My life gets very busy A LOT. This leads me to have a very scheduled weekly schedule most of the time. And while I may have a full schedule I still have the freedom and flexibility to create that schedule, which is my favorite part of being my own boss.

I am busy moving & shaking most hours of the day, 7 days a week.

It may be a work day,  a child’s field trip, a volunteer meeting, a day full of coffee appointments or a weekend full of chores and hanging with the family, I am moving and making things happen.  Some of my friends wonder how I do it all and how I continue to be like the Energizer Bunny and I often wonder myself.

Yes, I do get overwhelmed. Yes, I do get tired. Yes, I sometimes wonder why I do this to myself. And when I analyze why, then I remember MY WHY and my motivation for being a multi-tasking entrepreneur.

I was talking with my Coach Kevin a while ago and we were talking about how to “get it all done” when the days seem short and the hours pass quickly.

He gave me a tip that was “worth the price of admission” that day.
(And the price of admission is not cheap!)

He told me about how he plans his weekly schedule and then keeps it as consistent as possible from week to week so that he and his team know what to expect. I loved his concept and am going to share it all with you here today.

He creates a Weekly Map

I want you to think about creating your own Weekly Map that you stick to as much as possible. This may look familiar as some of this is Sales and Marketing 101 and has cause to be remembered.

Here’s what a sample Weekly Map looks like:

Monday – Marketing Day
Tuesday – Training Day
Wednesday – Meeting Day
Thursday – Meeting Day
Friday – Marketing Day
Saturday – Training Day
Sunday – Miscellaneous Day/Family Day/ Whatever Day

Now, you can set this up to fit your business structure allows. For example if the weekly networking meeting you attend is on Monday – you can fit that in as Part of your marketing day or you can make Monday – meeting day if that is better for you.

The goal is to be consistent especially when it comes to marketing. If you are not marketing and working on connecting with prospects the funnel will dry up. And while it would be great to do marketing everyday, as an entrepreneur other work needs to be done too – like meeting with folks in the sales process.

The goal is to structure your time into focused chunks which helps reduce chaos and overwhelm. It is challenging to work on operations issues, then run to a meeting, then come back to the office to do some marketing or prospect calling all in the same day or within a few hours.

Creating a daily focus with goals to accomplish can help reduce your stress level. Now, I am not saying spend the full 8 hours on Monday only doing marketing – that is unrealistic. What I am saying is that you know you’re setting aside X number of hours on Monday and Friday to do marketing before you move to something else. Or you know your best meeting days are Wednesday and Thursday between 9-12 so you block that on your calendar.

That said, if a prospect wants to meet you on Tuesday and you have the time – of course you go. Or if on Tuesday you have this great idea for a newspaper ad, then write the newspaper ad.

The whole idea of a weekly map is to help reduce a little stress whenever possible in a way that fits your life/business and is consistent. This helps when that To-Do list gets way to long and rears its ugly head. (I’ll save the to-do list for another post!)

Now – go spend 5-10 minutes thinking about your week and come up with your weekly map. IF YOU DO THIS and stick to it week after week, you’ll help yourself and your business.

P.S. I appreciate your feedback and look forward to your comments. For more information about my services or to find out how we can partner together call me at 503-780-3203 or email me at vanessa@vanessaduplessie.com.