Ever wish you could get more done in your week–without cramming it all in at the last minute (or pushing it off until the next week…or the next…or the next)?
Did I have your attention at “get more done”? If so, you’re in the right place.
I totally get it if your typical week starts with wide-eyed optimism and ends with sheer exhaustion–and a still-very-much-uncompleted To Do List.
But there is some good news: There are only a few things you truly have to do each week to keep your business (and your own brain) thriving.
That said, how do you know what you should actually focus on when you have #allthethings to do, but not all the time in the world to do them?
Here are five must-have activities to pencil into each week if you truly want to “get it all done” (and still have time for fun):
1) Plan Your Week Ahead
It’s sounds deceptively simple, but it works: Start each week by mapping out your schedule in the way that works best for you.
This can include everything from setting deadlines for projects to scheduling meetings and calls, to blocking out time for tasks that require focused attention (like, you know, finally writing that email sequence). I swear by my Google Calendar, but you can also do this in a bullet journal with pen & paper or on a white board or desk calendar.
Don’t skip the small stuff, either: like the phone catch-up date with your BFF, your son’s baseball game or the PTA meeting you keep saying you’ll go to (but never actually have time for–oops!).
When you map out every.little.thing you need to do in a week, it becomes much easier to stay on track and avoid any last-minute scrambling. It’s also very helpful to ‘see’ all your commitments at-a-glance, and figure out if anything needs to be moved to the following week–or scrapped altogether.
2) Focus on Revenue-Generating Activities
It’s so easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day tasks of running a business (or–sometimes more accurately–stressing out for three hours while trying to snap the perfect selfie for Instagram). But when push comes to profit (and when your time really is limited), it’s wildly important to prioritize the activities that actually generate revenue and put money in your Coach wallet.
These activities will vary depending on your unique business, but they might look like reaching out to potential clients and prospects (read: responding to your DMs in a timely manner), getting back to potential JV partners, promoting new products or services or even fine-tuning your sales funnel (so long as you’re not getting hung up on little details that don’t matter!)
Where can you stop doing “busy” work and start putting your focus and time into stuff that actually makes cash?
If you’re struggling to make time for it all, this is one of the very best ways to figure out how to best allocate your time. (And if you’re not 100% sure what your unique revenue-generating activities are? Check out this blog post all about how to figure out which tasks in your business are actually making you money.)
3) Evaluate Your Non-Monetary Progress, Too
In that same vein, it can be important to look at everything you’re doing in your business with a fine-toothed comb–not just the pieces that directly make you money.
No sense in wasting time on activities that aren’t actually moving the needle, right? It’s so important to regularly evaluate what you’re actually spending your time on–and adjusting your strategy as needed.
For example: How about setting a weekly ‘metrics’ date to review your sales and/or marketing metrics from the past 7 days? Like, did you actually get any new prospects from that long-form blog post that took 10+ hours to write? Or did you actually get any DMs from your last 10-20 TikToks (that took you an hour to put together each time)?
Carving out dedicated time to reflect on the activities actually moving the needle in your business each week will help you make more informed decisions about what to spend your time on–and ensure you’re not busy just for the sake of it.
And when you eliminate the things that aren’t actually doing your business any good? You’d be surprised at how much time that can open up for what truly matters–whatever that is for you.
4) Engage with Your Audience
Listen, when you run an online business, your audience is everything. And connecting with them like actual humans is oh-so-key to a thriving, sustainable future. So if there’s one thing that needs to ‘get done’ each week? It’s this.
Here’s how: Set aside 10 minutes a day to respond to comments and DMs on your social media–or go to others’ socials and start convos there. Don’t overthink it and don’t ‘push’ yourself to do more. By making this daily habit super easy to do, you’ll be far less likely to skip it. And you’d be surprised at how much good can come from those 10 “measly” minutes over the course of a week, month or year!
(Plus, let’s be real: We’re all on our phones way more than 10 minutes. If you can devour three ‘cute cat’ TikTok videos, you can absolutely prioritize engaging with your audience.)
5) Take Time for Self-Care
And last? I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that you need to work down time into your week in order to have the energy, stamina and enthusiasm (read: creative ideas, witty turns-of-phrase and/or straight up gumption) to get stuff done.
That said, be sure to carve out some sacred self-care each week (and add it to your Google calendar, too, of course). Maybe it’s a daily meditation break, a pre-natal pilates class or just five minutes staring off into space without your phone. Whatever you personally need to do to recharge–do it! Keeping your own tank full can stave off burnout and ensure you always have the energy you need, when you need it (you know, like when your weekly newsletter is due to your VA in 2 hours and you’ve barely drafted a subject line).
And there you have it. By prioritizing just these few activities each week, you’ll feel less busy, more purposeful and be that much more likely to tick off the items on your To Do List with ease.
