Let’s talk about time management. It is something that we all struggle with. We all have a hard time trying to figure out where our time is, and where our energy is going.

When it comes to time management, the number one thing that you should do is audit your current situation. What are things that are taking your time? Next, you’ll need to consider the following questions: What isn't giving you energy? Is there something that you just don't like doing? The third question that you need to think about is: Who can do this? The final question of the audit is: Who can I hire to maybe do a task that I don't want to do? 

These are big questions that I ask myself when I start to feel overwhelmed. When I start to feel I don't have enough time in my day, then I have to do an audit. Now, you can't just say: “Oh, I'm just gonna block this for self-care now.” It typically doesn't work like that because then something else falls by the wayside. 

As you conduct your audit, think about your energy and what impacts it. So for me, especially going into 2023, I am avoiding any negative energy.

I don't really have that many negative people around me because I've learned quickly to get them out of my life. Anything that's negative, for example, the news, which is always negative. 

Negative people drag my energy down, and once my energy's down, then it feels like I can't do time management as well. Think about your own life and ask yourself: Is something dragging you down? If not, what's something that gives you energy?

Here’s an example of what gives me energy. I actually love going and talking with people. For me, it gives me energy, but for most people, being social can wear them out. Since I love talking to people, one of my goals for 2023 is to determine how I can go and talk with more people and be a motivator for big groups. 

You also need to think about what you don’t like doing. For me,I don't want to cook or clean. These are all like self-care things but they are things that I don’t like doing. In order to get my time back I need to think about who I can get to actually get those things done. For example, my spouse does the cooking. Let’s say that you get a meal service since you don’t want to cook. That is going to help you get 30 minutes back. Those 30 minutes add up to like three hours a week. This extra time can allow you to spend your energy on what you actually want to do during the week.

It’s important to think about whether or not it is worth it for you to hire someone to help you. If I spend this amount of money on this meal service, is overall that worth my three hours back of my time? For me, yes it is because I value my time that much. So, that's another question you have to ask yourself: What's your time worth?

I used to charge $500 for consulting. Now, I'm charging $700 for consulting an hour. So for me, my hourly time is $700. I want every single one of you to know what your hourly rate is and what it is worth to you.

If something is going to take up an hour of my time, it better be really worth it. I have to protect my own energy just because of my own health. And trust me, I would love to talk to everyone and anyone because I love helping people.

For my own health reasons, I actually have to monitor what will take away my energy indirectly. Because it can wear you down just trying to solve everyone's problems, right? So, I just have to be protective of that. 

Here’s what I like to do for time management every single day. I have this laminated piece of paper, which has two columns. I have two columns because I don't have kids, but for those that have kids, you're going to have three.

I put business in one column, kids in one column, and then personal stuff in another column. And literally every single day, I use this checklist with a dry erase marker. My personal stuff consists of eating breakfast, taking vitamins, drinking water, and pooping. Yes, pooping is there. 

Did I drink like two liters of water? Did I overall do my tapping meditation? Did I go for a walk? Those are all things that are on my personal list. It's nothing crazy. It's just basic necessities. As you become an entrepreneur, you can sometimes start to lose sight of basic things because you are too busy trying to do business tasks. This is what has happened to me over the years. I put myself aside and focused more on the business aspect. Focusing more on the business and not yourself can come back to bite you in the butt. My personal to-do list helps me understand what I need to do that day. With this list as my guide,  I can actually get stuff done and prove to myself that I can do whatever I set my mind to.

If you have kids, then you need to write down three things that you need to do for them. 

Do you need to make them lunch? Do you need to go drop them off somewhere? Do you need to make sure all their homework is done? Did I hang out with them for three hours after school and read them a book?

In the business column, I put the three most important business-related things that I need to do that day. For example, today, I needed to make a podcast, do different training on the backend systems that I have, send out emails, and post on social media. I write all this stuff down. If I only do three things from this list, then I’m fine. 

If you are still running into a time issue with whatever task you are trying to get done, then you need to think about hiring people to help you. Should you hire a virtual assistant? Can you hire an employee? I hire so many people to just help me keep the engine going. Can you compromise with your spouse if you have one? It took me a long time to learn this. 

When I first started Ortho Pelvic, it took me a whole year before I decided to hire and I basically had enough patients for two caseloads of two full-time physical therapists. I was so scared to hire because of my mindset. My mindset was, well, if I pay someone, then that's less in my pocket. But the reality is, if I actually pay someone to do something that I don't wanna do, or pay someone to do something that they're good at, then we’re going to get better outcomes. Everyone's gonna be happy. I'll have the energy to do other things that I actually like doing. It's a win-win situation. 

One of the biggest objections that I get as a business coach is people telling me that they  have time to go marketing because they have kids. I get it like a hundred percent, but the reality is that you don’t have to be out talking to people to market your business. There are other things that you can do, such as talking to people on social media and sending out emails. 

If you are ready to get your time back, you have to audit your situation first. Otherwise, you won’t be able to manage your time efficiently. It’s important to be aware of your current situation and then build priorities from there.

Ready to improve your time management skills? Kelly can help you find ways to get your time back.

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