Planning-Organization-Productivity Archives - Page 11 of 27 - Miss Task

Manage the Busy: Productivity Tips for Moms and Wellness Coaches

by Michele | Planning-Organization-Productivity

As a health and wellness coach, you're no stranger to the constant juggling of family, endless to-do lists, and running your own business. It's easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of busyness, feeling like you're always running a million miles per hour. When a friend asks what you've been up to, you might automatically reply, “Oh, you know, just busy with family and growing my coaching practice. Everything's going great, but it's pretty crazy!” Sound familiar?

But is this automatic response merely a mask to cover up the chaos we feel swirling around inside?

You are devoted to your family and your growing coaching practice, and managing the ever-present busyness can sometimes feel like an uphill battle.

So, how do you differentiate between genuinely productive work and mere busy work? How do you ensure you invest your precious time in areas that truly enrich your life and business? How do you manage the busy in your life when it begins to feel out of control?

Choosing Calm and Ease

Why do we answer with busy? Is it for the connection? Do we not want to burden them with everything going on in our heads? I don’t know about you, but we're all busy and running around crazy. I mean, that's a really easy way to describe our lives, right?

Whenever I feel overwhelmed, I head to my journal to read past entries. Success leaves clues, and history always seems to repeat itself.

I will share this entry with you from a time when I chose to feel calm and at ease no matter the circumstance.

Journal Entry June 2, 2022:

While we all have a lot going on, I don't really feel busy. In fact, this year, I consciously chose to embrace the feeling of calm and ease.

Does calm and ease come easily all the time? No. I’ve learned that I’m the only one who can control my reactions, so I’m proactively choosing calm and ease.

Even last Sunday, when our golden doodle, boy, she can be so naughty, jumped on top of the counter at 8 PM and ate my whole loaf of gluten-free cooling banana bread with chocolate chips and walnuts. I'll tell you what: I was pretty disappointed that she did that. So instead of taking my nice hot, relaxing shower before bed, nope, not this girl. I was listening to my vet. Explain to me how to induce vomiting. Thank God for Dr. Jerry.

That was a perfect opportunity to let the crazy in, but I didn't. Nope, I didn't. Instead, I embraced calm and ease. Did it take everything in me to keep it together? Yes, yes, it did. It took every fiber of my being to embrace calm and ease and not want to go off the deep end feeling overwhelmed, but I did it anyway.

I don’t know about you but after reading this journal entry, it may be time to chose calm and ease to manage the busyness.

What drives you crazy?

So how exactly do you manage those feelings of being busy and overwhelmed when they keep popping up in your life? In spite of situations, you can't handle and are out of your control?

Here are two ways that I've created in my life to be able to help manage the busyness. First, make sure you have a great routine for scheduling your week and being okay that you'll have to let some things go. Of course, this will feel difficult, however, for right now you know that something has to give. Learn to accept not everything ought to be done by you. Basically, know that sometimes your schedule will get off and you'll have unexpected things come up that you didn't have planned or scheduled.

Oh trust me, I have done so much thought work on this. In this situation, nothing would throw me off my game more than if my schedule or the outline of my day would get off in any way, shape, or form. It drove me crazy. When the crazy happens embracing calm and ease, will not throw me off my game nearly as much.

Plan Your Week To Manage The Busy

You may be wondering, how to create a great routine for scheduling your week. The trick is to pick a day that actually works the best for you to plan out your week. You may do this Monday first thing, Friday afternoon, or over the weekend. Despite what you think, planning doesn't have to be a long-drawn-out process. Actually, I encourage you to set a time limit on how long you're gonna spend planning out your week, may I suggest up to one hour.

Basically, you can simply sit down and map it out ahead of time. When you decide ahead of time what you’ll do this is huge for not feeling so busy because you can see what you have going on and laid out ahead of time. Make sure to find a day that works the best for you, and map it out.

Points are often overlooked when you're mapping out your week. Block time to get out the door. Or maybe it's just me, that needs 10 minutes before I plan to walk out the door.

It seems I find a number of last-minute items that somehow seem important to me, during those precious moments. Instead of getting out the door, again maybe it's just me, but for some reason, I notice that the water dish is empty for the dogs or, oh, did I feed them today? Of course, look there's clothes in the washing machine that need to go on the dryer.

Hey. Maybe that's just me? Those last minutes are when I seem to find all those little things that add up.

Therefore, I always buffer in 10 minutes for, and it's specifically in my calendar, time to get out the door because I know me and for some reason, I need that time. Also, make sure you include your time to truly get ready. Not your PR of the fastest time ever that you’ve gotten ready, plan for the amount of time it will realistically take.

Be sure to work backward from your appointments so that you make sure you have adequate time in your calendar to plan for getting yourself to your appointment on time.

Big Rocks

Another big rock to plan in your calendar, big rocks are the big, important things that you wanna make sure happen during your week. A few examples may be to make sure you have time set aside for yourself. Time for whatever it is that helps fill you up leaving you a little bit calmer and at ease in your life. This may be meditation, prayer, journaling, exercise, or whatever it is that you need to do to make yourself feel calm and at ease.

Without a doubt, those big rocks you put in your calendar are all important things that cannot be overlooked or missed to make sure that you have time set aside for things that allow you to manage the busyness.

Letting Go to Manage The Busyness

Secondly, is by letting go of some things. Oh, it's okay. You can do it. It's really not that big of a deal. You know in your heart there are things in your life right now that are no longer serving you, but you've kept doing them and doing 'em because you've always done it.

It's okay. It's okay to let them go. I'm giving you permission right now to let those go. Please check in with yourself, check in with how you're feeling is this really something that you wanna do? What if, you reserve your valuable time for things that bring calm and ease to your life?

Certainly, let go of the things that are no longer serving you at this time in your life. This is where I personally need to check in with my feelings of calm and ease.

After all by embracing calm and ease, and I'm learning to accept that I can not load extras into my calendar, activities I know are really gonna be pushing my schedule. Going out for dinner to often or trying to put too many things in one day. I know now that I'm the type of a person if I have more than one, two max big activities I'm gonna be drained completely.

Plus he can have people come over to the house. I'm not that girl. I'm the girl that needs to limit the number of activities that she does in order to feel calm, at ease, and manage her busy feelings.

When I load all of those extra things into my schedule, well, you guessed it. I'm not gonna feel very calm. I'm gonna feel busy.

I want to be able to manage the busy feeling and embrace, calm and ease. There, I am aware by taking a step back and reviewing all the items on my calendar for the week.

That way I know if someone asked for me to do something during the week, I can go ahead and look at what I have planned out in my paper planner or on my calendar and know, Hey yeah, this, this is not gonna work.

It's gonna be opening that door back up to the feeling that I'm frantic and busy and trying to get everywhere.

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This is how I know when I’m scheduling too much

How do you know when you’re scheduling too much? Do you have a trigger that alerts you?

How do I know? When my day is getting to feel frantic and busy because I start to dream at night that I'm trying to get places. Here is what happens in my dreams, I need to get someplace and I can't get out the door to go. The reason is that I have all these things that I'm trying to gather and put into either a suitcase, a basket or a bag. I’m struggling to get everything gathered up because things are everywhere and I'm frantically trying to organize and pick them up so that we can get out the door on time.

This dream is my trigger, once it begins I know that I'm doing or trying to do too many things. It a signal that I need to take a hard look at my schedule and figure out what need to go. If letting things go is hard for you right now, I'm giving you permission to let it go.

Throw it over

Despite what you think, you do not have to do everything. You only need to do the things that keep the ship afloat. Everything else may be thrown overboard.

If you're getting asked to be the next person to run a committee, are you the best person to be running that committee? Maybe the answer is yes. At least consider what you’ll have to say no to if you say yes to a new committee. Regardless, you need to make a conscious decision if that time commitment will allow you to manage the busyness or instead of fulfilled it will leave you exhausted and busy. Should that be the case, say no. Add the committee to your Someday/Maybe list, once your calendar frees up a bit then at that time you may consider joining another board. Even though you’re making a conscious decision to say no right now. In the future, it could be a yes.

For me personally, I had to set the limit of only one board at a time.

Okay, I lie. I'm lying to you right now. I didn't set the limit. My husband told me I'm only allowed to be on one board at a time because I tend to take on too much if I'm on more than one board at a time. He is 100% correct. Since this rule was established, I’ve also set my priorities to create a decision matrix.

Know your time bank

Given these points, begin to know and understand your time bank. What is your time bank? Let’s figure it out. The simplest way to figure it out is how much time you spend sleeping. Take that number and subtract it from 24 hours. That's your time bank.

Should you sleep eight hours, that leaves you with 16 hours to manage the busy.

What you decide to do with your 16 hours every day is up to you. How many hours do you have to get to do everything that you want to get done?

You may try to justify this, but I did.

Okay. One other point regarding busyness: It is really only a thought. I know, right? Plenty of clients have tried to tell me differently, and heck, I even tried to justify to my own personal coach when she pointed out that I was merely having thoughts that I'm busy.

Yeah, in the end, it is our thoughts.

You guessed it your thoughts create the feelings that cause the actions that give you your results. You get to choose the thought of being busy. Yep, I know. Try that on for size and see how it feels. Heck, you may want to jump on my bandwagon and choose the thought of calm and ease. Once you look for all the ways your life feels calm and at ease. You’ll see how everything will begin to change in your life by simply choosing that one different thought.

Thank you, friends, so much for reading. If you're ready to have somebody in your corner, helping you choose calm and ease, I'm a little bit down the path. I'm happy to help you. Together, in six months, we can work on calm and ease in your life. The link to my private coaching is below. I appreciate you. Have a wonderful week, and I'll see you back here next week.

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Get More Done With Time Blocking

by Michele | Planning-Organization-Productivity

Now, I know what you're thinking. Will time blocking help me get more done? Yes, it will!

As online entrepreneurs, you're trying to conquer so many things, and instead of feeling accomplished, you feel unproductive, stuck, and frustrated. At the end of most days, it seems as if the day ran away with a lack of focus, leaving you feeling overwhelmed.

Are you tired of feeling this way and ready to be clear about your day and what needs to be done to move your business forward?

First, jumping around from project to project isn't the secret sauce to success. It all boils down to getting laser-focused and completing essential tasks.

You must be wondering how this happens.

The solution is simple: it's with time blocking your day. Time blocking breaks your day into an achievable structure. What would it feel like to look back at your day and feel productive and efficient? You'd feel like you won the day, just saying.

No worries, friend, if you're not a planner. It's a life skill you can improve, I pinky swear. I'm guessing you're ready to let go of running your business like a disorganized, headless chicken.

Here’s how you’ll time block:

Power Hours

When are you in your power hours? Do you know the time of day when your productivity superpower comes out? You're about to find out this is different for everyone.

If you're not sure, start paying attention and simply jot down the time of day that you easily and effortlessly completed your work. This would indicate that you're in the power hours of productivity.

Let's make this your first official time block. During this time, use it for a creative project or a project you've been procrastinating on. For me, this is not the first hour of my day. I need a slow start in the first hour of my day. Otherwise, I'll find myself sitting and staring at my computer screen.

Here is an excellent post about Eating Frogs! https://misstask.com/eat-your-frogs/

What are Things to Time Block?

Let me break it down for you; you can time block hours or choose to have theme days.

But what does that mean? It's simple. You may want to select the days and times for your coaching calls and meetings with your team. You can also designate content creation days.

Perhaps you like to have variety in your day, so you sprinkle in a little bit of everything with themed time blocks. With theme days, you'd pick one primary day for all your meetings and coaching and a secondary day for any overflow meetings or coaching sessions.

In a similar fashion, if you conduct discovery calls in your online business, it would be nice to have a specific day for these calls. Could they possibly be on your overflow meeting day?

Now, this is important: your most productive day of the week should be for creative work only. Here's what I mean: no meetings or anything else that will drain your energy. I love the trend that corporate America is following with designated no-meeting days.

Let me clarify: You may want to divide your days into halves. The trick is to work with your personal power hours. If you find that you're very productive in the afternoons, you could schedule meetings in the mornings and plan your creative work in the afternoons.

During your creative block, you will record your podcast, write your blog, and create your course outline. Here's the big secret: time blocking goes hand in hand with batch creation. When you batch similar work, it will get you into the flow and keep you in the state of flow versus bouncing from one thing to another without completing it from start to finish.

This can be done in many different ways; finding when you feel like a productivity rock star is essential. When I ask a new client about time blocking or batch work, they usually don't do it very well.

Start Small

You must wonder how to start when this whole time blocking and batching is new to you.

Start small.

The answer? Begin with 45 minutes of dedicated time scheduled 2-3 times a week and see how it goes. What is something you're getting behind on that you find you're doing at the last minute EVERY SINGLE WEEK?

Do A Time Audit to Figure Out Your Time Blocks

Another great way to figure out time blocking is to do a time audit for one week. I understand even the thought of time tracking feels like a burden; I say this with love, suck it up, buttercup, it's only for a week.

Most people don't realize how much time they spend on tasks or how easily they are distracted and waste time.

Here's how it works: time tracking can be done on paper by jotting down the time along with what you're working on or by using time tracking software to track everything.

If you'd like to try tracking software, I suggest Toggl Track, a great tool offering a free task-tracking plan. https://toggl.com/track/

My Own Example From the Past

When client work began to fill my days, the creative work for my business went out the window. I was an inconsistent content creator.

Blah, all that time I'd spent building up an audience—well, y'all, that doesn't stay without being nurtured. Unfortunately, this was a business lesson I had to learn for myself.

Then it finally dawned on me that my power hours are in the morning, and my brain is done by 2 or 3 p.m. every day. Now, the first two hours of my workday are dedicated to creating content or the top priorities for my business—also known as the things I'll procrastinate on until the last minute.

Fortunately, there's a simple solution: I work in sprints of time; I set the timer for 50 minutes and pour out all the words. I take a quick break and complete another sprint. And during that time, some days I'll have it all done, others the struggle is real, and I start over a bazillion times.

When planning my day, I know client work does not begin until 9 am. Blocking this time and setting the boundary have also taught me not to say yes to all the things and projects.

With my people-pleasing, helpful personality, I must not overbook myself. Which was also another business lesson I had to learn for myself. If this is you, be sure to read “Yes to Everything” mindset. https://misstask.com/mindful-yes/

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My Time Blocks are Simple

You must be wondering how I schedule my day. I have a morning routine that was significantly simplified.

I don't know about you, but when I started my business, I heard people talk about 2-3 hour morning routines. What I found was that an extensive morning routine simply stressed me out.

For quite a while now, the first hours have been spent with Bible reading, meditation, journaling, and the daily Wordle, and then I go into the office for my priority work block.

Once I'm at my desk, every weekday is content-focused while I enjoy several cups of coffee. A bulk of my day is reserved for my done-for-you content repurposing clients, and coaching clients are in the afternoons or every other Friday.

Stay with me now; 98% of the time, the block is consistently scheduled at the same time every day. Keeping the schedule consistent has the added bonus of reducing the decisions I must make about what I'm working on.

Flexible Friday! This day is a wildcard for me. I may have coaching calls, podcast interviews, or a travel day. Fridays are the days that I enjoy the freedom that comes with entrepreneurship.

This is a typical Monday – Thursday Schedule
5:30-6:30: Morning Routine
6:30-8: Power Block: Top Priorities for the day
8-9: Eat, Get Ready, Walk With The Dogs
9-10: Client Block
10-11: Client Block
11-12: Client Block
12-1: Client Block
1-2: Client Block
2-3: Client Block
3-4:30: Walk With The Dogs, Strength Training
4:30-5:30: Wrap Up Work Day, Look Ahead to Tomorrow and Finish Anything Undone

Will this schedule stay the same for years to come? Nope, but it is what works right now in this season of my life.

It Is Time To Wrap This Up!

If you're ready to stop feeling overwhelmed and start making tangible progress in your business, now is the time to take action. With the power of time blocking and focused productivity strategies, you can transform your daily routine and achieve more than you ever thought possible. Don't let another day slip by feeling unproductive and frustrated.

By identifying your power hours, creating a structured schedule, and focusing on essential tasks, you can break free from the overwhelming cycle of unproductivity and take control of your business. Remember, it's okay to start small and make adjustments as you go. Embrace the journey of self-discovery and be patient with yourself as you develop these new habits. With consistency and dedication, you'll soon find yourself accomplishing more than you ever thought possible, all while enjoying the freedom and satisfaction that comes with a thriving online business. Once you take that first step with time blocking, you will be amazed at how much more productive you become.

Simple Process To Planning and Brainstorming Your Opt-In Freebie

by Michele | Planning-Organization-Productivity, Content Marketing

After a few years in the life coaching business and honing in on your niche, you've realized that your old opt-in isn't working. While it still gets a lot of downloads, it's no longer attracting the right people.

The dwindling number of subscribers converting to paid offers screams this to you. It's disappointing, right? Despite all the effort you put into your business, that essential tool for growing your email list—the lead magnet—has been quietly falling short, leading to lower-than-desired conversion rates.

We've all been there, putting off the creation of a new, more aligned opt-in because, honestly, the whole process feels daunting.

Where do you start? The first place I would begin is planning and brainstorming your opt-in. However, I'll give you the whole process.

How is that?

When the Problem You Solve Changes

As business owners grow, it is natural to focus on one specific problem; when that happens, it requires updating several marketing pieces. If your current opt-in is not producing the conversion rates you've had in the past, it's a clear sign that something needs to change. Likely, your free offer to grow your email list is no longer in alignment with your paid offer. This is a common sign of the bigger problem: mismatched opt-in content.

Focusing on the Solution

To fix the bigger problem, planning and brainstorming your opt-in is crucial. The longer you put it off, the bigger the effect it will have on your business. That's a stressful problem to have. Despite being overwhelming, it is necessary to come up with a strategy that engages and converts your audience. I'm guessing you already have a good understanding of the problem your audience is trying to solve. Now, it is time to plan an opt-in that leaves your paid offer irresistible.

Step One: Begin With The End In Mind

What most people do not realize is that the simplest way to plan is to start with the end in mind. What paid offer will your updated opt-in and email series lead them to? Your opt-in should solve one quick-fix problem. Then, your email sequence takes them down the path of getting to know you. Understanding what it is like to work with you.

As a result, we begin at the end, which is your paid offer. What free offer can you create that is easy to do and gives them a quick fix to the problem they are actively trying to solve?

Remember, it only needs to be one piece. Actually, it is better this way. Each email in your sequence should bring them one step closer to saying ‘yes' to your offer.

Step Two: Idea Generation with Conversion in Mind

At this point, you have a very clear picture of the problem you are solving. As I said at the beginning, you've overtime niche down from a general life coach or virtual assistant into a very specific market. This has come from working with a broad range of clients. Along the way, you've discovered what you love to do most.

Now is the time to write an exhaustive list of ideas. I want to mention this because it has been an ah-ha moment for more than one client.

What free content have you already created? Here's the thing: you can repurpose content with a proven track record of driving engagement and interest. This content can become your new opt-in. I know, right? Huge time saver!

It's funny how this previously created content can be overlooked. Are you one who likes to go live inside your Facebook Group or Instagram? I sure hope you have all those videos. Put them together into either a video or audio email series. You see your new opt-in doesn't need to be a PDF. It can be an educational email series.

Have you done a live challenge with your audience? This can be turned into an opt-in to your email list.

I sure hope that I have your wheels turning here.

Step Three: Decide On Your Email Opt-In and Create the Outlines

Map out an email journey that leads your subscribers to your paid offer. You're not for everyone, and it is the job of the email series to help them decide if you're the right one.

I understand this is easy to say, but it takes longer to do. You have a list of all your ideas. Which one is the right one? What is most in line with your paid offer? Does one feel easier to create?

Be mindful of the copy you use in your emails. You want it to generate a true connection with your ideal client. It is not all about selling; it is about connecting with the right person. I always think the right people will find you. Personally, the people I gravitate to work with get me. They are the ones who speak my language. You see, this is why marketers talk about interviewing ideal clients when just getting started.

Step three in planning and brainstorming your opt-in is about outlining and gathering. It is the time when you make all the hard decisions. Again, you want all the content to focus on delivering quality and easy action steps. Think about what one thing they can do to get a quick win.

Here is a quick checklist for copy and images:

Sales Page
– Take a look at the current sales page for your paid offer.
– Does this need any updating?
– Or is everything still good.
Email Automation Sequence
– How many emails
– Don't forget about adding in testimonial
– Final email is the ask or your sales pitch
Landing Page
Sign Up Thank You Page
– After signing up for your lists
– After signing up for your services
Freebie

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Step Four: Creating the Content

Now, it's all about creating the content. You've made all the decisions have an outline, and now is the time to develop your new freebie.

If you've decided to create a workbook, it doesn't need to be very long. If you have downloaded my quarterly planning guide, you know I did not follow this rule because it is around 50 pages. Here is the link if you’re curious: https://misstask.com/free-planning-workbook

If you're creating a workbook, up to five pages will do.

During the create phrase, you will create it all. You will write your copy, find your images, and follow your outlines to create it all!

Step Five: Setting Up the Automation

For some who are not as techie, this may be the hardest part of the whole process. Before you set up the automation, have all the leg work done ahead of time. You do not want to write your emails while you are setting up the automation. That will be too much task switching, without a doubt, make you exhausted and overwhelmed.

When you task switching, you’ll be doing tasks that are not anything alike. The switching is what makes you feel exhausted and overwhelmed.

You have your whole plan. It's already laid out for you. Now, you just need to plug that into the automation and you configure your email marketing platform for that automatic delivery. To initiate that follow-up sequence that happens automatically to nurture your subscribers towards your desired action, which is to sign up for your paid service.

Step Six: Launching and Promoting Your Freebie

Now, step six is actually launching and promoting your new freebie to attract the right people.

You announce your new freebie and begin talking about it everywhere. You start putting it out so that it can be discovered. You add it to your website. You're doing all the things to leverage your existing list.

You can handle it as if it were a re-engagement campaign. Your new target list is whoever clicks on the link to download the new freebie, and everyone else gets pruned away.

You're putting the problem of your new opt-in freebie out there to find your people.

Put it out on your social media channels and create reels. What are all the different things that you can do to promote your new freebie and attract signups? My guess is you have a pretty good handle on promoting your services.

Step Seven: Tracking and Analyzing Metrics

Don't skip step seven. This is when you know what you need to tweak and change so you can identify those key metrics and track the performance of your new opt-in over time.

When you review metrics, you're able to refine your strategy based on that data and feedback, which gives you a really good look into how it's performing.

I'm guessing you've already been tracking your metrics because you're looking to change your opt-in because it's not converting. Right? So you have to have some idea of your numbers, at least I'm assuming you do.

Time To Wrap This Up

Those are the seven different steps for planning and brainstorming your new opt-in. I hope that this has given you a really good step-by-step approach. I get that it doesn't include every single step-that would be way to much information for one post—it's more like big buckets of steps. But these are the buckets of steps that make up the are part of an opt-in building process inside a content system. My goal was to help you with the steps needed to create an opt-in that can help boost your conversion rates.

Focusing on what your audience needs, leveraging those effective strategies, and guiding your subscribers towards your ultimate goal with a carefully planned email series, you're setting the stage for the freebie that's going to connect deeply with your ideal audience.

Thank you so much for your time. I appreciate you. And I hope you have a wonderful week.