5 Weekly Habits to Grow Your Business and Take Back Your Schedule
Apr 13, 2021
If you read last week's blog post, I shared a lot about strategies to create time freedom. Now I'm going to dig into weekly habits you can create to actually take control of your schedule. These are habits that help me really dial in my focus and save time so that I am able to focus on my priorities for the week.
Every week I take about 10 minutes to reflect on the previous week. You can ask yourself questions like…
- What went well this week?
- What do I need to improve on?
- What can I do to make next week great?
Because I love a good list, here are a few more things that Thomas Oppong mentions in his recent ladders article to think about as you are planning your week, along with several that I have included in my routine that allows me to take back my schedule.
- Build a system for everything. I talk about this ALL the time but a system is basically anything that you do on a regular basis. It can be anything from writing a podcast episode every Wednesday to creating a client onboarding system to save you time. It is consistent small habits that are repeated over time.
- Daily routine. How you start and end your day determines everything. Take a closer look at what you are doing and you will be surprised at how much more productive you can be.
- Make time for high-value work. I love this quote by Jim Rohn - "Don’t start your day until you have it planned." AND then spend the first hour of your day working on high-value tasks. The ones that are going to move the needle forward. To be even more efficient, every morning get ONE thing done immediately. Because let’s face it, if it’s 8 am and you have already crossed off your most important item off the list, it feels pretty amazing. And you can carry that confidence with you the rest of the day!
- Don’t multi-task. In 18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done, Peter Bregman writes, “To get the right things done, choosing what to ignore is as important as choosing where to focus.” Do you consistently check notifications? Are you always staring at your email? Turn the notifications off and find your focus. Learn to single task. Period.
- Cut down on social media. Let’s face it, it is still a major time suck. The average adult checks their phone 50 to 300 times each day. And we tap, swipe, and click on our devices 2,617 times per day, according to a recent study. We spend more time online than we do asleep. Chris Bailey, author of Hyperfocus, writes, “Our smartphones provide an endless stream of bite-sized, delicious information for our brains to consume. It’s easy to get hooked, even to feel addicted. And most of us would prefer not to feel this way.”
This is one of the reasons I am so passionate about systems and schedules because it allows me to have a presence on social media without being on it ALL day. I even go as far as turning my phone off at night and putting it across the room during the day when I am in meetings. Then I am not prompted to check it when I have a free 5 minutes and instead use that time for some downtime to think. And some white space to be creative.
By focusing in on your routine, and trying these 5 steps, I GUARANTEE your week will be more efficient. And you can actually have MORE control over your schedule.
One thing I love to do (I talk about in the Crush the Rush Club) is a 30-day challenge. Challenge yourself to a productivity routine for 30 days. Maybe it's 30 days of limited social time or a more efficient morning. Track it and see how you feel!
Looking for more?! Check out the Strategy Lab in the Crush the Rush Club!
Make sure to share your progress with me. I can’t wait to hear!
