Perhaps the biggest hurdle that working women running a business face with a side gig is time management.
If this is you, you may feel as though every waking hour you have is devoted to your 9-to-5 job.
Have you been wondering how you will find the time to put into your passion so that you can eventually leave that 9-to-5?
The key is to be intentional with your time, which is one of your most precious resources. Today I'm sharing four steps you can take right now to get things done so that you can begin bringing your dreams to life. You may think some of them are counterintuitive but they all work. Just start with one of them for now if you are feeling overwhelmed:
STEP 1: Batch Your Time Pockets
I love to using time blocks. Begins by reviewing your day and finding the “pockets”: one-hour increments that you can use as personal business time. You won’t find a lot of pockets laying around; however, you can find time to devote to your side hustle.
One week contains 168 hours; therefore, that is 128 hours for sleep, eating, family time and side hustle entrepreneurship if you work 40 hours per week. My best batches of time are midday (my 1 hour lunch break), and early morning. Which brings me to step two…
STEP 2: Adopt a Morning Routine
Now I realize that you might HATE mornings. Perhaps you hit snooze 14 times before getting out of bed. I have always been a morning person, so it was easy for me to adopt a morning routine. During the week I wake up at 5:00 am every morning. Early morning really IS the best time to get sh*t done in my experience because you are more focused, less distracted and, scientifically, your brain is most creative during the first four hours that you’re awake. If you awaken an hour earlier than you normally do, that gives you an entire 60 minutes to write a blog post, work on creating your course, etc. Think one hour doesn’t make a difference? If you ONLY have an hour everyday to devote to your side hustle, that’s 30 hours/month … or 365 hours a year. See how it adds up.
I am frequently asked about my morning routine, so here what is working for me now:
• alarm goes off at 5:00 am and I get right out of bed.
• I drink a glass of water with lemon and ginger.
• Then, I make a cup of coffee while stretching
• I spend 10 minutes writing in my journal to get my brain going
• I have devotions for 30 minutes (prayer, worship, reading bible)
• Then, I spend 30 minutes strictly on business stuff
• I take 30 minutes to sharpen my saw
• At 7:00 am, I start getting ready for a workout and an errand or two (shower, breakfast, makeup, etc).
• Then, I’m usually out the door by 7:40 and I listen to an inspirational podcast or audio book during my drive to get my mind primed for positivity.
STEP 3: Single-Task
Whoever started the whole “multi-tasking” movement got it all wrong. But it makes you feel good, right? You feel so busy and capable! But multi-tasking is NOT the ideal way to approach work. In fact, it’s been scientifically proven that the more tasks you put on your plate, the less you actually get done! By trying to do a lot all at once, you end up completing much of nothing. Your time is just spent feeling overwhelmed while trying to juggle too many things.
This is where single-tasking comes in. If you struggle with focus, you should start single-tasking. Single-tasking involves only focusing on ONE thing at a time. I use single-tasking by first looking a what I want to complete for the week. Then, after I batch my pockets of time, I write down ONE thing for each batch, leaving a few pockets for “catch up” on tasks that may consume more time than planned. If I have 10 pockets of time in a week (AM and midday, Monday - Friday), I may plan out my single-tasking as:
1. Schedule social media posts for the week
2. Write blog post
3. Finalize blog post and format to send in ConvertKit
4. Catch up time, if needed
5. Update “About Me” section on website
6. Write outline for new virtual program
7. Plan out dates for virtual program creation
8. Catch up time, if needed
9. Begin writing detailed outline for Module 1 of new virtual program
10. Plan and schedule for next week (BIG goal for next week: complete Module 1 of new virtual program)
Do you see how I plan out to only do ONE thing during each hour of time? If I were trying to complete ALL of these things at once, I’d probably end up relaxing on the sofa watching an episode of “The Chosen” instead of getting something done because I’d be feeling overwhelmed! When you single-task your work, you’re able to focus and be MORE productive with your time. Win-win!
STEP 4: Start Big, Work Small
This step applies specifically to planning. You probably have BIG goals for your side hustle. This is good because all great endeavors begin with a dream of big change. But when it comes to actually approaching your daily tasks, you have to work small.
You may feel as though you don’t have no clue of how you’re going to achieve your goals. And that’s why you have to break it down. Start first by writing out the big GOALS for yourself. Then, explore the PROJECTS you’ll need to complete in order to reach those goals. From there, break down the projects into TASKS.
Goals ==> Projects ===> Tasks
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As an example, one of my clients has a goal to earn $200K in her side hustle. A project that will help to get her there is a new digital course that she started planning to create and launch. So she has started planning and working on the small tasks that need to be completed in order for her to nail that project.
To quote Les Brown:
The graveyard is the richest place on earth, because it is here that you will find all the hopes and dreams that were never fulfilled, the books that were never written, the songs that were never sung, the inventions that were never shared, the cures that were never discovered, all because someone was too afraid to take that first step, keep with the problem, or determined to carry out their dream.
Wow, that is a sobering statement!
