Ten ways to get more time back and focus on what most needs to be done
Do you ever get asked a question and think, "Oh wow, is that how X sees me?" and suddenly rethink your own perceptions about your skills in X, Y or Z? You know, those times when someone asks "How did you get so great at cooking?" when you believe you're pretty average? Or, "How did you learn to take great photos?" when you never actually "learned" it, you just figured out things to help your craft along the way?
I have been on the receiving end of people's surprise when I've asked them questions about how they got something done, or acquired a skill and they shrug and say, "Oh, really? I guess I didn't see myself that way". We can be our own worst enemy, not seeing something we do well until it's pointed out over and over and over again.
One question I have often received — and I feel a bit #awks as an Aussie even admitting to this (yep, big fear of the Tall Poppy Syndrome) — is, "How do you get so much done?". When it was first asked, I would shrug and tell the person asking that I was sure they had me mixed up with someone else. After all, I was the girl at Uni who seemed to care more about her social life (in particular, Thursday nights at a certain bar in Melbourne) than her sociology major. Yet, as my career and my own business has progressed, this question has come up more and more often.
I guess part of my reluctance to admit that I'm someone who *might* get a lot done, is because I have incorrectly attributed that in the past to equal someone who works a lot. And, that's not me. Most evenings I’m on the couch with my husband either talking over cups of tea or watching the latest TV series. Apart from writing this email, I never really work on weekends. I have two days off during the week to hang solely with my youngest child and I usually get through one book per week, either via Audible or reading before bed. One of my brand values is freedom and I try to live up to that both externally (helping my clients achieve a level of it) and internally (allowing myself the freedom to do what I love outside of work and to own my time).
This isn’t to boast, but to show that while it may appear otherwise, work doesn’t take up the majority of my waking hours. I do get things done but I’m also someone who makes room for a life outside of work.
Recently while up on the middle of the night with my youngest (he’s going through a massive I-will-only-sleep-on-someone phase) I thought about the things that have helped me in terms of being efficient or, really, just enjoying the process of “getting stuff done”. I’m not one for pushing the “do more more more” mode of doing business, but I do think some of the reason I appear (whether real or perceived) to get “so much” stuff done is down to a few key things I do regularly that help me stay focused and utilise my time.
Here are some of the things that I've found to help me get stuff done and actually enjoy the process while I'm doing it:
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1. Voice to text.
I am forever telling clients (and everyone else) about the little microphone on your phone keypad that converts your voice to text. When I want to write a blog post, this Sunday email, notes for an upcoming podcast or even notes for a client's Trello board, I simply whip out my phone and talk. I find this easier than typing and can do it anywhere, even while on a walk. My youngest child recently had child care orientation and, due to covid, they made me wait in the car for an hour or so. Using voice to text in Notes on my phone, I nutted out the points for two podcast episodes and "wrote" a Sunday email. I could have just as easily spent that hour mindlessly scrolling the 'gram.
2. Text replacement
I use this tool a lot as it helps me cut down on writing the same things over and over. If you have an iPhone go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Text Replacement. I have things stored in here for customer service, hashtag banks, information about booking a business coaching call and loads more. It means you only need to type a keyword, such as BizCoach1 and an entire message will be relayed. Saves so much time and also helps with brand consistency.
3. Knowing my goals and my revenue streams
Anyone who has ever worked with me knows one of the very first things I ask people to do is get clear on their goals and their money, specifically which revenue streams support their business and their goals for each. We then look at a way of tracking these so that at any given week or month, they know where they sit in relation to their goals and revenue streams for the year. I follow this same advice for my own business. This means I'm able to arrange my day according to what most needs my attention and I don't get sidetracked by every shiny new thing.
4. File management
Years ago I read a book that changed my life. Work Smarter, Live Better by Cyril Peupion. In this, he talks about the sheer time we waste looking for documents or email messages or other such things. I can't remember the exact figure, but it was something like 6 weeks of our year. I have my Dropbox and Google Drive folders set up so I know exactly where to look to find things.
5. Templates
Similar to #4 above, if I do something more than twice, I template it. This could be a simple Google Doc template, for meeting agendas with consulting clients, or a more in-depth Presentation template in Canva for everything from freebies through to course worksheets and even eBooks. Last year I invested into getting a graphic designer to make these look more polished and she was able to add to these templates everything from postcard and contract templates through to instagram and podcast tiles. I now rarely work from scratch on any document, instead they are modular and able to be adapted depending on the circumstance.
6. Screen recording for tutorials
I work with two VAs and, as such, need to relay a lot of information — from client info and how to handle certain emails through to instructions for uploading a podcast episode or batch creating social media posts. Instead of writing chunky documents, I use the screen recording mode on QuickTime and record a short video showing them how something works. This saves time, is more enjoyable to watch and helps me get crystal clear on what I most want to get across.
7. Tomato Timer
Parkinson's Law is the idea that "work expands to fill the time available for its completion", i.e. the more time you give to a task the more time it will take. I talk about the tool, tomato timer, ALL the time. This is because it has literally changed my life. It mirrors the Pomodoro Method, which is all about working in focused chunks of time. I go to tomato-timer.com most days, set the countdown to 25 mins and get through a task. What I've found shocking since doing this is how much you can actually get done in 25 mins. Things I used to set aside an hour for, I can often get done in 25 mins of purely focused time (that means turning my phone off, closing down all other tabs).
8. Creating folders in Photos on my iPhone
Instagram is a key channel for my business. I would find myself going to post a story and wanting to make the background more "on brand" without having time to necessarily open up Canva and use one of the templates (the Canva app is still a bit clunky, I find, when using it from a mobile). I stored a bunch of plain IG Story backgrounds in my brand colours as well as some others (i.e. the logs at my home, nature etc) in a "MBDC IG" folder inside of the Photos app on my phone. I use this all the time now and just wish I'd done it sooner.
9. A notebook per revenue stream
I am old school. When I'm in a meeting or coaching a client, I like taking notes with pen and paper. I do a lot of drawing for my clients (i.e. graphs, frameworks, concepts) and find this the easiest way. What happened initially though is that I'd use the one notebook for all of my work then spend ages trying to find notes from one coaching call in between ideas I'd jotted down for my own business, or consulting jobs or even - dare I say it - shopping lists or bank details. I now have one notebook per revenue stream i.e. group coaching is one, 1:1 coaching is another, consulting work a third. That way, I have all my notes in the one spot.
10. I ask for help
This last tactic is perhaps the most important. I have down days, days when I can't be bothered doing anything or when everything feels like pushing peanut butter through a sieve. And on these days, I ask for help. I have worked to cultivate a great team of "biz besties" around me who I speak to regularly. When everything feels like it's getting on top of me or when I just can't find the energy to take action, I make the time to check in with these amazing people, gain some perspective and talk with them about the goals and the things I want to achieve. Most of the time, I leave these calls feeling energised and enthused about what I have to do. Failing that, I give myself permission to have an off day, to press pause on things and just chill. After all, why start your own business if you can't take time off whenever you feel like it
Getting stuff done isn't always about doing more. It's about uncovering what's most important to you and finding ways to make that happen. I hope the tactics, tools and tips above help you do just that.