Time: one of those things we’d all love more of, something that gets away from us, something that needs to be used wisely.
Really when you think about it, we all get the same amount of hours in the day, minutes in the hour (though I feel like because im a twin mum, I only get half the time everyone else gets!). It’s definitely a challenging juggle having to run a fulltime successful business from home, while also running a home, and bringing up 3 gorgeous kids! I quite often get told that what I do is AMAZING, but really, it comes down to the way our time is managed. Here’s 3 of my best time management tips, use them as you will, and make sure you drop over to my Facebook page to tell me all about it!
1) Start early – you may or may not be an early riser, but I know that when I get up early, my day runs soooooo much better than it would have if I had of rushed out of bed at 7.30am to get kids out the door in an hour (they know mum is stressed and they play on it, im sure of it!!!). I try to start my day at 5am of which I work on DEVELOPING STUFF FOR MY BUSINESS until 7am. If you’re going to make that Investment of time, use it to build something that relates directly to you and a better future. Mornings are when I am the freshest, and really I feel like I get 3 hours work done in that time. Its my peak time. So if your peak time is nights, then set 2 hours aside to work on and build you!
2) Time block your time – i’ve taken this very seriously in the past and time blocked every hour of my day to ensure I got everything done. But in the most general sense, I block out periods of time that are designated for work. You cant run and grow a business without time and dedication. You cant get your work done, if you have people dropping in all the time! So, my routine for the last few years has been, Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, my boys were in childcare (my daughter in school). On those days I would ONLY WORK. I would not have lunches and coffees with friends, attend events, or do anything but work on those days. If you want to know more about Time-blocking, click here.
3) Learn to Say No – as much as id like to, id love to help everyone, do everything, be all things to all people. But ive had to learn to SAY NO, time and time again. It’s scary but liberating. I am only one person, my kids have only one mum, there are only one lot of 24 hours in my day. I AM SUPERWOMAN to a degree, in the things I choose. What have I said no to recently?
NO to jobs that will take longer than I am willing to charge the hours for.
NO to driving friends and family around town
NO to trying to do things that don’t really fit within what im doing because someone else wants me to do it
NO to things that frustrate me (like HTML!)
NO to giving away my time for FREE
NO to turning my house into a childcare centre so everyone else can work
NO to…. you get it right? What can you say NO to in order to SAY YES to a better routine now and future later? Feel bad about saying NO? Other people around you say no to things all the time, successful people, choose what and when their attention is focused on what and when. It’s not NO forever, or NO to everything at all times, if might just be NO for now. Does it make me a bad person, no just a more focused one. Only you know best!
