To keep giving you relevant and timely content, we update our most popular posts. This article was last updated in September 2020.
I don’t work very much compared to many entrepreneurs.
Now, I’m not saying I spend hours playing fetch with my dog on the beach or lounging with the new baby at the park instead of taking care of clients! Au contraire. Everything gets done when it needs to, business is humming, and I have plenty of time to relax and do the things I enjoy.
So, what’s my secret for getting it all done and having a life?
Simply put, I’m a calendar master.
I use my calendar like it’s going out of style—and I’ve been doing it that way since I was 19. Needless to say, I’ve turned it into something of a science over the years.
Maybe you think you’re good at calendar management (and maybe you are), but chances are you’re like many business owners I know, working your tail off, spending hours at the computer, and still not seeing the results you’d expect for the hours you log.
Click to TweetHow do I run a multi-six-figure biz working less than 30 hours/week? By filling your calendar like a pro! Here’s how …And if that’s the case, I bet I have a few tricks I can teach you for making things much, much easier. So please, read on …
Steal This! My Rock-Solid System for Getting It All Done (and Having a Life!)
Today, you get to be my client (for free!), as I walk you through the exact steps I teach our clients for getting it all done without sacrificing the things that matter most to them outside of work.
It all begins with learning how to properly fill in your calendar, which I’m going to share with you in this post.
To get started, grab a blank piece of paper and a pen. Hold it in landscape orientation and draw seven columns, one for each day of the week. Then follow the steps below to use your calendar like a pro.
Step 1: Write down all of your important personal appointments and commitments
If you want to have a life, your life has to come first! Put down all of your weekly personal appointments and commitments onto your paper.
If you pick up your kiddos from school at 3, mark that down. If you get a mani and pedi on Fridays and meet friends for coffee (whether in-person or virtually) on Tuesdays, mark those down. If you want to play on the weekends, cross off those days!
Step 2: Decide what hours you want to work
If you want to have a life, you must prioritize that life. That means putting solid boundaries around your work hours. So, when do you want to work? Mark those times on your calendar.
For example, before my baby was born, I worked Monday through Friday, roughly 11 until 4.
Now, I’m planning to work just 12 hours a week. That’s Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 until 4. And that’s it!
I share this so you’ll know it’s absolutely possible to sustain a multi-six-figure business without working long hours…. if you know how to be a calendar pro!
Step 3: Write down all your work appointments and commitments
Now that you know when you want to work, start filling in your appointments and commitments. When do you want to…
Work with clients?
Write your weekly blog post?
Engage on social media?
Handle your bookkeeping?
Create your next product?
Work on list-building?
Yes, you are going to mark down exactly when you’re going to work on each task (plus any others that apply to you). This is essential if you want to get everything done!
Step 4: Massage it
Now that you’ve got everything in your calendar—personal and business commitments with clear time boundaries—see if everything fits.
Chances are, your first pass through shows that you’re trying to do too much in the hours you want to work. This means you need to massage your schedule a bit. Until we look at reality clearly, we will keep tripping up on what we think we should be able to accomplish, as opposed to what’s realistically possible.
In the Make It Work Online® program, we teach our Flex Schedule System, which helps you calibrate how much time to spend on various tasks, depending on the specific phase of business growth you’re in. This helps a ton in deciding how you can best tweak your schedule.
For now, play around with your weekly calendar until you find a combination and a schedule that will work well for you.
Need an example? Here’s the default schedule I use as a starting point with my clients.
Step 5: Put it all in your calendar
Once you’ve nailed down a workable schedule on paper, put it in your official calendar. I use Apple’s standard calendar software, but you can use whatever works for you.
My Personal Recommendation for YouLearn the 6 steps to achieve success without sacrifice!
Step 6: Follow it obsessively and adapt accordingly
It’s time to follow your scheduled plan. After all, the current chaos you’re experiencing isn’t really working for you… otherwise you wouldn’t have read this far into this article!
Learn to work within the schedule you created. You’re creating new habits here, including turning off your computer at the end of the day and getting those manis and pedis in on Fridays!
Even though you have a set schedule, things happen. So when something comes up on Monday during the time you’re supposed to be blogging, you must move that blogging time block to another spot in your calendar! If you’re blogging each week, that block must find a new home.
However, having this kind of “move the blocks around” flexibility means you can’t schedule every single minute of every week. Be sure to give yourself some wiggle room and not schedule yourself rigidly to the minute. That’s why in the sample schedule above, we have time every day for administrative tasks and tackling your to-do list.
Test your schedule for a month. The more you follow it, the more you’ll get done and the more you’ll love this level of scheduling. After all, it’ll enable you to have the business and the life you want. And when that happens, you’ll officially be a calendar master like me and my clients!
Like this approach?
Click to TweetHere’s the calendar management system that lets you put YOUR LIFE first!Ready to schedule?
When you schedule your days correctly, you’ll be shocked how easy it is to stay on track, get more done, and increase the time you spend relaxing and doing what you love.
Besides, isn’t it high time you left your office for a little fun? A neatly organized schedule is your ticket outta there.
Now, I want to hear from you! Tell me…
Are you overwhelmed with work in your business right now? Would a more structured approach to your days and week be your ticket to streamlined success?
How often do you utilize your calendar in your business? Do you feel like you’re using it to its full potential? Why or why not?
Let’s talk about it in the comments below. And, happy scheduling!
This is such a great post. I am going to try to really get into doing this – everytime I do manage to schedule things properly, I find I am much more productive. But, the problem I have is figuring out which online system to use (because I want clients to be able to book in their sessions, but I’m not an apple lady!) and also having a system to match up my paper diary to my online one without creating loads more work for myself, or making things worse by not matching them up and ending up in a big pile of confusion.
Oh dear. I sound like a basket case. But this post has really given me some hope!
thankyou!
For client scheduling, I use http://acuityscheduling.com. It exports the client appointment to your calendar (Mac, Google, Outlook, etc.). And since you know when you have client appointments by following the steps above, you’ll know not to book other things during those times — leaving them open for client appointments.
Give it a go. Doing both paper and electronic can be messy and things can get missed. If you can move to one system and integrate it, things will be much easier — I promise!
I had that same question months ago.. Thanks for the info! It’s really helpful to know that the tool is working before paying the monthly fee. It gives me comfort.
Jenny, I love to plan too BUT here is my struggle. A nice one- I am a mother of little ones plus a partner to a man who has no fixed schedule because of a special job. So every werk is different. What do you suggest? I have my evenings planned but the dauly work is not steady. Thank you!
Sorry about the delayed reply, Andrea. We found your comment in spam — weird!
I believe we can create schedules around our life situations and that will be more or less scheduled based on our personal styles and our families.
Let’s look at your situation from a different perspective. Let’s say you had a job instead of a business, and your job required you to go to work every day from 9-5. Then your partner’s not-fixed schedule wouldn’t matter because you’d still have to go to work every day. So you’d still go to work and he’d still have his schedule. But you do have a biz and not a job, so maybe you need to create your schedule regardless of his.
Does that reframe help?
I’m at the end of a big website redesign, so I’ve been working like mad these past couple of weeks. Once I have this done and launched later this week, I’m planning to take a bit of a step back and really reduce what I’m doing for a couple of weeks.
I find I work best in ‘spurts’; so I’ll be slammed with a big project (like my website redesign) and work really hard on pumping that out, and then I’ll be able to take a couple of weeks where I take it alittle easy. For me, embracing the fact that this is how I work best has been massively helpful in keeping me from burnout mode.
I’m going to also incorporate some of what you’ve said above, too, though. In the times when I’m ‘heads down’, that will keep me from having moments of overwhelm. Thanks for the post!
I’m like that too Candace; all or nothing. I can go and go for a few weeks on something, and then I need to rest. Balancing the two equally doesn’t seem to work for me at all, and like you since accepting that’s how I work it’s been easier to allow myself to just crash for a bit after a big one!
I also find schedules really restricting and feel guilty if I don’t stick to them. {Which is really just my own nonsense, but it prevents me actually setting up any kind of routine based timetable.}
I agree though this post makes it feel more doable; perhaps I can work out some kind of super flexible schedule that doesn’t make me feel tied down {instant repulsion!} but actually still get more done than I am currently.
Hey Tara –
Here’s how I’m going to approach it: One week at a time. I don’t do well with scheduling either, so I find if I just do it no more than one week at a time, it works better. Plus, as you said, you can schedule with more flexibility. You could always do something like “okay, I have my to do list for the day, and I’m going to work for 3 hours from 10-1 and another 2 hours from 3-5”. Or something like that, you get the idea. It may not be as precise, but if it fits your personal style better and you’ll actually use it this way, it’s better than making yourself crazy trying to fit into a schedule that’s too restricting for you.
Hope that helps!
I like that! I’m always of the mind that there’s a solution {or several} even if I can’t see them yet. And usually it’s a case of trial and error and constant tweaking. I like your suggestion; it appeals to both my love of planning and my hatred of sticking to plans!! Thank you. 🙂
Your website is beautiful! I’m on the cusp of a website redesign too and very inspired by yours! It looks like we do similar things too.
Thanks Jenny for this post; I’m going to focus on numbers 1 and 2 to start with and go from there!
Love your discussion, ladies! If you’re good about giving yourself rest time, more power to you. I suck at it!! So the weekly set schedule helps me make sure I get me-time in regularly.
One thing you can do, and I’ll be moving to this model in 2014, is to move to an every-other week schedule. For example, the first and third weeks are for clients and the second is for getting stuff done and the fourth is for rest, play, and vacation.
However you schedule, the benefit to having some structure is knowing that you’re getting it all done but not expecting too much from yourself.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts here. I’m sure it’s been helpful for others to read as well!
Oh I love that idea too! That could work really well with my love of irregularity. 🙂 Thanks Jenny.
Great post Jenny (from a fellow Jenny, teehee). I’m curious as to what tools you use for calendar management – Google Calendar or something else or the good old pen and paper? I love the good old pen and paper but wondering what you use.
Jenny C — my question too! Jenny S — let us know! 🙂
I use the calendar software with my Mac.
This couldn’t have come at a better time! Thanks for being so transparent about your schedule. And thanks for the example calendar—a big help! I love having a foundation to jump off of.
I’m SO overwhelmed right now! This came at a perfect time. I know that it’s also time for me to delegate more! Love the sample calendar.
Get yourself on a schedule and delegate. You can nip that overwhelm for good by the end of the month 🙂
Hi Jenny,
Great post indeed, I have been running from one task to the next the last couple of weeks, having the impression that I was not being very efficient at all.
When I read your email I thought, this is what I need, so here I am with a piece of paper making my very own schedule.
I am an Apple girl but somehow I do not find the calendar very nice to work with… I think I am going to try to stick to this piece of paper to start with and then I see what kind of app works best for me…
Excellent, Sonia! Use the pen and paper to map out your time blocks. Then once you’re happy, schedule them in whatever calendar you decide to use. What I can tell you is that when my clients implement and follow the schedule we create during our sessions, they get SO MUCH DONE IT BLOWS THEIR MINDS. Whatever calendar you use, follow your schedule and prepare to be amazed! 🙂
Just what I needed to read this week, Jenny 🙂 Got lots of goodness to plan in the coming months, and I’m determined to enter 2014 with more boundaries and balance.
Thanks for sharing your systems with us!
Amen to boundaries and balance!!
Love this Jenny! You had me with the headline… Share it with my coaches + have been doing something similar, will use a few details you added to take it up a notch. Great post!
Thanks again Jenny !
One question (maybe is not the right place and/or moment sorry) when should we be taking an assistant?
Could be a subject for another occasion maybe?
I had this conversation with some other colleagues last week.
We noticed that we (in Europe) have some troubles to work with assistants. I am not sure yet why. Of course it is a question about how much money your business makes in first place but… I happen to know business owners who are doing really well and still have problems delegating part of their tasks, so there must be more to it…
Good question, Sonia. Here’s a post from last year on that very topic: https://jennyshih.com/2012/04/how-to-know-if-its-time-to-hire-an-assistant/
Hope it helps!
You are the best ! thanks.
Just watched the video, it really helps, thanks !
The key point I was missing was having systems in place ; )
It’s funny:that’s what I have been sorting out over the last few weeks. How much time/where/on what? I don’t want to overdo it, but I need to do something. I always grumble when it comes to having a set schedule, or routine. As much as I hate to admit, I don’t have much of a choice. Especially now that I’ve decided to work as well on contract, do my business, and have a life. Oh — yes, I’m working out too.
I had done somewhat of a schedule in August/September. The best part about that time is that I discovered the joys of my Saturdays again. For the first time in 10 years, I stopped feeling guilty about “not being productive”. I’m keeping my saturday’s for myself. :^)
Fabulous article Jenny (no surprise!) and thanks for helping me look at things differently. Like a couple of the posters above, when I get too rigid, something in me rebels, so working from another perspective, even if I don’t actually duplicate it persactly, helps. I love my online scheduling tool (vcita) and since it syncs with my google apps account, it helps me keep things moving forward!
Great tips here Jenny. Have you any advice for a Virtual Assistant? I find I need to be available for my clients all day, every day as I never know when the work will come in. I have certain tasks which I can schedule as I’m aware of them beforehand. However, some clients just fire over emails with tasks and expect them to be done straight away. I love what I do but I don’t feel like my life is my own any longer and I’m very much at their beck and call. If I go to meet a friend for coffee (which is rare), I feel oh so guilty that I’m letting my clients down by not been available. Thank you
Yes, that’s a tricky one, Anne! On the road to building JennyShih.com, I was a VA so I know that struggle. I personally didn’t want to be “on call” for my clients, so I wasn’t, and they knew that in working with me, they needed to give me a 2 day lead time on tasks so I could schedule it in a way that worked best for me. Now, that may or may not work for you and that’s okay.
Another way you could do it is to have set working hours and set email hours. For example, you could tell your clients that you are in your inbox M-F from 9-10 and 3-4. Then you can be on call for quick stuff then but manage the rest of your schedule as you like.
The hard truth is remembering that you are in charge of your business, not your clients. That means that you need to set the work plan, schedule, hours, arrangements, etc that work for you! This isn’t always easy when we’re used to people-pleasing, but in the long run, you’ll love your business way more and you’ll love your clients… and they will love you!
Yes, if you make changes, you may lose some clients. But you will then find new ones. That happened to me when I went to stricter schedules. Some people are just “fire! fire!” people and I didn’t want to work with them 🙂 That was okay.
Bottom line: create the work and the schedule you like, and then find the clients that respect and appreciate how you operate. Easier said than done, but you’ll love it in the long run — promise!
Thanks very much Jenny, really insightful and helpful. I definitely feel like I’ve lost being in charge of my own business and need to gain back that control. Love the idea of your email hours and I’m going to start incorporating these into my business. May not be so easy for a couple of my clients right now, but I’ll certainly be doing this going forward with new clients and incorporate it into my terms and conditions. Thank you
Hi Anne! I know how you feel – been in that position myself a few years ago. The thing is with clients, if you let them ask you to work 24/7 without even charging extra – they will do it happily.
Realistically it shouldn’t be a crisis in their business every week that you have to help them within an hour – or if that’s how they run it, they are not suitable for you, they need a large VA agency that can handle such deadlines. Or actually hire someone in house!
“Email hours” suggestion from Jenny certainly works, also you can plan it not to be first thing in the morning, and do something for your business instead, then check emails, then do client work. When you get clients, you can send them a Client Charter explaining how you work, your turnaround times, deadlines and premium surcharge if they specifically request you to work outside of your normal hours. Then from the outset they know what to expect – and if you feel they are slipping and testing and boundaries, you can gently remind them what you agreed.
You could also look into getting a partner to cover for each other – so you can have that day off without worrying your clients aren’t looked after at all, as you VA partner will support them on that day. And you will do it in return when she/he needs it too.
Good luck!
Thanks Jenny! I just came back to this post as my Sunday afternoon project. Schedule on!
Totally love this. I am big on scheduling absolutely everything. You are right though, you have to be really tough about it. It’s so easy to let things drift on longer than they should and eat into your free time. I need to be a bit better about boundaries on free time I think!
You nailed it — be better at setting and enforcing your own time boundaries! 🙂
Jenny, great post and perfect timing for me.
Thank you so much for sharing.
Big love,
Dee
Yay Jenny! So glad to find someone whose brain works like mine! I knew we were on the same track before, but this blog post cements it. I’m a firm believer of setting up a system and following it – so firm that I feel it’s the key element between success and failure. Thanks for spelling it out so cearly. Here’s to fellow sanity savers!
Ps – just out of curiousity, what was the first product you ever launched – and was it successful?
I have a long list of failures and successes 🙂 My first ever product was in my original career coaching business. I sold 1! Why do you ask? (I have lots to say on this subject!)
I’m working on an exercise where I’m writing out every thing I did, tried, learned, attempted, failed, succeeded, etc., since finding my way toward the business I now have. I have mapped out failure after failure, all which brought me to this point. From the 5-year perspective, so much goes into success. Just to list a few things… list size, marketing skills, titles and names, confidence, guts, the ability to speak to your target audience. And most importantly, dogged persistence. Keep trying, keep learning, and keep going. Business doesn’t usually click fast for most people, but if you keep going, it will click!
Thanks Jenny, this was a great reminder!! xo Krissy
Great post! I liked so much the idea of defining specific time for work. That’s some kind of freedom many of us can have, but realize it.
Great Post- Thank you!
I do have a semi strict schedule but this one is even more specific.
I work mostly 8am till 3pm (when kids are at school)
I am not sure I can ignore emails throughout a period of time during office hours and at the same time I notice that I can easily interrupt the flow of my work to read and email that came through. Any suggestions on this?
Thank you Jenny.
As a biz owner and especially as a VA, it’s your job to set your schedule and your expectations with your clients. If you have a “I’ll respond within 2 hours as long as it’s 8-3” policy, then you’ll need to check it every 2 hours. Or you could have it “I’ll respond within 24 hours” policy. It’s all about what you want to create, creating it, setting those boundaries, and making sure your clients know how how you operate. Ball’s in your court!
Thanks for the article, I’ve been doing the non schedule thing and I see that I am probably not efficient as much I I could, because I tell me that I still have time…. and take my time…. and then find myself being on the computer all day… So starting today I am going to do it the calendar way! 🙂
Thanks Jenny – I love the week by week and varying the schedule idea.
What I think I might do is approach this and then work in Pomodoro blocks within my time blocks. Finding them really good for getting me moving when it comes to the ‘eating the frogs tasks!
I’ve heard that Pomodoro works wonders for some. If it does for you, definitely stick with it!
I keep finding stuff on this subject.. universe is sending it to help me get organized and schedule more details. I have client days so that is set.. I am marketing so when I get more clients it will be easy since my days are set.. I know it helps already.. I love your schedule. I can see that being possible once I get more clients my way.
Jenny:
Hope you had a nice weekend after an exciting week last week. This was just the perfect post and just what I needed. I have my processes in place, in fact I love creating them, but this took tons of stress off. I’m implementing it ASAP 🙂 By the way – My website is finally live…and I took your advice on the ‘bite sized’ offer. I have found that also love to create campaigns/ads. (vicki@outlook)
So I just filled out my calendar… yikes! It looks overwhelming, because when I see all those blocks of booked time I start to spaz out a little, but I’ve made sure my days start at 10am and end at 5pm. And I’m only working four days a week, with Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday off.
Question – do you have alerts going off all day when your time block changes? Or do you silence the alerts and just switch tasks intuitively?