Time-blocking your Days, Mission and Productivity
When I was planning my goals for 2018, one thing I was incredibly convicted about was the lack of discipline in my life. It seems that in every new season of motherhood, I have struggled to keep my work and family life in their own separate spaces. It's always been my hope that I would have enough time to work and that my work time would be incredibly productive so that I could freely spend focused time with my kids when I'm with them. I only have about 5 hours of childcare a week, so most of my work happens then + nap times and early mornings before they wake up. It works well, unless I spend my work time distracted - either on my phone or doing "busy work" because I don't really know what to do.
Something that has helped me so much in this area is being a member of she works His way. Taking their classes, reading the devo's and just sitting under their leadership as a Christian business woman has been SO fruitful for me. They talk a lot about discipline, focus on our purpose and prioritizing family. These three things have become crucial to me, as my kids get older and I transition to homeschooling Reaghan with a bit more intention. I want to do good work for God's Kingdom in both areas, but something had to change!
Once I got laser focused on my purpose - helping women simplify their meals so that they can understand and practice biblical hospitality - I was able to figure out what activities were really the most important.
I wrote a list of all my responsibilities - both in my business and personally. Then I separated them into monthly, weekly and daily tasks that need to get done. Knowing that certain tasks happen on certain days has been SO good for my productivity, as I know for a fact that all things will get done by week's end if I stick to the schedule. It also frees me knowing that the tasks are scheduled in, so I don't have to use precious family time to do them since they all have their own time-block.
Business Tasks
GROWTH
- reach out to brands
- sponsored content
- pinterest work
- systems work
- pop up shops
- weekly #'s check in
CONTENT
- blog
- coaching calls
- insta posts
- newsletter
- email opt-ins
LEARN
- swHw classess
- personal development - podcast, book on business or hospitality, webinar
- implement personal development
- behind the counter trainings
- meal planning tips
COLLAB
- blog contributions
- giveaways
- insta story swaps
CUSTOMER CARE
- nurture potential customers
- serve current customers
- SMP Community check in
- update The Pantry
- Innovate/new resources
- shipping
FINANCIAL
- taxes
- go over profit/loss
- plan future needs
Monthly
- SMP Community FB posts
- Newsletter written
- Social media scheduled
- SMP Community coaching call
Weekly
- Check in on social media content
- One blog post
- Personal development
- Ship orders
- Review powersheets
- Share meal planning on insta stories
- Apply personal development
- Mention free resources
Daily Breakdown
MONDAY
- 6-7am content writing
- 1-3pm finish content writing, personal development (webinar, swHw class, education), Beautycounter
TUESDAY
- 6-7am content writing
- 9am-1pm content, growth, customer care, batch day tasks
- 1-3pm continue above or learn
WEDNESDAY
- 6-7am ship orders
- 1-3pm emails answered, newsletter writing, email opt in work
THURSDAY
- 6-7am personal developement
- 1-3pm collab, financial, finish anything left undone
FRIDAY
- 6-7am undone tasks, Beautycounter
- 1-3pm get prepped for following week, home life tasks, rest
SATURDAY
- 6-7am free to choose if I want to work on something or not!
Batch Days
Inspired by Paper & Oats, I have a notebook in Evernote of all the "batch days" I want to schedule throughout the year. A lot of times there are little tasks that come up like tweaking an About page or editing a file, but when I add these smaller tasks into my daily workflow, inevitably I always go down some rabbit hole and end up spending a lot more time on the task than I initially set out to.
Enter batch days! My categories are: blogging, general business ideas, email opt-in creation and upkeep, website updates, inventory and product, community engagement ideas, product development, photography, and internal systems and processes.
I looked at my calendar for the year and planned three over the course of January to kick things off. I then added batch days periodically throughout the year. This ensures everything gets done, but that the essential things get done first, and those little tasks can be knocked out in one sitting.
