Do you manage your day, or does your day manage you?
If you’re like most entrepreneurs, you go through your day like a cowboy: guns blazing, reacting to everything that happens in your business. You get busy being busy.
When you have some time to actually sit down and get some work done, you are either too tired or forgot what you need to work on. Your brain isn’t sharp. That’s when procrastination sets in.
The deadly, “I’ll get to it tomorrow” conversation begins in your head. You go to sleep with the best intentions and then wake up and it happens again: the day happens to you. The day manages you.
Sound familiar?
At TwoBrain Business we teach the 10 hour CEO method: setting aside a certain number of hours each week to move your business forward. Gym owners start with one dedicated hour on their business, then a second–working up to a minimum of 10 per week.
In this article, I’ll teach you how to divide your day into blocks, and have specific times to focus on the things that matter most. Below is an example of how I block my day and how it works when I am wearing different hats at different times. I block off family time, CEO time, time to workout, time for TBB mentoring calls etc..
Step 1: Create Blocks for your day
Using a typical week from my calendar as an example, I clearly outline what I am to be doing and when I am to be doing it. Time to train/workout, family time, CEO time, self development, mentoring calls, and goal setting/intros are all clearly laid out. All of my calendars and scheduling apps align and my entire team has access to this calendar to see what I am doing and when I am doing it.
After you have created blocks for your day we can begin to develop a workflow. If you are anything like me, you most likely have 100 things that you could work on; how do you prioritize what to work on first? What potential problems need your immediate attention? What work will have the greatest leverage?
Let’s get our “To-do” list organized. For this we are going to use the Kanban Method which is a project management method developed by Toyota in the 1940’s.
The Kanban Method divides your “To-do” list into 3 columns: To-Do, Doing, and Done.
1. Using a whiteboard (if you are a tech geek, you can use Asana or Trello), create 3 columns. You are going to use sticky notes and write down anything and everything that needs to be done.
Column 1. To-Do
Column 2. Doing
Column 3. Done
Some important things to note with the Kanban Method:
Visualize:
First,take stock of everything that needs to be done. This is a never-ending, ongoing process if you own a business. You must constantly be evolving, changing and creating. You can have all of your “To-do’s” in your head or in a spreadsheet, but the reality is that if they are not right in front of you, many will fall through the cracks.
Focus on 3:
For any system to work, you must stay disciplined to it. You should only allow yourself to have 3 “Doings” active at one time. Multitasking is the quickest way to get nothing done. Stay focused on those 3 items and watch your To-Do list shrink.
Assess, adjust, reassess:
This will be a learning process for you and your team. Measure your progress objectively. Make adjustments to your day, and make adjustments to your approach. Constantly refine your processes, and you’ll become more efficient, get more done and feel better about yourself. Go from feeling like life is “owning” you to feeling like you are “owning” life.
Implement this simple, effective and proven way to get more done, in less time. Try it out, tag me on a post and let me know how it is working for you.
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Brian Alexander
