How I Organize My Week to Stay Productive as a Small Business Owner
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You know how it is…when you’re an online business owner, trying to stay productive and find balance in your schedule is anything but easy.
You have responsibilities outside of work — like a family — that need your time and attention, too. But it often feels like you can’t ever completely step away from your business because there are so many unfinished things to do at the end of the week.
But you see other people talk about how they have balance…so you know it’s possible. You’re just not sure how.
And while there are so many things you could do to find balance…have you considered a routine yet?
Seriously! I know it sounds a little basic, but I also know firsthand how tempting it can be to skip out on this when you’ve got a million and one things on your plate. And that’s a recipe for chaos!
That’s why in this post, I’m going to show you a simple way to organize your week and stay productive while ALSO giving time to things outside of work. Let’s get to it!
The Importance of staying productive as a small biz owner
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in the last eight years of running my business is that you need to figure out HOW you want your business to run, or it will run your life. You have to map out some sort of plan to give yourself direction, otherwise, work will inevitably fill in the gaps.
I use Google Calendar for EVERYTHING, from doctor’s appointments, to scheduling meetings with my team and clients, too. This helps people to see my true availability and helps prevent double booking.
And meetings and appointments aren’t the only thing I block out in my calendar. I also break each workday into categories and block off time accordingly. Those are:
My morning routine
Admin work time
Morning routine
Sacred time (full-focus time)
Connection time with my audience
Lunch
Open space for calls
Workday shutdown
Evening routine
Why organizing your day helps SO MUCH
First, it provides structure. You are going to be more productive if you have some type of consistent routine. Always.
I’m coming off of summer vacation and I’ll tell you the lack of routine over here was KILLER. I’m so glad school is back in session and I can already tell how much more focused I am because I know exactly what I’m going to be doing throughout the day…without interruptions
Second, it helps me focus on specific things without needing to switch “hats.”
For example, I have time for admin checks. That’s checking emails, checking Slack for my team, etc. Then my notifications go off until I have connection time so I can be fully invested in full-focus time until then. I’m not going back and forth trying to switch gears or go back to where I left off.
Setting up my day this way has helped me TEN FOLD when trying to be productive.
How quarterly planning helps me create a routine
So now you see how my work week is broken up, let’s walk through what I actually do during these chunks of time.
Because I do quarterly planning every 90 days I have a pretty good idea of what my goals are for each quarter. I break down those goals into smaller, actionable bites, and then I have a better idea of the smaller steps that need to happen day in and day out.
And my week actually starts on Sundays, where I take about 15 minutes to map out the week ahead in my Full Focus Planner. I look at things like:
Calls scheduled
Appointments on the calendar
Specific due dates
Is it a content creation week? Or is there another focus (like recording, launching, etc.)?
This helps me see what I can plug into each day without overwhelming myself. Then I make a goal of completing 3 BIG THINGS for the week. I make sure all the tasks on my plate support each of those goals, and then I plan and schedule accordingly.
How my morning routine helps me stay productive
I’m not a morning person nor do I believe I need to be a morning person to be successful. You don’t need to wake up at freaking 5 am to get things done, okay? I know because I tried and it was miserable. I was just more tired and cranky and definitely not any more productive. No thanks!
But I found if I want to stay active and get in some movement every day, I have to do it before the kids get up. I’m way too exhausted by the end of the day to make time for it. Plus with a soccer schedule for two kids, it’s impossible to find the time in the evenings.
So, I’ve gotten my morning routine down to a simple, but effective schedule:
Walk for 2 - 3 miles
Shower
Get dressed
Do my skincare routine
Pour myself some coffee
Yep. That’s it. I wake up before everyone else in the house so I can be in mom mode when the kids are up and get them off to school (IYKYK). Otherwise, I will have zero time to focus on my routine.
My work day, broken down
The morning
Once it’s time to head into the work day, I start that admin time like I showed you above! I have a dedicated time for this so I can easily settle into that “sacred” time for focusing on the deeper work.
It could be sales page copy, funnel automations, video scripting, or course content planning — something that is going to take a chunk of my time and all of my attention to doing it! And I usually take about two hours each day for this.
Word to the wise…if you don’t have this time blocked into your week, it's going to be really hard to get anything done. This piece is KEY to actually getting things done!
You may not be able to block 2 hours yet, but you can start with 15 minutes, then 30 minutes, and so on until you get into a bigger chunk of time that you feel comfortable with. But try to work at it each week to see what kind of schedule changes or shifts you could make to get this on your calendar.
The afternoon
Connection time is a newer part of my routine, but basically, I’m working on relationships and building a community with my audience. And it’s nice because it's something I can also do over lunch!
This could be catching up with friends on Voxer, popping into a community I’m a part of, or responding to comments and DMs on social media
Then, after lunch, we usually have team meetings on Monday’s. They only last about an hour long, but it’s a good time for us to catch up. We’ve found that once a week is a good sweet spot for all of us — not too much, and not too little that they don’t feel like they’re getting the help they need.
If it’s not a meeting day, my afternoon is dedicated to my coaching and mastermind clients.
Monday is when I do all the audits for both my YouTube Coaching Experience and my clients inside of $10K on Replay. They can submit things they’d like me to look at and give feedback on, and then I record a Loom walking them through that feedback!
We also have calls and trainings scheduled throughout the week, so I like to make sure afternoons are dubbed “coaching time.”
The evening
The last part of my work day is what I like to call my workday shutdown routine. It’s like a bookend in my brain to signal that it’s time to shift gears.
I answer any messages that popped up during the day, check back in with my team, and check my Full Focus planner one last time to make sure I didn’t miss anything.
Then I close everything up and tidy up my desk so I can start the next day with a clean slate!
I like to leave my evening routine open for family time and things around the house. That’s everything from making dinner, to soccer practice, to bike rides, to laundry.
We try to keep things pretty consistent so the kids can get to bed on time (at eight!) and so we can have our own time to relax and go to sleep on time.
Want more help staying productive as a small biz owner?
This schedule isn’t perfect every day or even every week — let’s be real. But what it does is give me a strong foundation to stay productive and know what to focus on to minimize distractions and chaos.
I’ve tried going with the flow and I’ve tried a consistent routine. And I can tell you that the routine is ALWAYS more helpful, not just for my business, but for my personal life, too.
If you want to see more of what this routine looks like, be sure to check out the video below! I walk you through that quarterly planning routine that I mentioned earlier. This is what helps me stay on track and know what to focus on on a monthly, weekly, and daily basis.
It’s a game-changer for sure!
