In a past post, I discussed how to begin creating a personalized success schedule. This process inevitably brings up a lot of questions for clients, so I’d like to follow up with some more tips on creating the most effective schedule possible.
First, get into the habit of treating yourself as the most important person in your life and business. Far too many business owners feel overwhelmed and run their businesses reactively because they allow clients, customers, employees, and “important partners” to come first.
Now that’s out of the way, here are some of my top tips on creating your success schedule:
Set a weekly appointment with yourself or your significant other to review the week and plan what’s important in your life. This includes business, family, personal, etc.
If you focus on one day at a time, you can avoid that “to-do list overwhelm.”
Practice saying no. Set your intentions for what you want to accomplish each month, week, and day, and schedule items for each day that work toward that goal. Everything else takes a back seat or will need a NO.
Set your intention every morning. A simple yet effective ritual is to get up at the same time every day, write out your top 3-5 goals/to-do items, and then meditate on the day before beginning any work.
Turn off email notifications. Set it to check your email 1-2 times daily, and do not let it interrupt you at any other time. Nothing is so urgent that it should derail your focus!
Multitasking is a myth. Do not attempt it!
Start tracking where your time is going – track for two weeks using 3×5 cards or a small notebook. It may surprise you to see how much time you have – or how much time is wasted or used inefficiently.
Consider the season you are in for your business – is it time to sow or harvest? Will you need to focus more on generating leads, client appointments, and product sales?
Remember: the basis of an effective success schedule is deciding what is important to you and building your schedule to progress toward that goal. Items that detract or derail you from achieving your quarterly goal should be added to the bottom of the list or delegated to others to ensure you are completely free to focus on your goal(s).
