Latest / Online Business Tips: Mind Your Time / Business Tune-up Series: How to Make Time for the Work Only You Can Do in Your Online Business

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Business Tune-up Series: How to Make Time for the Work Only You Can Do in Your Online Business · Online Business Tips: Mind Your Time

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: You've got ideas for your business, projects you want to finish, and decisions that need your attention, but somehow the work that only you can do keeps getting pushed to another day.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine having time set aside for those priorities and actually being able to use it the way that you intended without having to rearrange your schedule to accommodate everything and everyone else.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's what we're going to talk about today in episode two of the Business TuneUp series.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get into it.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Online Business Tips, Mind Your Time.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Shannon Baker, your coffee loving host and capacity system strategist.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: If you're an online business owner and too many questions, decisions, and next steps still come back to you, you're in the right place.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: On this podcast, we talk about what's happening behind the scenes of your business and the practical changes you can make so it doesn't depend on you for everything.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: So grab your cup of coffee or your favorite beverage and let's get into today's conversation.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: What's one thing that you've been saying you need to make time for in your business?
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: But for some reason you never get around to doing it.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever it is, you know it needs your attention, and you've probably told yourself more than once, I am going to make time for that this week.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: But then next week comes and your calendar fills up again.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: You have client meetings, administrative work to handle, and requests from people who want your time.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: A client needs something sooner than expected, or someone wants to schedule a conversation during time that you thought you would have available.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: And by Friday, you have taken care of a lot of things, but it's just not the one thing that you say it was a priority.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: Now, here's my black coffee question for today.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: If you've already decided something is important enough to make time for, why is that time so easy for you to give away?
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to welcome you back to the Business Tune Up series.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: Now, in our first conversation, we talked about why you can have people helping you in your business and still find yourself managing everything.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: We looked at what happens when you've delegated the work, but you're still responsible for keeping the process moving.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: And toward the end of that conversation, I ask you to think about the work that you've been saying you need more time to do, the work that actually requires your experience, judgment, and expertise.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: That's where today's conversation picks up.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: Because even when you've delegated work and you've started putting better processes in place, you can still struggle to make time for the things that only you can do as the business owner.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: And this conversation is not going to be about you going out to buy another planner or adding more stuff to your already long to-do list.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's not even going to be about putting everything on your calendar.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: Those things definitely have their place, but that's not what we're going to focus on.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to look at how you're already using your time, why your priorities keep getting pushed aside, and what needs to change.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: So the time that you've set aside is actually available when you need it for what you intended to use it for.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: Because making time for something and protecting that time, there are two totally different things.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: So let's start by talking about where your time is actually being spent and how that affects your capacity.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: Because one of the things I hear from business owners is that they don't have the time to do something.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes that really is true.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: They have a lot of commitments and their schedule is already full.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: But more times than not, the issue isn't simply how much time they have.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's how their time is being used and whether they've really accounted for everything they've already committed to.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Here's something else I want you to think about.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: Just because you have time available, it doesn't mean that you actually have the capacity to take on something else.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: So you might have two hours open on your calendar, but if you've spent the morning answering questions and making decisions and jumping between different responsibilities and tasks, you may not have the mental space that you need to sit down and focus on something that requires your full attention.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: That's why I don't want you to look at capacity as just the number of hours you have available.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to also think about what those hours are requiring from you because there's a difference between having time to do something and having the capacity to actually do it.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: Here's an example.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine you've been planning to introduce a new service.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: You already know who you want to help, you have an idea of what the service is going to include, and you've started outlining how you want to deliver it, but you haven't finished it.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not because you don't know what you're doing, because you are good at what you do.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: You have the experience and you have the expertise needed to develop this service.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: The problem is you keep trying to squeeze it in whenever you can find extra time so it never happens.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: Because extra time is a myth.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: So this is how one week went.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: On Monday, you had two, three, or more client meetings and some follow work, follow-up work to do after those meetings.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: Tuesday, you went to a networking event and you had a few administrative tasks that needed your attention.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: Wednesday, you worked on some client deliverables so you can meet the deadline.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: And then Thursday, you had some more meetings, but they weren't originally planned.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: So by Friday, well, that was supposed to be the day that you worked on this new service.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: But now you're using that time to catch up on everything that you didn't finish earlier in the week.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: So what happens to the project?
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: You move it to next week.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: And this keeps happening week after week.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: Does that sound familiar?
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: Here's what I want you to notice about this situation.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: You are definitely getting work done.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: You're serving your clients, you're keeping up with your commitments, and you're doing things that are important to keep your business running.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: But you're not making progress on something that could really help your business grow.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the starting point that we want to focus on.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: Because there's a difference between having a lot to do and understanding how much capacity you actually have available to get it done.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: So let's say, for instance, you work four days a week.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: You might look at your schedule and think, oh, I've got plenty of time to get things done.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: But how many of those hours are already committed to something else?
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: How much time are you spending in meetings?
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: How much time do you need to complete the work for your clients?
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: And what about prepping for those meetings on your calendar?
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: What about following up after the meetings, answering emails, reviewing work that's been completed, and handling routine administrative tasks that come with owning a business?
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: All of these things take time.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: And notice I did not even mention any commitments or priorities that you have in your personal life.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: So if you haven't accounted for all of that, you can end up planning your week like those hours are available when in reality they aren't.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: You may look at your calendar and say, oh, I've got some open space.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: But that doesn't truly mean that you have time available for one more thing.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: You might need that time to complete the work that you've already committed to do.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes when you finally look at everything that you've agreed to do, you realize there isn't nearly as much available time as you thought.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: And that's important information because before you can make time for something new, you need to understand what your existing commitments require from you.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, you're just trying to fit more work into a schedule that is already full.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: So now let's go back to the example earlier when you want to work on that new service and you've tried blocking time on your calendar.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: So let's say you block Wednesday morning from 10 to noon, but then you get that message and someone wants to know if you're available for a meeting.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: You check your calendar and you notice that you don't have a client appointment during that time.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: So you look at that blocked out time for that project that you have, and you say, Well, you know what?
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: After all, it's just one meeting.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: Let me go ahead and take it.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: You figure in your mind that you can work on that new service later that afternoon.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: But then later that afternoon, you need to finish a client deliverable.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: So the new service development work, you push it to Thursday.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: But then on Thursday, something else comes up.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: And before you know it, another week has passed.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: And here's the interesting part you made time for your priority.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: You just didn't protect it.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a big difference.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: This is where I want to talk about something that can happen so gradually you don't even notice it.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: You start making exceptions.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: So you agree to a meeting outside of your usual meeting window because someone has a scheduling conflict.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: You move your own work around to accommodate a client request, and you squeeze in a conversation because it sounds like a really good opportunity that you don't have space for anyway.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: None of these business decisions are a big deal on their own.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes making an exception is completely reasonable and necessary.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: But when those exceptions become your normal way of operating, your schedule starts reflecting everyone else's priorities, not yours.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: That is what I call calendar drift.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: You don't decide to stop working on your priorities.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: Your time just keeps getting redirected by other people, one decision at a time.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: So I want you to start asking yourself this question.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: When someone requests time on your calendar, what are you using to decide whether or not you say yes?
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: Do you look at what you've already committed to?
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: Do you look at the work that really needs your attention that week?
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: Or do you simply check whether or not there's some white space on your calendar?
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: Because an open space doesn't automatically mean you're available.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: That time may already be required for something else, even if no one is meeting with you in that time block.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: And if you keep moving the work that you've planned for yourself, eventually one of two things happens.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: Either you stop making progress on that, what was supposed to be a priority, or you start trying to get the work done outside of the hours you intended to spend working.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: So you end up working late in the evenings, catching up over the weekend, working on vacation, or spending what's supposed to be personal time or time with your family because you didn't get it done.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: So now a scheduling decision that you made on Wednesday is affecting how you're spending your time on Saturday or Sunday.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: That's why I want you to pay attention to these decisions.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: Not because you should never make an exception, because you need to understand what those exceptions are costing you.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: So the issue isn't necessarily that you need to find more time.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: You need to make different decisions about who and what gets access to the time you already have.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I want you to listen closely to what I'm about to say because it's going to change how you think about your schedule.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: At least I hope it does.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: Your office hours and your working hours are not the same thing.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna repeat that.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: Your office hours and your working hours are not the same thing.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: Your office hours are the times when people can reasonably expect to communicate with you or schedule time to talk to you.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: Your working hours include the time that you're actually doing the work required by your business commitments.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: And those two things shouldn't automatically overlap.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: So let's say your business operates Monday through Thursday from 10 in the morning until 5 in the evening.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: That doesn't mean you should be available for meetings every hour, every day of the week between 10 and 5.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: You still need time to complete client work, prepare, review information, make decisions, and handle the things that don't require a meeting.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: And you need time so you can complete the things that only you can do.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: But if your scheduling link shows every open hour between 10 to 5, five days a week, someone looking at it may assume that all of that time is available.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: And why shouldn't they?
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's what your calendar is telling them.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: So someone books an appointment at 10, another person grabs the 12 o'clock spot.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: Then you got another meeting at three.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: So now you've got little pieces of time scattered throughout your day.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: It could be 45 minutes between appointments, maybe an hour, and depending on what you need to do, that might not be enough time to get the work done.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: So if you need to respond to a few emails, it might work, it might not.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: But if you're developing a new service, reviewing a complicated proposal, or working through a major decision that requires your full attention, those little snippets of time are not going to be useful.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: And that's especially when you need time to prepare for the next appointment.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: This is why I encourage business owners to think about when they want to be available for meetings instead of simply making their entire workday available.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: So maybe you decide that client meetings should only happen on certain days.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: That's how my schedule's set up.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: You can reserve mornings for work that requires more concentration and then make your schedule open for appointments later in the day.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: Or maybe there's one day when you don't schedule meetings at all.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: There's no single schedule that works for everybody.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm not in any way telling you to copy someone else's calendar just because it looks organized to you.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: Your schedule needs to reflect the kind of work that you do, the commitments that you've made, and it needs to reflect the amount of time that you actually want to spend working.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: That is a decision that you have the authority to make as a business owner.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: And here's something else worth considering.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: When do you do your best thinking?
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_00: If you know your energy and concentration are better during a particular part of the workday, why would you automatically give that time away to meetings and then leave the most demanding work for when you're not at your best?
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to think more about whether or not you actually have time available.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: Consider whether you're using the right time for the work that you're trying to accomplish.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: For example, if you know you need two uninterrupted hours to review a complicated proposal and you have four separate 30-minute openings on your calendar, that's not going to help you finish it because you're going to keep getting interrupted and lose your momentum.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're constantly trying to squeeze that kind of work in between appointments, you may start thinking you're not managing your time well.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: But the real issue is how you've set up your availability.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: And that's something that I look at when I'm helping business owners identify these types of scheduling problems.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes the solution isn't to work longer hours or to be more efficient between meetings.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: It might be that you need to change when people can actually schedule time with you so that you have enough uninterrupted time to do the work.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: But we need to look at how you're currently operating before we can decide what needs to change.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: Now, here's where things sometimes can get a little uncomfortable.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: You can create a beautiful schedule.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: You can set up meeting windows, time block for your priorities, and even turn off all the notifications, which I hope you have already anyway.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: None of that is going to make a difference if you keep treating those boundaries as optional markers.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: At some point, you have to decide what you're willing to protect.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: And that doesn't mean being unavailable to everyone or refusing to adjust your schedule, but it does mean you need to recognize that your work deserves the same consideration you give to someone else's appointment.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: One of my favorite sayings is your business should always be your priority client.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: So you need to make sure that you protect the time that you need to work on your business on a regular basis.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: If you have a client meeting scheduled for Wednesday morning, I know you're not going to casually give the time away to something else.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: You've made a commitment, right?
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: Well, if you've reserved Wednesday morning to work on that new service, how quickly are you willing to move that and give it away to someone?
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: You need to look at that as a commitment as well.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's a commitment to your business.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's easier to break that commitment because nobody else is expecting you to show up.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: There's no client waiting on the other end.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: There's no meaning reminder, and there's no one asking you whether or not you've done what you needed to do.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: So it's easy to keep saying you'll do it later.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: But that work still matters.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: And if you keep postponing it, there's going to be a real cost to your business eventually.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: That new service won't get launched.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: The pricing decision that you've been putting off doesn't get made.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: The improvement to your operations that you've wanted to make to elevate your client experience stays on your to-do list.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: And you keep wondering why you're so busy, but you're not making progress in the areas that matter most to you.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: This is where boundaries come in.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to be clear that I'm not just talking about telling people no.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes a boundary is deciding which days you accept meetings and which ones you don't.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's also about leaving enough space between appointments so you're not constantly running behind.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: It even means telling a client when they can expect a response instead of interrupting your work every time a message comes in.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes it's deciding that a project you've been putting off is important enough to keep that appointment on your calendar.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I know you may be thinking, well, Shannon, that sounds good, but what happens when something urgent comes up?
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: And that's a fair question because things happen.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: Now, a client may have a genuine issue that needs your immediate attention.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: Something could go wrong with a project at any moment, and you may need to change your plans.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: But the point of this conversation is that you shouldn't not have to always be adjusting your schedule.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: You need to distinguish between something that truly requires an adjustment and something you're choosing to accommodate just because someone asked you.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_00: Those are not the same thing.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: And if you decide to move the time that you've reserved for that project, when are you going to realistically replace that time or find more time in your schedule?
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: Because saying that you're going to do something later is not the same as knowing when you're going to do it.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: And if there's no realistic place to move that work to another day, then you need to recognize what you're giving up before you agree.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: One question that I always come back to when business owners are trying to make better decisions about their capacity is this.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: If you say yes to this, what are you saying no to without fully realizing it?
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes the answer is not as obvious as you would think.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: So you're not necessarily saying no to another person.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: You might be saying no to finishing that new service that you want to put out, which will increase your revenue.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: You might be saying no to the time that you need to prepare properly for that client project.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: Or you might be saying no to ending your workday when you planned so you can be present in the moment with your family.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I want you to be able to make those decisions intentionally instead of realizing afterwards that you've overcommitted again.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_00: Now, let's go back to how your business operates because the answer isn't necessarily that you need to rearrange your entire work week or create a completely different schedule.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: So if you've been making yourself available for meetings throughout your workday, suddenly deciding that you're only going to accept appointments for two hours a week, that's not really realistic.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: And that's especially if you already have commitments that require more availability from you.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: And if you haven't been constantly setting aside time for your own projects, blocking an entire day for focused work is going to be a lot more than you can reasonably handle right now.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: Let's be real.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: So I want you to start with a problem that you are actually experiencing right now.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: If your calendar keeps filling up with meetings, take a closer look at the availability you have in your scheduler or in your schedule if you're manually doing this, which I hope not.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're constantly running behind, I want you to consider whether or not you're allowing enough time for you to prepare for meetings and follow up.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: And that includes travel time if your meetings are in person.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're reserving time for important projects, but you constantly have to move it around, pay attention to what's causing you to have to make those adjustments.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: And if you finally get an uninterrupted hour, but you don't know what to even work on, you probably need to be more specific about what you plan to accomplish.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: Those are all different problems, and they don't require the same solution.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: This is where clarity, boundaries, and structure come together.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: You need clarity about what genuinely requires your attention and how much time you need to accomplish it.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: You need boundaries around your availability, and you need to really think about which requests deserve access to your time.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: And you need structure that supports those decisions so you're not trying to figure everything out every time something comes up.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: So let's say you've decided to reserve 90 minutes every Tuesday morning to work on developing a new service.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of simply putting work on my business on your calendar, I want you to decide what you're going to accomplish during that block of time.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: So let's say week one, you're going to outline that client experience.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: Week two, you're going to decide what's included in that service.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: Then week three, you're going to work through your delivery process.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: See, now you're not just blocking time, you're giving purpose to those time blocks.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: And if you've made that period unavailable for routine appointments, you're creating a better opportunity for you to follow through.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_00: That's a practical change.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: Now it doesn't guarantee that nothing unexpected is going to happen, but it gives you a more reliable way to make progress.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_00: And it doesn't leave you hoping that you're going to eventually find a few hours in your schedule because that's never going to happen.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: But once you've made a change, I want you to pay attention to what happens.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: Did you use the time that you have blocked off?
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: Did something interrupted?
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_00: If it did, was that interruption unavoidable?
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: Or did you make another exception that you really didn't need to make?
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: That's useful data because it tells you whether or not the change is actually working.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_00: See, the goal is not to create a schedule that looks good on paper, it's to create a way that you work that supports the decisions that you've made.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: So here's your five-minute assignment for this week.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: Set your timer.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: And during that time, I want you to identify one thing that you've been saying you need to make time for.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_00: Not two, three, four, or five things, just one.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: Choose something that genuinely requires your attention and expertise, something that no one else can do.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: Then I want you to look at your calendar for the coming week.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: Where could you realistically make progress on that one thing, even if you only have 30 minutes to work on it?
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I want you to be honest about the time that you have available.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: Don't schedule three hours if you know you only have one.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: Choose a chunk of time that makes sense for the work that you want to accomplish.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_00: Then decide exactly what you're going to do during that time.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: And no, I don't want you to just write work on my business.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: What does that mean?
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: You need to be very specific.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_00: Give that time block a clear purpose and then ask yourself this question.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: What's most likely to interfere with this time?
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_00: Is it someone asking for a meeting?
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_00: Is it your inbox and checking emails?
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: Is it a client request that could wait?
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_00: Or is it your own habit of moving this work whenever something comes up?
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's a procrastination issue.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_00: We'll talk about another day.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever it is, I want you to decide now how you're going to handle it.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you'll make that time unavailable in your online scheduler.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: How about closing your emails and turning your phone on do not disturb?
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's letting someone know that you'll be available later in the day to respond.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_00: Or maybe you can simply remind yourself that this is a commitment to your business that you've already made.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: That's it.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: One priority, one realistic block of time, one decision about how you're going to protect it.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_00: And then I want you to see what happens.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: Because again, the goal is not to create a perfect schedule, it's to start making room for work that matters and learn what needs to change so that you can keep doing it.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you've been trying to make more time for your priorities, but you keep running into the same scheduling and boundary problems, this is something that we can work on together inside the operations reset.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's a 14-day done with you experience where we focus on one specific problem in your business operations and we work on making one practical change.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_00: So if your calendar is constantly filling up with meetings, maybe you're struggling to protect your time for work that requires your expertise as the business owner.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: Or if you've established office hours, but the way you're scheduling appointments and responding to messages and emails that come in is not giving you enough time to actually do the work.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_00: No matter what, we start with a 45-minute session and we look at what's happening.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: We identify the problem that's having the biggest impact, and then we decide what needs to change.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_00: Then over the next 14 days, we work on putting those changes in place.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: And we're not trying to redesign your entire schedule or, you know, overhaul your entire business.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: We're focused on one practical improvement that can help you use your time more intentionally.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: And you don't need to have the solution book figured out before you book.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_00: You'll just answer a few questions when you schedule your reset, and then we'll use those answers to determine where we need to focus.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_00: You can find a link to book your operations reset in the show notes.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_00: Now I want to leave you with one more thought.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_00: In our first conversation in the series, we talked about what happens when you've delegated work, but you're still the person keeping everything moving.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_00: Today we've looked at what happens when you've made time for priorities, but you keep giving that time away.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_00: Now those situations may look different, but they have something in common.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_00: You've made a decision about how you want your business to operate, but the way you're actually working isn't supporting that decision.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_00: That's why clarity, boundaries, and structure matter.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: Because you can have people helping you, systems in place, and a plan for the week, but still find yourself spending time on things that don't necessarily require your attention.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: And you can reserve time for important work.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_00: But if you haven't established how you're going to protect that time, it can disappear very quickly.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: So as you start paying more attention to where your time is going, I want you to think about the way your operations is actually making this possible or not.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_00: Are you creating room for the work that really requires your expertise, or are you still allowing everything else to determine when that work gets done for your business?
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_00: And that brings me to our final conversation in the business tune-up series.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_00: Because even when you started delegating responsibilities and you protect your time, there's another question we have to answer.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_00: Is the way you've structured your business actually supporting the way you want to work?
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_00: That's what we're going to talk about in episode three, including how to recognize when the systems and processes you're using no longer support the way your business operates.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_00: So until next time, remember to mind your time because your time is accessible, but it's not open access.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for spending part of your day with me.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_00: If something in today's conversation made you think differently about how your business is operating, don't stop there.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_00: Decide what needs your immediate attention and take one small step to change it today.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_00: You'll find resources in the show notes to help you keep going, and when you're ready for more support, we can work together.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_00: And remember, your time is accessible, but it doesn't have to be open access.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, keep calm and streamline.