benefits and tips for setting a schedule for your small business

I talked about it a bit last week – how I dropped the ball a few times last month, and it was a bit of a wake up call for me. I’ve always taken pride in being the professional. Ugh. Bad day. But good news is that just the act of pulling everything together has helped me to a.) meet my deadlines better b.) get more done {like, lots more} c.) feel less stressed {can it be?}

I know this is going to sound weird to those of you that learned these lessons ages ago, but I’ve always been able to just juggle things without having to schedule stuff out. For real.  So this has been a total epiphany for me. I think part of this whole struggle can be attributed to the fact that I work from home and care for our boys. Sometimes, that means that I need to squeeze work in between things for our home and boys. (I know I lot of small business owners can relate to this, right?) When I added online coursework to this list, I was totally busted. So why didn’t I put together a schedule sooner?

 

I think one of the biggest things that kept me from establishing a structure to how I did things was a fear that it would stifle my creativity. Boy, was I wrong. Writing everything down that needs to be done, and arranging daily tasks according to a hierarchy of importance has made me focus on what needs to be done and guess what? I tend to finish my “have to’s” earlier in the day, which leaves more room for the “want to’s” that have been on the back burner. I’ve even been able to address some of the deep cleaning tasks that have needed doing around the house on top of getting a plan organized for scheduling and creating new shop releases – so instead of being stifling, it’s actually been freeing.

My second objection lay in my fear that I would spend so much time organizing and writing things down, that I would somehow lose the time that I had to do the work that needed to get done, and end up in an even deeper hole for my efforts. I’m happy to report, that didn’t happen.

So here are a few tips that I’ve gathered in my process:

1.) It’s a good idea to keep one schedule that includes everything you have going on in a monthly format. I chose to go with the google calendar.

2.) I chose to color code events on my main calendar according to the type of activity – for me, those broke down to

-personal (school events, date night, boys’ activities, family events),

– scrapbooking (I still have a couple of companies that I create sample work for regularly)

– design work (working on designing patterns, products, and contest submissions)

– class work (work for whatever current assignments and class work I have going on)

– project life (lots of catch up needs to happen on this one)

– shop work (working with new fabrics to list new items for the shop

– blogging/writing/newsletter/social media/etsy community work (more on that later)

– freelance (this is reserved for when I have specific design briefs to fill, or article/book writing work for contracts)

Sound overwhelming? It was. Ha!

3.) Really important deadlines are set on google calendar to send me an email reminder one day before they’re due.

4.) Have a separate planner to keep blogging/social media/newsletter planning in. Because let’s face it, if I wrote notes for all of that on my overview calendar, I’d lose everything else. This has also allowed me to see patterns in what I’m posting, and establish consistency. I’m able to have blog posts planned out for the month, so when I have a free moment, I know exactly what I need to work on, or write. It also allows me to post recipes more, since they require planning for ingredients, writing, making, and photographing.

5.) Use your calendar to create a daily action list. Each day I put together a list of five things that I need to get to. Having this priority list has helped to me actually accomplish work when I have a few moments of down time, instead of floundering around thinking, “well… this looks important… or maybe this?” That usually ended with my not getting much done by the time I settled on what to do.

6.) Use the Eisenhower Matrix to establish priorities as the day goes on. I can’t tell you how often I walk through the house and think, “Geez, the rug needs to be vacuumed, it’ll only take a minute.” Then I notice that I forgot to throw that last load of laundry in the wash, and wipe down the counters from breakfast. Before you know it, the moments I had free for “work” are gone down the drain with housework. Just taking a conscious moment to stop and think about whether a task is “urgent” vs. “important” has kept me on track in finishing work. And guess what? The housework is still getting done. Granted, my husband does help share those responsibilities (which is hugely important for our home!), but I typically keep tabs on the daily cleanup and meal prep. One day I’ll have to blog a bit on how we share home and housework duties.

7.) Keep a small notebook handy to jot down things that come to mind while you’re working. A lot of times, I’ll stop myself in the middle of my chosen task because something else comes to mind – especially while I’m doing something like sewing. Jot a note to yourself so you can finish what you’re doing, and not worry about forgetting. If I keep a notebook handy, I’m less tempted to jump up and address the issue, and leave my priority task unfinished.

One crazy benefit that I’ve seen that was totally unexpected? Being a bit more focused with my online activity. I’ve had more time to make meaningful connections with people in the industries that I enjoy, and I’ve still kept tabs on what’s going on around the world, without getting lost in the matrix.

All in all, it’s been a totally positive experience, and if you haven’t taken the time to establish a schedule for yourself, I can totally recommend it. After almost two weeks, I’m feeling more positive and energized than I have in a while because I’m actually accomplishing what I need to get done to be successful.