Time Management at Happy Hour Pt. 3

Is everyone enjoying this series?!  Please share your thoughts and comments on how you manage your time doing what it is that you do! Here is Part 3 of our round table discussion about Time. So, from Part 1, we talked about budgeting our time, like we budget our money.  Then in Part 2, we created categories to put our tasks into, rather than having a long laundry list on our calendars.  Are we ready for Part 3? Hold your drinks for this one!

Set a timer! When we have many things to tackle, a few things can happen. We start working on one task. We’re focused, directed, and in tune with what we’re doing at that moment. But somehow, we become distracted by an email alert, a text, or 47 minutes later, we find ourselves doing a google search for our next vacation spot or trying to find out how tall Jesus was! Here is something else that can happen: We allow ourselves to become overwhelmed and suddenly laundry becomes a priority (when it hasn’t been for the last two weeks!).

Setting a timer has done wonders for my concentration and focus. Here’s an example: Fridays I have a block of time scheduled for 2 hours of research. A specific task for research is finding a new modal jersey supplier with low minimums (I know I’m being very specific here!). The time block can change, but we’ll say from 6-8p, that timer begins at 6p. For next 2 hours, I don’t check email, I don’t respond to texts, I don’t sketch, I don’t make updates to my website! Now we may need to answer our phones for emergencies, yes, but we know when a call comes in, if it’s urgent or not. You’ll be surprised at how much you can get done in 2 hours, even 1 hour. You are setting yourself up to do focused work. This is part of working smart.  Setting a timer has forced me to calm down when I work. Many times, I would find myself working frantically to get things done. We know when we are frantic and stressed, we don’t think straight. We may look busy doing somethin’, but is it complete work? Is it our best work?

Once that timer goes off, then you go on to the task in your next category. I should mention, don’t forget to schedule a break for yourself. You may find that you can work 2 hours straight with no break. If that’s the case, then do it. If you know that after an hour, you need 10 minutes, then set another timer, and take 10.

My fellow movers and shakers, I hope that these tips helped. I’d love to read your comments on tips you use to manage your time. Also, if there is a topic you would like to for me to blog about, let me know! Until our next round table!

Cheers!
~Tamu

Time Management at Happy Hour Pt. 2

I hope that you enjoyed the first part of  our Happy Hour round table discussion on everybody's favorite topic, time management. If you haven’t had a chance, be sure to read Part 1. In part 1, we talk about how helpful it is to budget our time like we budget our paper aka our money. For part 2, here’s another tip that has worked for me: As you schedule your blocks of time, put your tasks into categories. Side note: In parts 1, 2, &3, you will see me use business examples, but keep in mind these tips can be applied to that big thing called Life in general.

If you are a not a robot, there are some weeks, you will look at your to do list and either think “Wtf?!”, “How do I tackle this”, “What do I do first?!”, “Why do I even have this list?” or all the above! I have found that breaking up my to do list into categories nullifies those questions. Before doing this, my tasks were plastered on a calendar. A typical day would look like this: on the 1^st (of whatever month it was)- *order swatches *schedule photo shoot *call boutique to set up meeting *finish blog post *customer analysis *look for contract sewer *get supplier for labels, *etc…. The tasks were all over the place. Yes, each one completed went toward a main goal, but it was an overwhelming laundry list!  

Putting those tasks into categories has worked wonders for me. I have 6 categories that my tasks fall under. Now you don’t have to have that many categories. You may find that 2 categories work for you. Remember the purpose of this is to make life easier for you. For example, ordering swatches, getting a label supplier, looking for a contract sewer, customer analysis are tasks that would go under my research category. So rather than having a long laundry list, let your categories hold your tasks for you. You can schedule your categories in your blocks of time you have created from part 1.

I hope these tips have been helpful to you. I love sharing tips that have worked for me. I would love to hear how you manage your time. Leave your comments below.

Stay tuned for Part 3!

~Tamu

Time Management at Happy Hour! Pt.1

So many of you bosses and go-getters are out here building businesses, carving out brands, and starting other careers. Whatever it is we are building, we are building something to last. We are building something to pass to our nieces, nephews, children; because we know we can’t pass down our cubicle or our office from a 9 to 5 job! Whatever the reason, we stay dedicated to ourselves by continuing to work 40, 50, and yes, sometimes 60 hours at a day job, and then refocus and put work in toward our visions. We continue to divide our time, things get tough, we get tired, but we power through.

I’m here with you! I understand how you feel completely, entirely, wholly, and fully! So, I want to share with you tips that have worked for me to make the time divide more manageable. I have 3 tips that I’d like to share with you in 3 short shots. Here is your 1^st shot:

Look at the total hours you have after you’ve worked your day job. Take the hours you have left and commit a number of those hours to building. You can do this by the month or by the week. This is your time budget. Then, schedule your vision building in blocks of time based off the number of committed hours. Treat your building as sessions or appointments. And I mean write/type/talk the session in on a calendar just like you do with your hair and meeting-the-friends-for-cocktails appointments!

It is important here to be real with yourself. Here are a few examples. Let’s say your time off from the day job is 4p. Do you really want to schedule your block of time to begin at 5p? Give yourself time to refocus and recharge. Give yourself time to eat! Only you know how much time you need for that. If you must be at your day job at 8am, are you going to schedule a block of time from 3a-6a?  That sounds good on paper, but will you do it? Again, only you can answer that. Perhaps schedule yourself from 5a-6a. Yes, it is only one hour but you will be surprised at what you can get done in an hour when your work is focused. The goal here is not to look at these blocks of time as chores, which can be the result of making unrealistic schedules.

This method forces you to garbage the excuse of “I don’t have time.” The time budget forces you to look at the time YOU DO have. Even if you find yourself scheduling blocks of 30 minutes, guess what? That.Is.Time!

For those of you saying to me, “But Tamu, things come up, it’s not that easy to schedule time like that!” Then I’ll ask you, don’t you have a budget for your money? (Please say YES) Now budget your time. I’ll also point out, the fact that life does not stop, and things will come up, is exactly why scheduling the time for your vision is so necessary.

This round is on me! Stay tuned for Part 2 of our round table talk about time management! *Cheers*