Are you struggling to stay productive? Do you find that you’ll have days where it feels like you’re getting nothing done?
When you’re growing your coaching business on your own, it can feel like you have a mountain of tasks that you want to do. You’ve got a big vision for where you want to go, and it can be frustrating because if you could just get more done, you could get there faster.
In this article (and podcast episode) I want to give you six essential productivity tips that helped me and can help you to be as productive as possible. You’ll see results and grow with more ease and less stress.
By the way, if you’d rather listen than read, here’s where you can tune in to this episode:
Before we get started…I want to invite you to my free online training called: The 4-Part Formula For Replacing Your 9-5 Income With A Coaching Business You Love, and that’s exactly what I teach you, inside the class. There has never been a better time to pursue your dreams of a business that gives you freedom, flexibility, and fulfillment — plus the ability to work from the comfort and safety of your own home — and I teach you my exact system for doing that inside this free training.
Get Comfortable With The Gap
The first mindset shift you need to make as a solopreneur is about getting comfortable with the discrepancy between where you are right now and where you want to go.
I have several clients who are living in this space right now, and it can be tough. They’ve got this big vision for their business: they want to be selling this high-level program, they want to have this team, and they even have this vision for how their offers and services look. And I know they will get there, but it’s all about convincing them that they can make this big vision happen.
What you need to avoid when working towards your vision, is falling prey to discouragement, and either pulling back or giving up entirely. I get it. It can be discouraging when you’re just starting, and you’ve got these fantastic ideas, and you feel like you’re nowhere near completing them. A lot of people in that situation feel like giving up. If you can’t create things right now the way you want them to be – the way you imagine them to be – why bother?
And I get this, because I struggled with this too.
Especially in the beginning, I knew what I wanted to do, the programs I wanted to create, the lives I wanted to impact. But, I had to limit myself. I had to take things one step at a time and just build. And that’s hard.
So you need to see that discrepancy and choose to be inspired by it, rather than discouraged. You can take action now; you can begin to build that vision and grow into your endgame.
You need to learn the art of holding the space for your inspiring big vision and taking those steps to get closer to that with the resources and time you have in the present time. You need to be okay, holding space for both.
Focus On One Key Offer
The next mindset tip is to focus on fewer things. I feel this is so important, but it’s often hard to do.
Instead of having a range of different programs, courses, and digital products, I want you to focus on just one signature offer and focus all your energy into it.
This is something I often struggle with. I’ll have so many ideas for programs, courses, and products, and I want to execute them all. Now, I’ve learned this just isn’t possible, and it certainly doesn’t work in the beginning, when it’s just you.
Currently, I have a team of people who can help me execute a new idea or a new program, but if it’s just you going solo, do yourself a favor and put all your energy into only one offer.
I want to give you an example. One of the women in my Academy has two very different programs she wants to develop, targeting two very different niches. There’s no doubting they’re both great ideas, but right now–at this stage–I told her she needed to pick one.
Just pick one offer, one program, and go all in. Build it, get it running and successful, and then reassess at that point. Decide if the time is right to expand and evolve into the second offering. If she tries to build both at the same time, there’s a strong chance that neither program will get off the ground.
This is a ‘less is more’ kind of situation. I want you to focus on marketing and selling that one offer. And if selling doesn’t feel like your forte, well then don’t worry, I’ve got your back. Previous podcast episodes #29, and episode #7 cover everything you’ll need to know about selling. [LINKS]
- Episode 029: Why Clients Aren’t Saying Yes On Your Discovery Calls
- Episode 07: The Art Of Sales
Essentially, I want you to really refine the marketing and selling process, delivering one offer in order to learn what works to attract your ideal client. If you’re spreading yourself too thinly, it will be hard to really devote sufficient time and energy to each task.
Create A 90-Day Plan
Once you’ve understood these first two points – understanding your goals and focusing on one key area, it’s time to improve your productivity.
And that’s: to create a 90-day plan.
I know a lot of people like to map out their whole year, especially at the beginning in January. I used to do that too; I love planning! But what I’ve learned is that a new or growing business can change rapidly. There are so many things that can shift over the course of the year, planning out a full 12 months in advance often turns out to be a wasted effort.
By the time you reach the last few months, everything is so unrecognizable that you end up improvising anyway. What I’ve found to be much more effective is to plan in 90-day chunks.
Time is a limited resource, especially when it’s just you in your business, let’s not waste it by creating a detailed, yet unnecessary, yearly plan. I want you to spend that time completing tasks and taking action and actually doing things inside your business. Focus on outlining what you want to accomplish in a 90-day period, what projects you feel you need to work on.
I like 90 days because it’s long enough to get a lot of work done, but not so long that it’s hard to see the end of the tunnel. It also allows for flexibility and agility because you can ofcourse, change and edit what’s not working in your very next 90-day chunk.
Choose 1-3 Projects Per 90-Day Timeframe
So then, you’re planning your next 90-days, my next tip is to limit the number of projects you focus on at one time. This is similar to my previous trick on concentrating on just one offer. I want you to choose up to 3 projects at a time — or better yet, just one project for your 90 days.
Instead of trying to work on creating your website, and building a course, and launching your podcast, and creating a YouTube channel, plus writing an ebook – just choose one of those.
This is the entrepreneur’s version of multitasking. It just does not work! You’re juggling too many projects, bouncing around, and staying super busy, but not seeing anything to completion.
Instead, choose one project and see it to completion. You’ll move forward much more quickly that way and build in that satisfaction of seeing things getting finished.
It All Starts With a Commitment
My breakthrough came when I was at rock bottom. I was sitting there inside a CT scanner machine, and I knew this was not the way.
I didn’t know exactly how it was all going to come together, but I knew I needed to make more impact and do so in a meaningful way. I was not going to sacrifice myself to the altar of this system — the healthcare system.
Making that commitment was the mindset shift that allowed me to take positive steps every single day to pursue that goal.
It started with a commitment and a decision.
As I was lying there in that CT scanner, I had a point of no return. I was not going back to my old way of life and staying stuck any longer.
I made a decision to make a change and keep moving forward. It felt so good to finally be on the actual path of my dreams and actually taking action towards my goals, rather than just dabbling and hoping and dreaming.
You may not be at rock bottom like I was in the hospital, you might also not even hate your job, but you might feel like you’re never going to reach your full potential. You may be feeling like you’re no longer challenged in your current role, or you’re starting to feel stuck. Maybe you’re realizing that you’re not making enough money to support your family and achieve the lifestyle you really want. You have no idea what steps to take first.
Maybe you’re just a big confused mess.
That’s okay. You don’t need to know how. I didn’t know the “how” at the time.
The first step is making the commitment — You are going to do this, this is a non-negotiable, no matter what, you are going to make that dream career happen.
If you’re there, I’m so excited for you. I’m excited for you to make a non-negotiable commitment. The commitment to make change happen in your life. The commitment to start the career of your dreams.
Create A Timeblocked Weekly Schedule
The next thing I want you to do is to create an ideal weekly schedule. List out all of the recurring things you need to be doing on a daily and weekly basis. Create a schedule that makes time for everything. First, time for personal non-negotiables, like exercise, sleep, grocery shopping and family time. Then, create time blocks for working on your business.
For those business time blocks, make sure to include all those recurring weekly tasks like working with clients, processing emails, engaging on social media, going live on Facebook, it all needs to go in the schedule.
Next, block off some time for working on those projects you outlined as goals in your 90-day timeframe. Get specific because we need to build your ideal weekly schedule with those things baked-in.
You’re going to know precisely when you are doing everything on your 90-day plan, as well as these recurring administrative tasks you need to be taking. This weekly schedule will probably need to be adjusted and refined, and I recommend that you reassess this schedule every 90 days, to coincide with your 90-day projects and goals.
Now, take a look at your weekly schedule. Does it all fit? Do you have time for everything?
If not, then it’s back to the drawing board.
This is how you prevent that feeling: “oh, there’s never enough time for everything” because you’ll know exactly how much time you have available for certain tasks. When you’re realistic about how much you can accomplish in these timeblocks, you’ll know exactly how much you can get done before your 90 days even starts.
Develop Your Personal Focus Formula
We all have a particular cocktail of the things we need to maximize productivity when we actually sit down to do work. So I want you to think about what your particular requirements are.
Do you need to be in a particular place? This could be at home, or maybe it’s a particular cafe.
What about music? Or silence?
What equipment do you need? Your laptop, a notebook, headphones?
A drink — coffee? Tea?
Do you want to light a candle or have a salt lamp on?
Make a list of all the things that help you to maximize productivity, consider this your personal focus cocktail, or what I like to call your ‘focus formula.’ Do your best to recreate these factors every time you sit down to work.
A caveat with this, though, is to not make this be an excuse for not getting things done. Sometimes, you won’t have things quite right around you. You’ve just got to knuckle down and do it anyway.
So don’t get too precious about this and say to yourself, “oh, my salt lamp stopped working, so I can’t get any work done today.”
No, that’s not the idea here. Successful entrepreneurs find a way, no matter what.
However, I do what you can to stack the deck in your favor, when it comes to focus and getting work done, do what’s best for you and maximize your productivity.
Summary
So let’s do a little recap of the productivity tips for solopreneurs.
- Get comfortable with the gap
- Focus on one offer
- Create a 90-day plan
- Choose 1-3 projects per 90-day timeframe
- Create a timeblocked weekly schedule
- Develop your personal Focus Formula
I hope they were helpful to you. I’d love to know: which tip did you find most useful, which one gave you that ‘aha’ moment, and let me know! Take a screenshot of this podcast as you’re listening to it, and then add it to your Instagram stories and tag me [link]: let me know which tip you’re going to implement this week!
If this blog resonated with you and you’re also feeling stuck inside a job or a career that just does not fulfill you anymore, I’m inviting you to join my online course, the 4-Part Formula For Replacing Your 9-5 Income With A Coaching Business You Love.
You know that you’re meant for more and you would love to create a business of your own, a coaching business that not only provides meaning and impact, but also the freedom and flexibility you crave.
Inside this free online training, I’m going to teach you my 4-part framework, my proven method for how I created a freedom-based business for myself, and how I’ve helped all my clients do the same. All you have to do is claim your seat at, and then you can be watching that training this week, and taking the next step on the path to the business of your dreams.
Are you ready to start pursuing your dream career? I’d love to help you! Click here to start working with me today!
Catapult Yourself Into Your Dream Business
If this blog resonated with you and you’re also feeling stuck inside a job or a career that just does not fulfill you anymore, I’m inviting you to join my online course, the 4-Part Formula For Replacing Your 9-5 Income With A Coaching Business You Love.
You know that you’re meant for more and you would love to create a business of your own, a coaching business that not only provides meaning and impact, but also the freedom and flexibility you crave.
Inside this free online training, I’m going to teach you my 4-part framework, my proven method for how I created a freedom-based business for myself, and how I’ve helped all my clients do the same. All you have to do is claim your seat at, and then you can be watching that training this week, and taking the next step on the path to the business of your dreams. Are you ready to start pursuing your dream career? I’d love to help you! Click here to start working with me today!
Guess what? I am now enrolling for my group coaching program, Business Academy for Coaches!
Resources & Links:
- The 4-Part Formula For Replacing Your 9-5 Income With A Coaching Business You Love (my free training)
- Business Academy for Coaches
- Health Coach Squad (my free Facebook Group)
- The best platform for your coaching practice: Practice Better
- The landing page program I recommend: Leadpages
- The email marketing system I recommend: ConvertKit
- 3 Ways To Get New Clients (my free guide): drkimfoster.com/getnewclients
N.B. some links are affiliate links.
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