There’s so much that happens in one day, so many responsibilities on your shoulders, so many people who need you, not to mention your business to run. I totally get it and so does every female entrepreneur that I’ve ever spoken to.

Life is busy, but time management doesn’t have to feel overwhelming. Don’t get me wrong; I have my meltdown days…but those days are few and far between. Whether you’re a planner or not, I have 5 productivity tips that will help you work SMARTER, not HARDER, so that people will say, “How do you find the time?!” or “How do you do it all?!”

Ready? Okay, let’s dive in.

Productivity Tip #1 — Set Realistic Goals

There’s so much weight that rides on your shoulders as a female entrepreneur with your business and personal life.

Your unfolded laundry has officially made it to Mount Everest status.

Your dishes are piled in the sink. It’s the never-ending story.

You trip over toys constantly, no matter how many times you clean up, and you’re convinced a new Toy Story movie is secretly being filmed in your house. That’s the only rational explanation of how these toys keep escaping.

The first productivity tip that I’m going to give you is to PLEAD with you to set realistic goals. TRUST ME when I say I learned this the HARD way. I used to try “do it all,” and I kept hitting wall after wall after wall. It came down to my pride.

When I say set realistic goals, this is not to be confused with limiting your belief of what you can accomplish — let me explain. I’m not talking about telling yourself that you can’t be a millionaire one day, because YES GIRL, YOU CAN! I’m talking about setting realistic goals regarding everything that you do in a day. If you’re doing what feels like 1,000 things a day, put the guilt and pride aside, like I had to do, and ask yourself two questions:

Question #1: Can someone else do them?

Question #2: Do they really need to be done?

If the things that you’re doing you either are not good at or you don’t like to do, OUTSOURCE!

If they are personal things, ask your husband to help out mo

re OR hire cleaning help. If it’s professional things, hire an expert! It will be the best money that you’ve ever spent. Think of your favorite female entrepreneur that you follow. If you think for a SECOND that she doesn’t have help — it’s not true. TRUST ME, she does!

Now what can you outsource?

Productivity Tip #2 — Set Expectations

Are you CONSTANTLY feeling guilty because your friends, family & parents are complaining that they never see you due to your business?

Listen, if they’re not entrepreneurs, they just WON’T understand until you explain it to them.

Level set with them. If you’re in ramp-up mode with your business, sit them down and explain to them that you need their support. Meaning, if you were always the shoulder to cry on, the one who fixed problems, you now have to gently explain that right now (and it’s only temporary), that you need to focus on your business launch.

Step 1: Tell them the estimated timeframe that you need and ask if they can support you in this endeavor. The most common reason female entrepreneurs stop following their dreams is that they either don’t have a clear message to their customer AND/OR lack partner support.

Step 2: Ask yourself this, have you supported your partner when he was doing something with his career? If the answer is yes, just explain to him that now, just like that time, you need his support.

Now, who do you have to have this conversation with?

Productivity Tip #3 — Set “Me” Time

Do you have what feels like ZERO time for yourself?

Are you trying to lose weight, but never can find the time to make it to the gym or eat healthily because you LEGIT eat standing up, shoving food in your mouth while tending to the kids or working?

I get it! Trust me when I tell you, putting myself first DOES NOT come naturally to me. I just had so much guilt not being with my kids when I wasn’t pouring into my business.

One of the top ways to prioritize your time is to carve out “me” time — which is hard to do running a business, with kids, animals, a h

usband, a house…. but if you do, you’ll have more patience and love to serve your customers and your family.

Step 1: Ask yourself, what do you wish you could do for you? Is it reading more? Going to the gym? Getting dressed each day?

Step 2: Carve out time to do it! Set a frequency/day and time and stick to it. After 30 days of doing so, it will become a habit.

Productivity Tip #4 — Streamline

Have you hit a wall with your business? Do you have all these ideas and no idea how to find time to even implement them plus run your current business?

The only way you’re going to be able to “Do it all” is to really take a good look at what you’re doing right now. There are probably areas that you can make some process improvements to, to give you more time to focus on new business ideas.

Step 1: List out everything that you do with your business and personal life in a day.

Step 2: Ask yourself, are there any things on the list that go together or that you don’t have to do daily that you’re currently doing?

For instance, you shouldn’t be posting on social media daily; those should be scheduled out on Sunday for the week at a specific time each day where you are free to immediately respond to people when they comment, like, and share.

If streamlining or being able to have a vision into what to streamline isn’t your thing, I have 4 more spots

Productivity Tip #5 — Give Everything a Time/Day

Is your daily to-do list as long as Santa’s Naughty/Nice list?

Step #1: Ask yourself, what is due the soonest? Those should be prioritized first.

Step #2: Next, prioritize the things that are dependent on other things. For instance, you need content BEFORE you can know what to post on social media.

Step #3: Now, assign a time/day of the week to all the tasks you’ve streamlined. Here’s an example:

• Creating Content for Social Media — Sundays at 9 am (2 hours)
• Shipping Products — Fridays at 9 am (2 hours)
• Breaks — 4 times a day (30 mins each)
• Responding to Emails — Daily at 10 am
• Me time — Gym — Monday to Friday at 6 am
• Quality Time with the kids — 3 pm to 8 pm
• Posting to Social Media — Sundays at 11 am (scheduling for the week to post at 12 pm each day)
• Responding to Social Media Posts — 12 pm (30 mins)
• Cleaning — Wednesdays at 12 pm
• Cooking — Sundays at 4 pm for the week
• Types of Services (i.e.- family photography) — Wednesday nights at 6:30 p.m.
• Learn one new thing related to business — Tuesdays at 9 pm
• Implement new business strategy — Thursdays at 9 pm

Conclusion:

To sum up, if you are following the above 5 productivity tips that I suggested, you will feel more motivated and have a sense of accomplishment every day. You deserve to enjoy the time and flexibility you craved when you first started your business. Don’t let lack of time steal your joy. Pray for direction on the next steps for your business.

Life Changing Productivity Apps!

Audra Stino

Momprenuer, Wife, Believer, Business Coach, Photographer and Lover of Rom-Coms.

Hang out with me on Inhttps://www.instagram.com/audraconsulting/stastories.