If you work less than full-time hours in your business, then you are in good company today. Five years ago, when my daughter Clara was born, I made an intentional decision to scale back on how much I worked inside my business. Now, my hours are half of what they were before, but the good news is that even on part-time hours, you can still make an impact and an income. In today’s episode, I’m sharing 7 ways I streamlined my schedule while working just 20 hours per week.
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7 Ways I Streamlined My Schedule for a 20-Hour Work Week
Raise your hand if you agree that moms who run businesses get work done! Parents are some of the most efficient people you’ll ever meet—I became a far more productive human after becoming a parent. Since having children, there are seven significant shifts I’ve made to make myself a more productive business owner while working limited hours.
1: Theme Days
The first thing to consider when it comes to productivity in work is theming out your days. While it may shift and change over time to align with your business needs and season of life, the concept remains the same.
For example, in my business right now, I’m working Monday-Wednesday and Friday. Each of those days includes morning hours at work. I decide on my themes based on my workload each week to guarantee that everything which needs to get done actually gets done. I personally have coaching and call days on Monday and Tuesday, allowing me to create content and do deep work on Wednesday and Friday.
Another consideration is having an “A week” and a “B week” type schedule which alternates, but I’ve found that doesn’t work for me. Another thing I like to do is designate one or two days of the month for admin and CEO type work.
2: No Call Days
Similarly to theming your days, I have no call days. It’s so nice to have some time set aside where I know I wont be hopping on a Zoom call, or seeing anyone. On Days when you need to do deep work – you don’t want to interrupt your flow by taking calls.
It could just be my inner introvert, but I love no call days!
3: Content Creation Days/Blocks
The third consideration is scheduling content creation days or blocks. Your plate is already full of client work and admin work, so if you’re not dedicating time for content creation, you may struggle to fit it in.
I realized that some of the most important work I do inside my business is the content I create. It’s how I get visibility, share about my offers, and get organic leads into my business. I want to be consistent in this area.
4: Selling and Income Producing Activities
As obvious as this may sound, it needs to be said! The next productivity hack is to focus on selling and income producing activities for your business. Watch where leads are coming from, and ultimately where your clients are coming from. It can really help to track your time and really pay attention to what you are investing in and if the things you’re doing are actually leading to revenue.
You can go as far as setting reminders for specific tasks that you know you need to do —like promoting podcast episodes, sending email newsletters, following up with inquiries, etc. Consider the activities in your business that can be traced back to making money.
5: Outsourcing
There will come a time when you are simply at capacity in your schedule, but you still have things that need to be done. They don’t have to be done by you to get done! Decide what things need to be done by you and what can be done by someone else—this is where delegating and outsourcing can help your workload.
Back in episode 102, I shared about hiring on my own team and what the process looked like.
6: Knowing When to Wait on Projects
If you’re someone who is multi-talented and super ambitious, you may want to go after every single project and idea you have—but it’s important to know when you should wait on a project. Understanding the value of knowing your capacity means that you know that every time you add something to your plate, you need to remove something else.
This is where radical honesty comes in. Write down your many ideas and dreams and save them for when you have more margin and time. Notion is my go-to for all my ideas!
7: Saying “No” A Lot
You also have to know when to say “no,” even to the smallest of requests. If you don’t have extra time to spare in your business, you have to prioritize your workload. When you’re asked to do something, check your schedule, then consider the following:
- Does this get me closer to my goals?
- Does this align with the life that I’m trying to build?
- Would the version of me in 3-5 years say yes to that?
These questions help me decide what is worthy of my “yes” and what is going to get a “no, thank you!”
3 Tools I use that help me be more productive:
I can’t share about productivity without highlighting a few productivity tools that I love.
Toggl – Toggl allows you to track your time within your web browser. There are so many silly things we do with our time, so when you start to track your time in a tool and see a report, it will pull you out of the ruts of doing things that aren’t getting you to the next level of your business.
Time Cube – I use a time cube from Amazon to gamify my tasks. It allows for me to set a timer, get work done, then flip it for the next task—this helps me to focus on tasks, especially ones I don’t want to be working on.
HoneyBook – Lastly, I couldn’t run my business without HoneyBook! This CRM allows me to get inquiries, send proposals, schedule calls, and more—it takes the tediousness out of client communication.
If you’re enjoying the content we’re creating on the podcast and want to connect with others who are called to both, make sure you come join us in the PhotoBoss Facebook Group!
Mentioned in this Episode:
102: Ask Joy: Team Building, Delegation, & Running Multiple Brands
Connect with Joy:
Instagram: instagram.com/joyymichelle
Youtube: youtube.com/channel/UC-Ou6jRKxcjMrVMxWxLO_fQ
Facebook: facebook.com/joymichellephotography
Coach with Joy: joymichelle.co/coaching
If you decide to use any of the links above and buy through them, I’ll receive a small commission back. All of those affiliate income commissions really add up over time and help generate revenue to help support this podcast.
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