How often have you found yourself saying “I don’t have the time” when it comes to your business? Don’t have the time to start. Don’t have the time to launch. Don’t have the time to create.

Or maybe… you don’t have the inspiration. The motivation. The confidence to do it. Did that hit a nerve?

I hear this so often when people tell me they want to start a coaching/consulting business alongside their already busy life.

And I get it. I built my first business 20 years ago under extreme circumstances and then Claim Your Career alongside my demanding VP position in corporate. The calls, texts, emails, they never stop!

I’m not saying it was easy, but even with how busy I was, I was able to create the time to start and grow my businesses – twice, as a single mom. Want to know how? I quit making excuses that I didn’t have the time and instead used time management strategies like:

1. Time blocking to stay on tasks
2. Creating boundaries to avoid burnout
3. Hiring a coach to streamline the learning and mindset support

Now, starting businesses is like second nature to me. I’ve helped many other “overly busy” professionals make it happen so that they can release the burden of living to work and truly start working to live doing something they actually love! So let’s explore some of the ways you can get more time back and stop working yourself to the bone, trying to juggle all of the things.

5 Ways To Create More Time In Your Business

Finding enough time in the day to accomplish all your goals can feel nearly impossible and let’s be honest, you’re now verging on the edge of burnout, am I right? When you hit this point, what you need is a time management system that works for YOU so that you can make sure you’re focusing and executing on the RIGHT things that will actually help you see a ROI in your business and start signing clients. Let’s take a look at how you can get started:

Being intentional

Don’t just say “I’m going to work from 9-3” instead assign tasks and say “these are the tasks I’m going to get done to make sure I’m productive in my business.”

Mapping out your time usage for clarity

How much time are you spending scrolling through social media, engaging with your target audience, creating graphics in Canva, creating content, on discovery calls with potential clients, etc…? Are you spending time on the essential tasks of your business? Not sure what those are? I can help you there! Keep reading.

Try task-specific time blocking

Set blocks of time to focus on one task and eliminate multitasking. These time blocks can range anywhere from 15 minutes to hours. Know your attention limits.

Using the Pomodoro method

This task management strategy consists of short, focused work sprints followed by a short break in between. For example, work for 15 minutes, take a break for 10, go back to work for 20 minutes.

Keeping an ABC list

An ABC list keeps your tasks in order of importance, A being the highest urgency and C being the lowest. As they become more time-sensitive, move them higher up the list.

Get on my calendar

If you realize that you’ve mapped out your time to work on your business but you’re not sure which tasks you should be spending your time on – set up a free Assessment Call to help give you some direction!

Start Your Business With Just 8 Hours A Week

The truth is, time management is a learned skill, BUT it’s one of the best tools you can implement in your business to see results, and the above tips are just the starting point. What you really need is a clear action plan, because once you have time management down to a science, it can help to alleviate the pressure and instead give you space to stay on task and take more action in your business. I’ve been in this game for years now, and I’ve picked up a thin or two. The following effective strategies are my go-to’s now and will allow you to best utilize your time as you grow your business:

1. Content Planning – 1 day a month for 8 hours OR 2 hours per week. Create all of your content for the next month including your social media posts, email drafts, live scripts, etc.
2. Engagement – 20 min, 3 times a week = 1 hour per week. Connect with your followers by commenting on their posts, reaching out to them about something relatable or just supporting their business in some way on social. 
3. Going Live – 1 hour a week or 4 hours a month. Putting yourself out there is crucial for talking about your business and your offer with others. Use the platform that your ideal clients are hanging out on (FB, IG, CH, LI)
4. Client Work – 2 hours a week, 8 hours a month. This is the heart of it – actually working with your clients. Whether you’re working on things in the background as a consultant or having weekly calls as a coach, this is where we get to serve! And if you don’t have the clients in place yet – use this time for marketing your business!
5. Discovery Calls – 2 30 minute calls per week, 4 hours a month. Get on the phone with your potential clients, so you can listen to their pain points and share with them how your service can help them.

If you did the math you’ll realize there’s an extra 4 hours in your month. Use that hour each week to do some business admin, schedule an extra call, further support your clients, do a guest podcast or work with me as your coach so I can help you strategize for all areas of your business so that you can reach your income goals faster. Eventually you will increase the amount of time you spend on your business but the profits will make the time investment worth it as you get closer to your goal of leaving the 9-5!

Ready To Do This For Yourself?

Schedule your free assessment call and let’s take a realistic look at how you can create the time to start and grow your business around your existing schedule so that you can build your life of intention, take back your time and start doing work that makes you feel excited to get up in the morning! Invest 15 minutes of time to TAKE BACK YOUR TIME. Click here to book your call today.

About The Author

Stephanie Ritz is a business strategist and mindset coach who empowers women to tap into their strengths, skills, and desires to build a second income stream while in their full-time job. Her unique approach combines mindset coaching with business strategy to help professional women create a second income stream through building a coaching, consulting, or online-service business. 

Stephanie developed her coaching and mentoring skills through training as a Certified Coach and an NLP Master Practitioner and drawing on her own life experience. Starting as a single, teen mom, she put herself through school and went on to corporate leadership roles in multiple industries while starting two successful businesses.

For more information or to work with Stephanie, please visit www.ClaimYourCareer.com.