time I am spending. If you need an extra boost though, I recommend a timer or stopwatch!

 

5. I allow myself to work when I work best!

Now here’s the thing, I DO NOT do good with schedules – like at all! I can’t get up and start working at 8am, work until lunch, then work again until dinner and call it quits. I sadly just don’t work like that! In fact, I’m not productive business wise until usually 10am. I know it sounds crazy but that is usually when my work starts. Plus, I am a huge night owl and can stay up crazy late to work – When my husband is out of town I am known to stay up until 2 or 3am and knock out days worth of work in hours! Because of my night owl ways, I tend to work a lot at night because it is when my creativity flows and I am able to really focus in on tasks!

My typical days look like –
Personal time in the morning ( running errands or doing stuff around the house )
Then I start working between 10-10:30 am and knockout 1-2 big tasks on my list before lunch.
I take a break for lunch before diving back into my final big task + my smaller daily tasks ( email, check my FB group, social media messages, ect )
Then I break for dinner before heading back and working until around 8pm

This is a HUGE piece to the puzzle for me because if I were to force myself to work within set hours I would be miserable and not able to be creative! Allowing myself flexibility to work when I feel my best to do it and allowing myself to have some “me time” first every day allows me to get started on the right foot and helps me stay creative!

 

6. Some days are dedicated to ONE thing!

For a while I had my schedule set up to accomplish specific tasks on specific days – like editing happened on Monday, Blogging happened on Tuesday, Wednesday was editing again, Thursday was project day, and Friday was my “catch up” day. This worked SO well when I was trying to figure out how to batch my work and make big strides in my business! While I don’t necessarily use this approach anymore, it was a huge help for me and one that I recommend other’s trying!

 

You don’t need to implement #allthethings in order to be productive but grabbing one or two of these tips will allow you to work smarter and faster to accomplish more on a daily basis!

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