Do you have a full time business but also a full time life and you never have time for anything? Are you still in the stage of building and stabilizing your business and meanwhile have a part-time (or even full-time job!) That takes up many hours during the day? When someone asks you "how many hours do you work" can you not count them and only say "all the free time I have"? Do you have many obligations during the day (maybe raising your children, you have a relative or help in your partner's business) so your schedules are always changing and you find it difficult to combine everything?
I know that you may be experiencing these situations that do not allow you time and energy to dedicate to your business. But I also know that you may have many hours available and still you cannot make your tasks productive. You feel so? This article will guide you on the changes you can make to achieve this.
So, a few truths and my advice, to guide your next steps in making the time you spend on your business as productive as possible:
If you cannot dedicate enough time and energy to achieve consistent and stable income (maybe you have not yet reached your ideal number but you are already realizing when your business is starting to function) you do not have a business, you have a Hobbie. And with that criterion it is very difficult for you to prosper.
My advice: stop thinking that "you don't have time" and look for the way in which you find those gaps or dead times that you can take advantage of to do things in your business that are really worthwhile. Start by knowing exactly what you want to achieve in your business and what you must do to achieve it. If you don't have much time, don't imagine so many future scenarios or start putting together new products for next year. Focus on what you need to do today to achieve your goals.
If you have a problem over time (and I understand that you know you have it if you are reading this article) you have two ways: Do you complain or solve it? I imagine that you feel that your current situation is quite complex and you have tried to give it a few turns. But still, I'm sure you can do something. Even if it seems like a small step or even if you feel that it is not enough, it is always better to be moving forward than standing in the same place. So start with a first step even if it seems too small.
My advice: start by making a list of the activities you have to do for your business and schedule them in your calendar. But be sure to remove the “timeless” tasks that you would love to do but have been on your to-do list for years. Decide what your really essential tasks will be, and find out when you will do them this week.
Being productive does not mean spending time on certain tasks, period. Being productive is getting the best, the best possible result from certain tasks that are strategic in the short time you can dedicate to each of them. So, if you have been reading and answering emails for 1 hour but that did not lead to any new sales or to improve the performance of your business, or to improve the result of one of your current clients, then it has not been productive. Even though it is part of what you have to do.
My advice: put together a list of your usual business tasks and separate them into three types: strategic (those that will grow your business in the medium and long term, such as talking to potential prospects, generating new collaborative alliances with potential partners, exploring new markets or products - only if you are in the growth phase, not in the stabilization phase), operation (everything you have to do with your current clients, your appointments with them, material preparation and review, etc.) and maintenance (answer emails, maybe take a tour of social networks to see what is happening). In your day-to-day, prioritize it in that order (and not the other way around as you must surely be doing today) so that you can put more energy into the tasks that will give you the most results.
Organization and priorities are usually two words that are always going around, that convince us that we must pay attention to it, but in reality we rarely apply them properly. If you start your days without knowing what tasks you should do today, or systematically without fulfilling the ones you had planned, then you have an organization problem even if you use fantastic calendars and agendas. If your day is complicated (because it happens) or unforeseen events arise and you do not know what things you can postpone without impact and what things you must find around to do them, then you do not know how to correctly determine priorities.
My advice: don't mess with huge to-do lists that never end. Define which will be the 3 or 4 tasks that you will do each day, and which of them can be a high priority (that is, you have to do that day yes or yes) or which you can perhaps postpone for a couple of days. That will be your adjustment variable if unforeseen events arise. Not the priorities.
You are the engine of your business. If you are not feeling well, if you are not comfortable, if you lack energy, if you do not have time or to breathe, much less to have a coffee with a friend and relax or to go to the gym or to do whatever you enjoy and it works for you, at some point you will fail and your business will fail. Don't feel bad about this, just the opposite. It is like a machine that works long hours a day and there is never enough time to maintain it.
My advice: also plan free time for yourself on your weekly calendar, to rest, recharge your energy with the activities that best suit you and return to being yourself. You can not wait for "everything works in your business" to take time off. You need to think backwards. Plan (because if you wait for it to arise from decantation, I am sorry to communicate that it will never be possible) and take time off to stay productive and you will see how the results are better than if you work tirelessly without breathing.
Bonus track to think: do you know where I made this article? In the doctor's office. We all have obligations, but if you really want to make changes in your business to make changes in your life, you need to start leaving behind excuses and make your day (the one you have) more productive. Dare to change what you do not like and make space where there is not, you are the only person who can do it for your independent business.
