Making an income while building your outcome. This is one of the biggest challenges to “changing lanes.”
Whether you have a full-time job or a full-time business (like me), it can be difficult to work ON your passion, new project, or side hustle while maintaining your current responsibilities.
But it has to be done.
So, how do I do it?
I am a crazy fanatic about my schedule. I time block EVERYTHING, and I don’t let anything interrupt what I’m working on.
Fortunately, I work by myself, so interruptions are minimal and typically only come from my team sending me Slack messages when they get stuck on projects they need my input on (which, I’ll admit, is rare.) It’s not luck, though – that was by design.
One of my favorite quotes is by Brian Tracy, and he says, “Ten minutes in preparation will save you hours in execution.” It’s 100% true. I make sure I take the time to set up projects and tasks for my team and clients so they are clear and can be executed without my assistance. It might take a few extra minutes to do it, and do it right – but it’s worth it.
I work with coaching clients on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays and only in the mornings (before noon). I want to make sure I am showing up alert and focused when I work with clients. I know if I meet with a client before noon, that’s the space I’m in. After noon, I might hit an afternoon slump or have things pop up that need addressing before the end of the day.
That said, to stay on course for the goals I’ve set, I still need to complete these tasks every day:
- Complete my health goals.
- Write for a minimum of 1 hour in my book.
- Write (this) blog entry.
- Check Facebook ads. These are up and running yet, so I had an “extra” 30 minutes in my day today.
Here are a few things I’ve learned over the years.
LESSON 1
I have to complete my health goals first thing in the morning, or I won’t do it. This, my friends, is why I have put on weight. I have been prioritizing work over my health. I see a lot of entrepreneurs do it. I’ve come to realize that if my health isn’t right, I don’t show up confidently in my business. I have to CHOOSE health. So, I have.
LESSON 2
I want everything done today. But that’s not realistic. My focus is to make sure I do my daily activity every day – those things are non-negotiable.
LESSON 3
“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion” – this is Parkinson’s Law. This is why I block time to complete projects. If I take a casual approach to my task management, I’ll find ways to fill my time with crap that will keep me busy but not move the needle towards my goals. I call this “drifting.”
If I take time to plan what I’m going to complete. I can guestimate the time it will take. Then, I block time on the calendar to do the task/project.
On the other hand, if I don’t take the time to plan and I just work from a (never-ending) checklist, then I drift. Drifting wastes too much time. I only have 430 left in this journey to reach my goals – no time for drifting!
LESSON 4
I’ve got some foundational decisions I have to make for my personal brand that will impact the content that I create, so I have to make those decisions first before I can batch my content. Could I do it another way? Yes. But I’m giving myself till November 1st to make the key decisions I need to make on my personal brand, get organized, and then I will start batching my social media posts, organic video posts, podcast episodes, and emails. Then those items will become non-negotiable, too.
So, today, I completed my non-negotiables for my personal brand, and I fulfilled my coaching obligations for my existing clients. That’s a productive day in my book.
