Steps To Create your Dream Schedule Now (and what my current schedule looks like)
Aug 02, 2023
On this week's blog, I thought it would be fun to share a behind the scenes of what a day in the life looks like around here.
I share this because it is VASTLY different than it was just a year and a half ago. I started this business in January of 2020 and in January of 2022 left my corporate job. So in the summer of 2023, as I am writing this, life is VERY different.
We will also dive into some simple steps you can take today to create your dream schedule.
One of the reasons I left my corporate job is I wanted control of my schedule. I like working and actually enjoyed my job, but anytime my girls had a doctor's appointment or a 4 pm practice it was like moving mountains to get there. I kept thinking, I can't do this for the next 10 years. Everything just felt hard.
My Current Schedule
As I share my current schedule, I think it's important to share that I know not everyone's schedule can look like this. But what got me here wasn't hard. And I say that because I needed to hear it when I was in the trenches of building this business. It wasn't hard, but it wasn't easy. Just like days on our new schedule. They aren't hard, but some days are not easy.
I will also share that one of the most popular topics I get as a business strategist with my clients right now is unraveling what we are taught. It is OK to work weekends or at 9 pm, if that is what you want. It is OK to not like social media or not want your face to be your brand, if that is what you want. It is ok to build a business and keep your corporate job, again, if that is what you want. Every day and every week is different, based on what I want.
So as I share behind the scenes, think about that. One of my mentors Heather Chauvin always says, "How do you want to feel?" Do that.
Remember, that your schedule is yours to control. Period. Once you control your schedule, you control the outcome.
Working weekends
I usually work weekends. I tend to get up with energy and my kids are in a season of sleeping in, so I use it to my advantage. Most Saturday mornings are my creative time (two to three hours of strategy work or brainstorming) which I have done consistently for three years. It's a needle mover activity that I teach over in CEO WEEK for free.
On Sunday, I plan.
I take 20-30 minutes on Sundays and plan our entire week. I ask myself:
- What went well last week?
- What do I need to change and focus on?
- How do I want to feel?
Then adjust my calendar accordingly. I also review it with Scott, my husband. We typically will go through the whole week and share where we need help, what activities are happing with the girls, client meetings, etc. This is a personal review (he does work for me) so we save our business review for during the week.
I share that I work weekends because that is what is working for us right now. Most afternoons and evenings I am not working, so it evens out.
Design the schedule that works for you and your family.
Daily Activities For a Successful Schedule
In terms of daily activities, right now I am really focused on growing my audience and expanding our reach, which I have shared specifically in the masterclass that I taught live. I am writing this in the summer and our kids are not in camps or anything like that so we tend to trade off parenting duties. Some days I'm working two hours, others three or four, it just depends. Because we are in a period of flux, I have two boundaries that I am staying true to.
- Prioritize how I start the day. Usually, this consists of getting up around 6 am, journaling (or doing a card pull), doing some sort of workout (my favs are the Flash 15 on Pelton or a Barre class), and a walk. My husband and I walk an hour a day every morning. Aside from the fact that it's really good for you, it's the ONE part of the day where I have time to myself, AND my husband and I are on the same page. Because he acts as the CFO in our biz and it's hard to turn off my business strategist brain, a lot of times it turns into an operations meeting, lol, but mornings are when I have the most energy and bandwidth to work through strategy. So it works. And, we do this every single day. Not just weekends. We are the old people with the same schedule.
- Map out the next day. The second boundary I created is every night before I go to bed, I map out the next day. Since every day is different this helps me with what I need to get done. As an example, today, I stuck to my morning routine, boundary number one, and then I could look at my planner and see what the three focuses were today. While I am writing this we are preparing to go on vacation so my three things today are to 1) pack 2) conduct podcasts interviews and 3) finish emails. That way everything is in place for when I am gone.
The takeaway here is I know without even looking at the rest of my schedule what the three focuses are. So no matter what happens in the day, I will get those done.
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Most of the time I will work from 9-11 or 12 (getting my three things done) and then have the afternoon free to hang with the girls or if they have a play date or seem occupied work on some special projects.
I try really hard each day to also
- Sit down to eat. Does anyone else feel like they just forget what they are actually consuming because they are so busy?
- Monitor my screen time. I try to do less than 30 minutes a day.
- Read for fun. I am halfway through the ACOTAR series and reading for fun has been a GAME CHANGER for me.
The evenings for us are pretty flexible. But this goes back to point #1. Some days I work two hours, some days three to four. Ideally, it's in the morning, but if we are traveling or something comes up I adjust it to the evenings.
Can you do this for the next 10 years?
The reason I am sharing this is because after I left my corporate job, I had a really hard time with schedules. I almost had to re-train my brain that I don't have to work at 6 am, or I don't have to take weekends off. If I want to work weekends it's OK, because I have more free time during the week. I think so often we are programmed to what we think society wants us to conform to and we have done it for so long, we forget to ask ourselves, what actually feels good? What actually works for me?
Sometimes, a really good work session on a Saturday morning is amazing. And that is OK, just because it's Saturday and we are programmed to not work weekends, doesn't mean you have to stick to that belief.
Ideally, the goal in our family is to build a business to our lifestyle. So I am constantly asking myself:
- What is working?
- Is this sustainable?
- The question that started it all: Can I do this for the next 10 years? Now the answer is yes, three years ago it was a hell no.
How to Bring Your Ideal Schedule to Life Right Now
And while I understand schedules can be tricky and not everyone has the luxury to plan the perfect day in the beginning, neither did I just a few short years ago. What can you do right now, to make that ideal schedule come to life?
Maybe it's reading this blog post and answering these questions. Maybe it's setting boundaries to only work specific time periods. Maybe it's to move your meetings around so you have a full weekday off each week. My advice: Do that now. Show yourself that you can step into the person you want to grow into.
If you liked hearing behind the scenes, DM me and let me know what is the ONE step you are going to take to make your personal success and habits come to life. What does your day-to-day schedule look like? And how can you improve it?
Looking for more on this topic and your High-Level Action items? Check out the Strategy Lab in the Crush the Rush Club!
resources
- How we scaled our business to only work 15 hours/week in the summer - Read how
- Episode #314: How to Design Your CEO Day. Listen here.
- Skip the burnout and find freedom on the journey to multi-figure success-take the free 5-day challenge.
- Connect with me on Instagram: What is ONE step you are going to take to bring your dream schedule to life?
