Would you like to carve out more time to be consistent and productive?
 
I’m betting you said “Yes!” 😊 
 
Surprisingly, I have found that there’s always a few tweaks, and in some cases some major shifts, that you can make to your calendar to have more consistency and productivity in your days.
 
5 BASIC DEFINITIONS & CONCEPTS
 
Let’s start with a couple of basics that might help create a framework for more balance and consistency.

• TIME ON – this is time allocated to tasks like invoicing, networking, blog writing, content creation, social media engagement, etc.
• TIME IN – this is time allocated to you showing up and working with your clients. It’s the time you get paid for.
• TIME OFF – this might be obvious. It’s important in your planning and a topic for a deeper dive another day.
• TIME BLOCKING – this is creating blocks of time to focus on a project.

• TASK HOPPING – this is multi-tasking and it’s not sustainable. Please don’t take this as a challenge to prove me wrong. There’s plenty of evidence that jumping from task to task is not efficient, tasks end up taking longer to complete and therefore is not effective.

 
THE MINDSET BIT
 
“Setting a schedule makes me twitch! I’m a creative and a schedule makes me feel caged. I like to do things when the spirit moves me!”
 
“I have too many balls in the air, and I have to touch them all otherwise something is going to fall apart!”
 
I’ve worked with plenty of entrepreneurs like you who have a hard time with setting a schedule. You want to be available to your clients. You might be hoping this is showing them that you’re available to them. You’ll see anyone pretty much any time. I get it. It’s how I started out, too.
 
When you make an appointment with your dentist, doctor or hairdresser, you get a couple of options and because you want to see them, you pick one, right? Your clients and your business are no different. They come to you because they want to engage with you, therefore, giving them a few choices shows them you have other things going on. They will pick one.
 
CREATING YOUR SCHEDULE
 
Let’s create a first draft of a schedule for you to experiment with for a month or so, gather some evidence of what worked and what didn’t and then tweak from there.
 
What is your START time and END time for each day? This creates the foundation to your productive work schedule.
 
I can hear your resistance so here's a suggestion...if “schedule” makes you twitch then use the word “routine”. Feels better, doesn’t it? The point is having the intention to doing all that you want to do in a day begins with setting yourself up for success with a plan. And plans with boundaries are a great foundation.
 
ADMIN DAYS
 
Mondays are great for TIME ON. People are coming back off a weekend and “getting caught up”.
 
TAKE A STEP: Create a recurring appointment on your calendar to repeat every Monday as Busy called Admin Tasks.
BENEFIT: You’ll see it on your calendar as your reminder and by marking it as busy your client scheduling software won’t see it as available to client sessions.
 
CLIENT HOURS
 
Carve out blocks of time or days for client work. This is TIME IN. An example is Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. No admin work (cuz that was allocated for Monday) and no social media posting in between clients. If you have a few minutes, stand up, walk around your house, stretch, breathe. Be more centered for your next client.
 
TAKE A STEP: Create a recurring appointment on your calendar to repeat every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as Free called Client Time.
BENEFIT: You’ll see it on your calendar as your reminder and by marking it as free your client scheduling software will see it as available for client sessions.
 
DAILY TASKS
 
In this section, I’m talking about setting up routines for consistency.
 
Carve out smaller blocks of time for activities like social media engagement.
 
TAKE A STEP: Create a recurring appointment on your calendar to repeat every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday as Busy called Social Media Engagement.
BENEFIT: You’ll see it on your calendar as your reminder and by marking it as busy your client scheduling software won’t see it as available to client sessions. Yes some of these are client work days but you’ll work on your social media first thing of your work day and the rest of the day will be available and focused on client work.
 
 
Want help with setting up the next version of your schedule?
 
Contact me to uncover what’s in your way of setting yourself up for more success.
 
Janina Goldberg, www.CallWithJanina.com

It’s common for entrepreneurs, especially female entrepreneurs, to put enormous pressure on themselves to do the right thing, critique themselves at every turn and do lots of that. ​

I wrote a great article over on the Hera Herald page at Hera Hub...read more here...
​

I can describe last week as an emotional roller coaster- a ride rich with joy and learning moments. 

I'm grateful for my life and the choices I have for work, self care, unplugging and friends!

One thing that I'm very proud of myself for is knowing when to say when;

• when to focus and get things done,
• when to be completely present to someone else, 
• when to unplug from things like social media,
• when to be with friends who fuel me ... and vise versa, 
• and when to be alone. 

My recommendation to you is to check in with yourself often...

• Who are you engaging with? Jim Rohn said “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” 
• How are you showing up in the engagement/exchange/conversation? Are you angry from a previous situation? Are you feeling emotional pain or hurt? Maya Angelou said “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
• How does what you’re doing or saying add value? Albert Einstein said “Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.”

​Be kind to yourself...and then be kind to others. 

I get excited about new beginnings; Mondays, 1st of the month, new projects. Something about a clean slate - fresh canvas - to begin to make a mark in and co-create what is my life.

This past week marked the beginning of another year of being married to my best friend. We've  learn so much from each other and about ourselves individually and as a couple over the past 25 years+. Our anniversary cards to each other used the words "our dreams for the future" and "look forward to new adventures" and doing this in partnership! I'm so excited to BE on our path TOGETHER and looking ahead with a sense of adventure and collaboration :)

This past week was also the beginning of the month. Something about turning to a (relatively) clean calendar that is on the refrigerator. I also have a couple personalized photo calendars around the house and I enjoy flipping the page to see a new photo that reminds me of beautiful memories. 

I like planning out a new month - what do I want to CREATE. Among the appointments that are currently scheduled, what am I re-evaluating to be phased out, where am I consciously wanting to spend more time and doing what activities? What else do I want to add/schedule in that will bring me closer to my goals and enrich my month? 

* I've upgraded financial coverage for myself by partnering with Nicole Caplette at Anchor Financial Division of Five Rings Financial. Feels good to experience gentle guidance and education from Nicole and have this additional support in place!

* Continuing to take care of myself physically, working with Katy Charlson at San Diego Structural Integration receiving easily understandable explanation and education on the inner structure of the body and adjustments to areas that are out of alignment all for operating from a solid, grounded foundation.

* Asking for and receiving (perfectly timed) business and mindset coaching from Tara Sage Steeves at Create Your Life! and feeling empowered and ready to implement when the opportunity presented itself THE NEXT DAY! So grateful for the clarity and celebration of where I am in my own business right now and the guidance that I receive and how that fuels and empowers me to be the best I can be to my clients!
​
* I'm so grateful for my clients! Their curiosity and willingness to show up, owning where they are and getting excited and clearer on where they are heading - each of them willing to find and see the cracks in their personal and business foundation, noticing the cobwebs in the corners and feeling supported in doing so.  I'm honored to be part of these exciting conversations in reframing how now after identifying what's blocking them moving forward, to committing to repairing the cracks that will support them in going to the next level (next floor in their inner home) and deciding to clear out the cobwebs instead of putting up a pretty barrier (removing what's no longer needed once and for all). Yes these were actual visuals in our sessions this past week :)

* I enjoyed wrapping up the week by attending an intimate workshop learning a little about how my own surroundings reflect and have an influence with how I feel and what happens in my life. Valerie Sorrentino educated us with some Feng Shui basics. It was nice to be in Dr Brandey's office space for this workshop that was full of amazing intentions, tips and gifts.

* Loved being part of my friend, Kristen's birthday celebration! New restaurant for me. Always nice to see people again and meet new ones. Aligned human connections - fuel my soul :) 

What are you beginning this month? 

What are you clearing out/getting clear with? 

What are you deciding to put in place as you wrap up 2016 in a way that shifts and empowers you for 2017?

​Do you feel like you are ALWAYS WORKING? Read more about how common this feeling is and one suggestion I have in moving towards a more balanced schedule…
 
Q:
I love what I do! But I find myself feeling like I’m ALWAYS working. I want to do things with my friends and family but I feel like I “should” be working instead since I’m a solopreneur and there’s so much to do.
 
A:
First, please hear me when I tell you that you are not alone with this sense of ALWAYS working! I’ve heard from many solopreneurs who think being a successful business owner means they have to ‘work the grind’ and ‘give it their all’ and ‘make sacrifices’ and ‘work hard’ to be successful.
 
Second, I’m not hearing that you want to decrease your effort – what you want is to have some boundaries around your work…create a schedule that feels like you have time allocated to working your business AND you have time allocated to NOT working your business (social time with friends and family, exercise time, time to read a book, attend a soccer game, etc, etc).
 
What I have found that allows a shift to begin in feeling like you CAN have time to yourself (time where you aren’t always working) is to give yourself permission to establish a start and end time to your work day. Again, your effort will not decrease. What I suspect will happen is your effort will become more focused because you don’t have all day to spend working. I find this true for myself – when I have say a doctor’s appointment, I find myself more focused and intentional in what I’m working on during the day since I know I have a cut-off time. Make sense?
 
To start, I would suggest you create a work schedule for yourself for 1 week – and see how it goes. Create your own work day cut-off time. And if you find it challenging to honor your new work cut-off time, plan a non-work activity that you’ll be going to; set a coffee date with a friend, sign up for a yoga class, something that will support you with the “What needs to get done before the end of my work day so I can do that other thing that I want to do?”

Where to next?
=> If you want to find out how I can support you further, click here and schedule time with me - we'll figure things out together :-)