The first Monday of each month is a day I look forward to in my business. It’s a day I set aside to work ON my business, instead of IN my business.
- Client work does not get done on this day.
- I don’t schedule meetings out of the office.
- Calls go to my voice mail.
- Client email may not be responded to until tomorrow.
My day is focused on taking a good look at what I accomplished last month, defining my goals are for this month, and making progress on projects that will help me reach those goals.
The key to having a successful work day is to plan for it all month long. When an idea comes up that I need an hour or two to work on, it gets scheduled for my work day. If I think of a great blog idea, but don’t have time to flesh it out, it gets scheduled for my work day. This way, I don’t sit down at my desk and wonder what I should be working on. I know exactly how my time will be spent and I can focus on the items that I already prioritized.
I encourage you to schedule such a day for your business. Here are some suggestions for how the time could be used:
- Update your LinkedIn profile with any new information or projects you’ve been working on.
- Engage with others on LinkedIn. Join the discussions in a few groups. Write a recommendation for someone. Give a few endorsements. Share someones LinkedIn update.
- Publish a post to LinkedIn. This could be something new that you wrote or a re-purposed blog post that is still relevant.
- Develop a social media strategy that you will be able to maintain throughout the month.
- Follow-up with prospects. Email, call, or send them a note to try to get them closer to the sale.
- Take time to watch or listen to a recorded training that you subscribed to. Then implement the ideas that were shared in the training.
- Schedule Facebook posts for the next month.
- Create graphics for use throughout the month. I like Canva and PicMonkey for this.
- Develop a webinar that you can use for lead generation.
- Send out an email newsletter to your list.
- Learn to use a new piece of software that will help you in your business.
- Read a book that will help you grow your business. I’m currently reading Virtual Freedom and Getting Things Done.
This list could go on and on, but I want to hear from you.
What project is waiting for just a couple focused hours of your time?
What keeps getting put off because you don’t feel you can take the time to do it?
What are you doing to move your business forward?