As an introverted woman entrepreneur, you want to grow your business so you can create the lifestyle you want & have the impact you desire. But something keeps getting in the way. You constantly seem to “run out of time” to promote your business the way you want. You’re often tired after the day is done but can’t really quantify what you did. It feels like you’re spinning your wheels.
I totally get that. Studies have shown that of an 8hr workday you might be productive for 3hrs. That means the other 5hrs can be a blur. You probably don’t really remember what you did during that time. I struggled with this as well until I figured out the time management activity that worked for me. In my research, I discovered 5 time management activities that really work for introverted women entrepreneurs like yourself.
I am going to share those 5 time management activities and at the end of the article I’ll share how to determine which one will work for you! Let’s get started!
1: The Peak Energy Time Management Technique
Contrary to popular belief you don’t have to be a morning person to be productive! Tapping into your peak energy time allows you to get in the zone with the tasks that are important. This means you’ll be able to move needle in your business without working a ton of hours.
For me, I am more of an afternoon-evening person. When I took my peak energy into account my business and life changed. I don’t schedule calls before 1pm and I don’t have any calls after 6pm. And sometimes after 9pm I’m able to write an entire blog post! As entrepreneurs we don’t have to be bound to a self-imposed 9-5 if it’s not beneficial to your business.
A common mistake is not using this time to top tackle high priority tasks or big projects. When you do energy sucking tasks during this time you’re back to the original problem of not making the progress you want in your business.
2: The Pomodoro® Time Management Technique
Based on your productivity type you might be one of those “Chatty Cathys” so it may be hard for you to focus on your work because you’re chatting with those around you. If that’s the case then The Pomodoro® time management technique will work for you. You’ll be able to take focus for a short amount of time then reward yourself with some idle chitchat or catching up on instagram before going back to work.
The Pomodoro® Time Management Technique is essentially 5 steps:
- get rid of distractions
- decide what you’re going to work on for the time period
- set the timer for a set amount of time
- work during that time
- take a break and reward yourself
Then you start again. This technique is also great if you’ve got a squirrel brain or an attention disorder because you can begin to train your mind to focus with even just 10 mins on 5 mins off.
A mistake entrepreneurs make with this time management technique is using their mobile phone as a timer and keeping the phone near them. The best thing to do is to get a timer app on your laptop and set your phone is another room. This will reduce the distracting pull of your phone and allow you to get more done.
3: The Calendar Time Management Technique
We all have access to calendars because they are on your device. There’s a default calendar app on ios and on andriod phones yet this feature is one of the less utilized features when it comes to time management.
Chances are if you’re using your calendar app you’re doing it wrong.
Here are 4 steps to using your calendar or planner more effectively:
- Use only one calendar or planner. Having multiple can cause things to fall through the cracks.
- Record all appointments and due dates immediately so you don’t rely on your memory to remember. Your brain isn’t meant to do that.
- Schedule your work time. If you’re supposed to be writing an email sequence on Tueday at 11am put it on the calendar or in your planner. What gets scheduled gets done.
- Make your calendar public if you offer appointments for people to connect with you so you don’t overbook or forget. I recommend using Acuity Scheduling for this.
4: The “Batch, Schedule, Automate” aka Project Time Management Technique
The “Batch, Schedule, Automate” is my personal favorite technique and the one I recommend for people who like to start thing but struggle to finish. This technique takes all the starter enegy and applies it to one specific project so it you can quickly start and finish it without it drowning on for forever!
Things you can Batch, Schedule, and Automate are:
- emails for the week or even month
- content for the month (podcasts, videos, and/or articles)
- social media posts for the month
- pitches and PR requests for the month
- and much much more!
The common mistake I’ve seen entrepreneurs make with this is double sided. They either bite off more than they can chew, get overwhelmed and don’t complete their BSA or they don’t batch enough causing them to quickly lose momentum. Get clear on your marketing strategy and then use themed weeks to overcome this!
5: The “Scheduled Down Time” Technique
I don’t know about you but I didn’t get into business to be tied to a desk or computer for hours on end, day in and day out. That’s probably true for you as well. So why is it so hard for introverted women entrepreneurs to schedule down time? It has a lot to do with scarcity and how we believe we don’t have enough time. While I am not going to get to deep into that here, I did write an article on the best time management technique to grow your business without burnout.
There are 2 ways you can incorporate down time into your life:
- your daily activities
- your long term activities
Your daily activities can add in routines that separate you from your computer like:
- going for a walk,
- stretching and taking breaks between work sessions,
- eating good nourishing meals,
- setting and maintaining business hours,
- creating a wind-down routine for the end of the day,
- and much much more!
Your long term activities could be things like:
- schedule a day off in the week,
- book yourself a long holiday weekend,
- take a week or 2 vacation,
- and much much more!
Take a look at the long term activities and ask yourself… “would my business survive if I took a week off?” If the answer is “no”, you know where to focus your energy to make it happen.
This is one of the biggest mistakes I see introverted women entrepreneurs make: setting goals for vacations but not building the systems their business needs to survive without them. Now that you know what’s on your list, it’s time to put those business systems in place.
So, let’s recap.
There are 5 time management activities I recommend for introverted women entrepreneurs:
- Peak Energy Time Management Technique
- The Pomodoro® Time Management Technique
- Using your calendar or planner strategically
- The Batch Schedule Automate Time Management Technique
- The Schedule Your Down Time Technique
While there are many other time management activities out there, I believe these 5 are the best for introverted women entrepreneurs but… how do you decide which one is for you? How do you know where to start?
What if I told you there’s a technique that’s best for you based on your personality type? Yep!
To find out which time management activities are right for you, take the “What’s Your Productivity Type?” quiz and discover the right time management technique for you based on your personality type!
