Welcome to Episode 2.20 of Your Biz, Your Rules. In this show I’m going to be sharing some of my best time-saving tips for the business obsessed, because, well, that’s me, and I’m not ashamed of that. I AM obsessed with my business. I’m invested. I’m committed.
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TLDR:
💛 When I’m constantly in work mode my health, mental health, relationships, quality of work and more are negatively impacted.
💛 I’m sharing my best time-saving tips for the business obsessed:
💛 Clear communication boundaries + limiting access
💛 Honest chats with the team
💛 Setting up smart workflows
💛 Batching tasks of a kind
Show notes:
Welcome to Episode 2.20 of Your Biz, Your Rules. In this show I’m going to be sharing some of my best time-saving tips for the business obsessed, because, well, that’s me, and I’m not ashamed of that. I AM obsessed with my business. I’m invested. I’m committed.
In the past, that has sometimes had me in the workaholic zero balance camp, but that’s not my reality anymore… it didn’t just happen though. I had to choose it. I had to decide that as much as I love my business, it can’t consume my every waking thought.
If you are in this point in your life too, this episode is for you!
When I’m constantly in work mode:
- My physical and mental health both suffer
- My relationships get chipped away at
- The quality of my work is diminished
- The amount I actually enjoy my work decreases too
None of which I want!
And my question for you is…is this what you want?
It takes a bit of thought, a bit of planning, and a bit of discipline to take time away from your business and give it to your personal life, but it’s well worth that little bit of effort. I have zero regrets about this!
Here are my top tips:
Clear communication boundaries + limiting access
This doesn’t have to be big or drastic but it does need to be clear.
The first thing that I did was to set rules for myself and how I engage with everyone around me. One really simple way to do this was by creating an autoresponder for my emails that outlines how many times I check my emails in a day, gives an estimated time for my response, and has a sort of FAQ section too.
You also need to stick to these boundaries – if you say that you only check your inbox once a day, make sure you’re only checking your inbox once a day!
I also did something similar with both Voxer and Slack. I let my team and my clients know within what hours I’m available on both platforms.
Something else that was really helpful was to remove the apps in question from my phone. If you can’t delete the app, turn off the notifications.
Honest chats with the team
I share what I need and what my priorities are with my VA, Dani, and ask what they can do to help me.
When I express to my VA that I’m trying to work less because my health isn’t so good, or because I’m feeling drained and uninspired, she is then aware that I might need more help. I phrase these discussions in a way that asks her how she can help me and support me.
In doing this, we’re co-creating the way that we work together and this is so helpful because it makes me feel like I’m not alone.
If you want to hear more about how I work with my team, listen to Episode 2.10 here.
Setting up smart workflows
Setting up standard operating procedures (or SOPs) is one of the simplest ways to save yourself time and energy on a daily basis.
It can be really easy to do – simply look at all the different things that take place in your business and get clear on all the steps involved. That is a workflow/SOP!
Examples of things you might create workflows for:
- Sending your weekly newsletter
- Setting up a new lead magnet
- Creating a digital product
- Managing your free or paid Facebook group
- Onboarding or offboarding a client
- Gathering and sharing testimonials
- Producing your podcast
- Hosting group calls
- Pretty much anything you do on an ongoing or repeating basis!
My VA, Dani, has an amazing resource for creating workflows and SOPs that you can check out here.
Batching tasks of a kind
You already know I’m a big fan of batching and you’re probably sick of hearing me talk about it now!
While I predominantly talk about batching in terms of your marketing content, because that’s what I teach in Batch Like a Bitch, the same principle can be applied to other areas of your business.
Look at your upcoming projects and tasks and ask yourself – which steps can be grouped together because they need the same type of energy, same type of tool, or same sort of mood?
Examples:
- Batch your email writing – you check in with former clients, send docs to your accountant and respond to your podcast pitch requests in one go
- Pay all of your invoices in one go
- Create quote graphics for Instagram, your new cover photo and the module graphics for your latest course in one go
- In Voxer, check in with all your clients in one sitting
- Draft the content for a month’s worth of newsletters at once
If you know that batching is something you’d be interested in exploring, I highly recommend Batch Like a Bitch. During the 30-day bootcamp, we’ll hone a content creation and distribution system that really works for you and your business, and saves you a significant amount of time each week.
The question of discernment
Be intentional about what you commit to.
We often see opportunities and get ideas that we haven’t been planning for. I’m not saying that you should ignore those things but I would recommend questioning them when they arise.
When something new crosses your path, ask yourself – If I’m saying yes to this, what am I saying no to? If you’re okay with that exchange, then by all means, go for it!
Action steps:
For this week’s action step I want you to choose one of the tips from this episode and start implementing it today. Bonus points if you come and share it with me on Instagram.
Next week, I’m going to be sharing a whole bunch of ways you can celebrate your birthday as a business owner, so I’ll meet you back here for that! See you then.
Links mentioned in this episode:
- Episode 2.10
- Work Less with Workflows by Dani Fairhurst (my VA)
- Batch Like a Bitch
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