Timeblock your way to success
Overview
Time blocking is one of the most essential tools we use in business at Brand Sugar. The reason it’s so important is it allows you to focus on one task at hand, and plan our your day so everything important gets done. Here are my top five tips for time blocking, plus a free downloadable printable to get you started.
1. Include everything
Yes, everything. That means personal stuff too! Life happens when you run a business, and you can’t ignore it – so why not time block it so you know where it all sits and can plan a course of action around it. This means factoring in things like karate, swimming, school drop off. Make sure it’s all in there, with plenty of time allowed to complete it. It will not only let you see your whole day clearly and in advance giving you more control over everything, but will also help you be realistic with your goals.
2. Over budget
When planning out your day, make sure you over budget time wise for tasks. It’s better to have a buffer and be left with a couple of extra minutes, rather than be stressing to finish in an unrealistic timeframe. I tend to block in a minimum of 30 minute blocks, and make a note of small little to dos in a separate list. I then have a specific block of time towards the middle of the day to deal with these little things which, if they are constantly interrupting you can soak up heaps of time (and focus!).
3. Do the worst things first
There are things in every business that aren’t fun, but are necessary and often repetitive – sometimes even need to be repeated daily. Schedule these in early in the day, so you can tick them off and look forward to the more creative / you focused tasks towards the end of the day. Trust me, you will love the freedom if gives you, and how it makes you feel in control of your business.
4. Inbox free time
This is a huge one. It’s important to schedule in inbox/social media free time, as went your facebook messenger is dinging, and your inbox is ringing – it can be extremely distracting and hard to focus. Lack of focus means lack of productivity, and less done in a day. Schedule in two blocks of time to check your messages and then close everything down. If you find you are sucked into the message vortex for more than two 1 hour blocks a day, it might be time to hire a VA to help with your workload!
5. Realistic To Dos
As business owners, we can be a little mean with how much we want ourselves to accomplish in a day. We are only human, and it’s so important to limit your to do list so that you can actually get it done. I suggest no more than 5 tasks for one day – with messages and inbox time taking up one of those. Slow and steady wins the race and beats the overwhelm!
