It’s one of my most frequently asked questions and biggest complaints: time.
‘I don’t have enough time. How do you make time for…? I can’t find the time. When will I have time to…?’ Time, time, time. It’s all about the time. And rightfully so, time is precious.
So as promised, I wanted to share my most effective productivity hacks and best kept time management secrets that I used while I was working full-time, freelancing, running my blog, and having a boyfriend. Now that I survived my first year of being self-employed (blog post coming soon), I wanted to refine my methods even more so I actually took off an entire month to re-evaluate how I was managing my time and what I could do to make it better. And here’s what I came up with that allowed me to TRIPLE, yes triple, my productivity in a day:
workflow calendar
I’m sure there’s a better name for this but for right now we’re going to call it a “workflow calendar”. It’s not quite a content calendar (I use one of those too) but this is a calendar for my work so I know exactly what I should be doing and when I should be doing it.
Basically I take each day of the week and designate it to different ongoing “project” I have. So for example, I’ve designated Mondays to blog posts, Tuesdays to biz dev (business development), Wednesdays to filming my #BlogWithBritt YouTube videos, Thursdays to organizing giveaways, and Fridays to prep for my clients.
Since blogging full-time, I pretty much stopped blogging, ironically. When I was still working at a day job, I was blogging 2-3x a week which dropped when I became self-employed to once a month (entrepreneurship is no joke), and now we’re slowly starting to build back up again thanks to my little workflow calendar.
Having Mondays dedicated to blog posts leaves me no choice but to sit down and execute. I have to commit to this one day of blogging because it’s the only day I have to do it and I don’t want to fall behind ever again. Consistency is everything, so putting a strict deadline in place really helps. As a blogger or entrepreneur you don’t have a boss over your shoulder telling you to do things (unless you’re partnered with a brand on a collaboration), so it can be difficult to do things you’re not necessarily getting paid for.
I can’t speak for other bloggers but most of the time I blog for free for YOU because I want to give you the most value possible. I really needed to recommit to you guys because you’re the reason I’m here in the first place and with a workflow calendar I was able to do that.
shop the look
specific to-do lists
I know you’re probably thinking ‘Isn’t a to-do list specific already?’ Yes and no. When I say “specific” I mean a really, really super quantifiable to-do list, not just a “reach out to brands”, “blog posts”, “clean” to-do list. I mean a “reach out to 50 brands”, “3 blog posts”, “clean bathroom” to-do list.
The more specific you are with your to-do tasks, the more likely you are to hold yourself accountable and actually do them. “Reach out to brands” is super vague and could work but it really doesn’t give any direction. It’s not a measurable a to-do.
What could work better is a to-do that is more targeted like “reach out to 50 brands”. This way you’re able to see a start and end to the project which makes it less daunting.
A specific to-do list will help you manage your time and keep you on track. Plus, it will help you reach your goals a lot faster.
task batching
Task batching is one of my favorite things to do and 100% frowned upon by traditional workplaces. I had one boss who couldn’t wrap her head around the efficiency. “Wait, so you’re telling me you want to check your email only twice a day?!” Yes bitch, that’s exactly what I’m saying.
So if you work in an old school corporate environment I’d probably keep this productivity hack under wraps – utilize it but don’t actually tell people how you operate day-to-day. Sadly your time efficiency could be misinterpreted as not doing your job, which couldn’t be further from the truth.
Batching goes beyond emails. It can be applied to literally anything. Going to the post office, calling your friends, doing laundry, meal prep, etc. Task batching takes the interruptions out of your workflow. So instead of working on something, then switching to something else, then going back to what you were originally working on, you just carve out a certain time or day that is dedicated to that one task.
Let’s go back to the email example, unless you have a super strict deadline that needs your attention immediately, you can check your email twice a day and survive. I personally check mine once a day for like an hour or 2 (in the AM) and my business is thriving. I 100% think not living in my inbox is the reason why things run so smoothly.
When you get sucked into the black hole of emails, you never get out. As soon as you answer an email, the person responds and asks another question and then of course you feel obligated to respond and by that time someone else has replied back to you or you’ve gotten 5 new emails that need to be checked out and before you know it the day is over and you have literally accomplished nothing.
Checking your email should be like getting regular mail. The mailman doesn’t bring you 1 piece of mail as soon as it reaches the post office; he sends all of your mail together once a day. Emails are no different. Your mail that gets to the post office after the mailman has already delivered it to you can wait until tomorrow. Most emails can wait until the next day. Periodt.
time blocking
Time blocking is my absolute favorite time management hack ever. It’s genius and I wish I started doing it sooner. With batching and time blocking alone you can conquer the world.
So in this case, time blocking is when you batch one of your tasks on your to-do list and set a timer for how long it’ll take you to do it. If you only have 30 minutes, set the timer for 30 minutes.
I find the sweet spot to be between 45-60 minutes depending what the task is. 30 minutes is a little too short for me and even 45 is a little short but I like the pressure of hustling to get it done in that amount of time.
Time blocking is basically a newer spin on Parkinson’s Law – however long you have to complete something, that’s how long it will take. So when you only give yourself 45 minutes to edit a video, you will edit your video in 45 minutes! But if you give yourself 2 hours to edit the video, it’s going to take you 2 hours. It’s really crazy how the brain works, isn’t it?
Want more productivity hacks? Hop on the waitlist for the Blogger Blueprint! The Blogger Blueprint covers everything from branding to content creation, time management, Instagram hacks, and more.
xx
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