Hi leaders! Here we are for episode 58!
Ok. I am so excited to share these strategies with you!!!
Today is Part 2 of how to find more time in your day. If you haven’t yet listened to episode 57, press pause now and go take a listen before continuing with this episode.
In episode 57 Tackling Your Biggest Direct Sales Biz Obstacle: Not Enough Time In The Day I give you part 1. You’ll get a specific strategy to start with in order to implement the gems in this episode. But you have to have the data first. It’s easy work.
So go to episode 57 at crazybigdreams.biz/57. Then come back here to episode 58.
If you have already done your homework from episode 57 great! Stick around. I’m giving you your next steps to find more time in your day!
You may want to refer back to the transcript for the steps I’m going to give you. It can be helpful to have the words in front of you as you go through your homework.
And let’s be honest. If you’re listening and you’re thinking this all sounds great Tammy but I’m not going to sit down and do this, I’m just not, as much as I would love to and I know it would help, I just won’t do it. No judgment!
You would benefit from a strategy session. I walk you through it. The accountability of having time on the calendar together and having me help you with these steps is the way to go. And it’s so much fun! I love this stuff! Call me crazy. Click over to crazybigdreams.biz/work-with-tammy to connect with me on a strategy session.
Ok. If you’re ready to go forward here’s what you’ll need. The hard copy of your homework and 5 different colored highlighters.
So if you did your homework by typing in any way go ahead and print it out. And if you have it on paper go ahead and have that in front of you.
If you don’t have highlighters in 5 different colors you can also use a pen or pencil but you’ll have to create your own key, which is fine, it’s just an extra step. Do this however you work best.
The strategy is to categorize your time to find opportunities for more.
I would be willing to bet that while you were tracking your time in 30-minute increments you likely found two things.
One, realizing you spend more time on some things than you realized. And Two, opportunities to spend your time in ways that better serve your priorities.
Great! And if this didn’t reveal itself to you yet, these next steps will help you do just that. Even if you did find opportunity already, I’m going to give you key strategies to find more. So keep going.
The goal here is to find more time in your day, right? It’s one of your biggest obstacles, I know. So today is about helping you find opportunities in your 24 hours every day. And each day may present its own opportunities.
Step 1: The first pass, over your 30-minute tracking, will be to determine what’s essential, non-negotiable, your responsibility and cannot under any circumstances be modified in any way.
I would argue this is less than you might be assuming. For example, let’s say you have a job in addition to your direct sales business. And you have to go to a brick-and-mortar building to fulfill that work. I would argue, but do you really? If you enjoy going to an office and it fulfills you and working from home is nothing you’re interested in, great.
If on the other hand you maybe have a long-ish commute. If you would love the option to work from home even one, or a few days a week, then this is worth exploring.
I offer this as an opportunity because the commute, even if it’s only 20 minutes each way, that’s 40 minutes in your day, and in a week that’s 3 and a half hours! Think about the difference that could make in your direct sales business!
I’ll give you another quick example here. This one changed my days immensely. Let’s say you don’t have a job you commute to, maybe you already work from home or your direct sales business is your only work.
Do you happen to have kiddos that you take to school and pick up? This is an opportunity.
When my husband’s work schedule changed just enough to take our Kindergartener to school it was a total game changer for me. Maybe you don’t have a partner to help you with this, maybe there’s a neighbor or good friend that you can share school drop-off with. You get the idea.
The big difference for me was not only in my time but also in my anxiety. The pressure to get him out the door by a specific time, get the baby up and in the car with us, work that drop-off line, navigate traffic, I mean honestly. The mornings I don’t take him are noticeably different in my anxiety and also what I can get accomplished all before 9 am.
So I use these examples to help you really stretch your thinking on what is permanent on your schedule and what’s not, and use a fresh set of eyes to reframe what’s truly your responsibility. Really take a look at each thing you’re doing and ask yourself
“How can this be different?”
You’re not going to ask “Can this be different?” Because that’s a yes or no response. To really get you reframing your time, ask “How can this be different?” Do you hear about the opportunity there?
Make sure you spend the time you really need to on this step. Don’t rush it.
Ok on to Step Two:
Use a different colored highlighter to visually see how you spent your time in different areas. Here’s how I like to break it down:
Green: income-producing activities for your direct sales business. Be choosy about this. Not all time spent on your direct sales business is income-producing. This doesn’t mean the non-income producing time isn’t important, but you want to be able to see the difference here.
Highlight the income-producing time spent and then use the green highlighter to circle the other time you spend on your direct sales business that isn’t income-producing. (meetings with your company, for example, or training).
Orange: family time. Any time spent with your kiddos, parents, or partner. It could be necessary homework time or a fun family movie night. This is dedicated solely to people-time. Not laundry or cleaning or dinner prep that is in support of your family.
Yellow: drive time
Pink: personal development time: book reading/listening, exercise, shower, church, volunteering
Blue: laundry, cleaning, groceries, and food prep.
** A special note on screen time Be careful how you categorize screen time or social media time. It doesn’t go in any of these categories!
Yes, almost everyone uses social media for their business in some way. But I offer it should be scheduled like any other time you dedicate to your business. Or it can get out of hand quickly. If you already schedule it and have it rained in, then go ahead and highlight it green. Otherwise, it’s an opportunity to get reworked.
Once you pass over your homework with each of these colors you can visually see how your time is spent.
It is important to note, that quantity is different than quality. You may not spend a lot of time on a particular area, but that doesn’t automatically mean you need to carve out more time. On the flip side, you may spend a lot of time in an area and may not need or want to decrease that time.
The whole point is to take a fresh look and see where you can get more time in your day. This will reveal it for you.
What else is on your calendar that didn’t get highlighted? Typically this is a key area where you can find time to re-prioritize.
Step 3: What are your priorities?
Is it getting more one-on-one time with your kiddos?
Is your priority to make your direct sales business time more intentional and streamlined?
Maybe you have a priority to start exercising or eating better. Where is that time dedicated in your week?
Do you have new financial goals this year? Where is the time dedicated weekly to stay with this?
Step 4: Start with a blank calendar and complete it how you would like to have it unfold in an ideal week. Is it going to unfold this way? Probably not. But you’re starting fresh with a new foundation and a plan to always come back to and start your weekly planning with.
Step 5: Practice it for a month. Make edits weekly. But see it through for a month.
I promise you, your results will match according to how you dedicate your time. No matter what’s most important to you.
I don’t know about you but I find this so much fun! You and only you are responsible for how you spend your 24 hours in a day. You can totally start from a blank calendar and re-work everything with fresh eyes.
Ok, I cannot wait to hear what’s been revealed for you by implementing these strategies! Click over to Instagram @yourcrazybigdreams and share with me! I would love to see where you take this!
The best is yet to come! Always.
