Here’s the thing… you’ve had a lot thrown at you this year girl.
Chances are, your business has taken a hit due to lockdown orders and quarantine and hospital restrictions.
Chances are, you’re homeschooling or virtual schooling your kids and that was NOT on your list of plans.
All while wondering how to keep yourself and your family safe during this time.
And oh yeah you have this passion and this business you want to build – right?
The thing I keep hearing over and over again from you when we DM on IG or talk in the facebook group is … I just can’t find the time.
I don’t know when I can get it done. How do I find the time to work on my business? What are some time management ideas for moms?
So in today’s episode, I’m going to share with you 3 Ways to Create an Extra 10 Hours in Your Week so you can work on your business! Wouldn’t that be amazing?
Here’s the deal, with everything we’re talking about in this episode, there is no magic answer. You’re likely going to have to make some sacrifices. Give up some things you don’t want to give up, maybe get up a little earlier than you’d like and do some things you don’t want to do.
And WHY are you willing to do that? No really! Ask yourself, why am I willing to make these sacrifices right now to spend time working in my business? What’s your ultimate goal? Whether it’s to leave your 9-5, retire a spouse or earn enough to put your kids in private school or pay for family vacations – use that to motivate you when things feel difficult!
Determine how much time you want each week to work on your business?
This is like the VISION for your time, if you don’t know where you’re going – how will you get there? So we have to figure out how much time to create in your week for you to work on your business.
It’s easy to say, oh I need more time, I don’t have enough time. But… how much time do you really want to work in your business?
Let’s start with 10 hours, and reevaluate after a couple of weeks if needed!
If you can find 1.5 hours Monday-Friday and 2.5 hours on Saturday – boom there is your 10 hours! And you can take Sunday off!
Create the Space in Your Schedule
Most of you are moms, and here’s the truth. It’s just really hard to get work done with your kids around. Not impossible, but definitely challenging.
What is currently taking up time in your day? What are you spending your time doing? If you’re not sure, create a time log 2-3 days. Every hour, write down what you did the previous hour. This will help you determine how you’re spending your time.
Now, if you’re like most moms – you’re spending a lot of time making food and cleaning up, right? I know I sure did!
How can you spend LESS time doing those things, while still getting them done?
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- Of course you can hire a house cleaner, which while hugely helpful and will definitely get you some time back, likely doesn’t fit into everyone’s budget.
- You can delegate all the chores in the house. What needs to get done and how often? Then assign someone in the house to do it (if you have kids pre-k aged or older they most definitely can help out with chores). My kids take out trash, load and unload the dishwasher, do their own laundry, vacuum, clean windows, clean their bathroom, toilets). Yes they’re older (between 11-6) but they did lots of these things when they were 5-7 too. If you have a partner, it’s time to have a conversation with them as well about helping with the household as well.
- Meal prep was so huge for me when both my husband and I were working. Having food ready to throw in the crockpot or insta pot, or breakfast ready to go saved us SO much time. Sundays were our grocery shopping and meal prep day.
- Snacks – prepare ahead of time when kids say their hungry.
- Depending on the age of your kids, get them to help. Warm up food, set the table, unload the dishwasher etc. it takes time in the beginning to teach them but after that they can legit help.
Get help with childcare:
- Find someone to help take care of the kids so you can work, uninterrupted. Even if it is only 5 hours a week!
- In order to fully focus, your kids need to be taken care of.
- Grandparents, family friends, another mom to trade off with, a college or high school student, your on-call babysitter.
- I know it’s not ideal, but can you work a few hours on the weekend when your partner is home.
When can you work when kids are sleeping? Morning, evening or naps? Which is your power time (meaning when you work best. I work best in the mornings so it was always ideal for me to get 2 hours of work in before the kids woke up).
How will you use the time?
You know how much time you need to move forward in your business and you’ve taken then steps to create that space in your schedule.
Now, let’s MAXIMIZE the time you have to work.
Take the time to plan your big 3 for the week (this gives you direction on what tasks to prioritize each day).
Every Sunday evening (or Monday morning), I sit down and write by “big 3” for the week that will move me closer to that month’s goal or that quarter’s goal (If you don’t have a goal for the month or quarter, then I highly suggest you determine that first). If you’re a students inside MSFBP, Module 1 inside Pillar 1 – look for the lesson called “Goal Setting.”
Example: Your goal is to book 3 births in Quarter 3. That’s the broad goal.
So knowing that, what marketing activities do you need to execute each month on Q3?
- For example, let’s say 1 of the marketing activities is to run a FB ad. Ok so in November you’re going to run and test a video FB ad – that’s your monthly goal.
Then, you can break THAT marketing activity down even further into your WEEK’s big 3. This is going to be much more specific. Your November goal is to run a video FB ad – so what 3 things need to happen this week to get that done? How about, write the copy for the ad, set the audience for the ad & edit the video for the ad. boom! Do you see how that’s done?
Now that you know the big 3 things you need to get done that week – let’s use time blocking to make sure it gets done.
Because now you have the space in your calendar to work, so how are you going to use that time?
Well, the way I time block is I write down “9a-9:30a: outline copy for fb ad 9:30-10a: write 10 drafts of the headline and choose one. 10a-10:30: write fb ad copy.”
Then I know exactly what I’m doing in the 1.5 I have to work that day that’s bringing me closer to my goal.
Friends, this is constantly evolving and changing for me, but by following these 3 steps (determine how much time you want, create the space in your schedule and determine how you’ll use that time with your big 3) you’ll inch closer and closer to your big goals, week by week.
What are your next steps? Take a few moments to leave a voice note for yourself or write down your next steps on a piece of paper! A lot of people don’t value free, they’ll read a blog post like this, “Yeah good ideas!” but they don’t do anything with those ideas! You spent the time here reading this post so please take a minute or two to write down some next steps so that you can continue to maximize the time you have each week to grow your business.
If you want to be a birth photographer and you’re not sure how to get started, I have an awesome free workbook for you! It’s called “How to start your birth photography business in 2020!”
To get this free workbook go to www.taviaredburn.com/workbook Inside, I’ll show you how to line up reliable childcare, the legal side of setting up your business, how to find your backup photographer, choose your equipment and more!
