Time Balance for The Busy Solopreneur

You did it! You officially opened your own business! Yay!

It's now 11:00 PM and you realize that you still have to wake up at 6:00 AM for your 9 to 5. (The super awesome job that will help support you until you can officially put in your notice. Be grateful for this job...it has a purpose.)

You climb into bed with a sense of accomplishment and big dreams & plans for your future self as a badass, running your own business. On your terms.

"Nnnnnggggg! Nnnnnngggggg!", says your alarm.

You hit snooze.

"NNNNNNNGGGGGGG! NNNNNNNGGGGGGG!", your alarm says again.

"Did it get louder?", you think to yourself as you roll over and silence the annoyance.

Then you remember, "I officially started my dream business last night! It's gonna be a great day!"

You hop out of bed, (almost skipping with joy) and happily start your morning routine.

"Do I look different", you think as you brush your teeth.

"More refined and ready to actually do this thing! YES!", you say aloud after you rinse and swish. Off to work!

Your drive to work is filled with thoughts and plans of all the things you'll get done today to move the needle forward on your new business and life as a successful entrepreneur.

When you arrive at work, you're still making a mental list of website fixes, new products, communities, memberships you'll create. How you're going to market them all...wait you don't really know how to market anything!

"I'll figure it out. Can't be that hard.", you think.

Your entrepreneurial thoughts are interrupted by Todd, your coworker. He's carrying a huge stack of files and looks flustered.

"Good Morning, Todd!", you say with Friday's enthusiasm. Even though it's only Monday.

"It's gonna be one of those days.", he says back with a small eye roll.

You do a little sigh and know immediately what he means by "one of those days."

It's going to be busy! AND your boss is NOT in a good mood! Egg shell walking it is!

When you finally make it home, all of your enthusiasm has run out. You know you should get SOMETHING done on your new business......but you just need to relax for a few. That was a LONG Monday!

After a great dinner with your husband, you're feeling much better. You and him talk about your day, maybe even flirt a bit. He listens as you excitedly talk about your new venture. You love that he's so supportive of you. Which is exactly why you say yes when he asks you to cuddle on the couch and watch a movie with him.

Afterwards you realize it's getting late and you had better get to bed soon to wake up in time for work.

But wait! You haven't done ANYTHING for YOUR business. UGGGG , "How will I ever find the time to do any of this?", you think in a small panic.

Not to worry!

I was exactly where you are not so long ago. In fact at the time of writing this I'm still at my 9 to 5. But what I have figured out is a great little system to help me carve out some time throughout the day, along with some non negotiables and yes some small sacrifices, in order to keep working on my business. (Pretty sure that's a run on sentence...)

I can't say that it will work for you or not. Each of us has a unique set of circumstances to work with. But I am willing to share with you what works and doesn't work for me. My hope is that it will help you.

I also want to say that sometimes I still have trouble with some of these. But don't be super hard on yourself, we all have good days & bad days.

Let's get started.

Okay, Non negotiables first.

I'll admit it, I fought this one for too long. But once I sat down and just did the work, my life got much easier. You hear all the time how you need boundaries in your life. It's true for your business too. The great thing about being your own boss, is that you get to set those boundaries according to your lifestyle.

I sat down with pen and paper and literally made a list of my non negotiables. Things that were golden rules for me. And I try very hard NOT to waver from them!

Some of my non negotiables are that I don't work on my business on Fridays and the first half of Sundays. The reason is that it was affecting my relationship with my husband. I was not balancing my time. Knowing that we have one time to get just enjoy each others company really helps. I highly suggest giving yourself a schedule of some sort. Even if you don't have a family member, it's good for YOUR health and sanity!

Another one for me is that I shut everything down by 7:00 PM every night. Once again, it's good for my mental health.

Now it's your turn, sit down and make a list of YOUR non negotiables...and stick to them!

Next...A Planner

You'll hear often in this entrepreneur space that if you don't schedule it in your calendar, it doesn't exist. (meaning get done!)

This one is soooooo true!

Getting a planner that works for you to be able to schedule out your day is a game changer. It took me a bit to get used to using it. But once I realized the benefits it became easy.

I personally use a Full Focus Planner. It's a quarterly planner and I LOVE IT!

The Full Focus Planner was made by a productive genius! (Michael Hyatt) It's well thought out and makes my days much smoother. And No, I'm not an affiliate of the Full Focus Planner. Just Love it.

I also use a lunar planner for my launches and to track my energy levels. I know it may seem like planner over kill, but I am a Virgo, after all.

Oh and one more small tip, I always use a pencil for my planner. This ensures I don't have random scribbles and crossed out lists that I have to try to read if things change. (And they will!)

Last great time saving tip.... Batching

If you've never tried batching your social media content, or emails or just about anything in your business, I highly suggest this one. It not only stops fatigue from switching between tasks, but frees up so much of your time on repetitive tasks.

Start small at first so you don't overwhelm yourself. Try just batching things one week at a time until you get more used to it.

Trust me when I say, it's a time saver!