Hey from Alicia, Co-founder at Mango Marketing Co! Here are 5 Things I changed to get more time back in my work day...Keep Reading to read Natty's.
1. Facebook Groups- At one point it felt like being a part of every single Facebook group was the key to success. Being able to network and connect with others within your industry also brought in business and alleviated FOMO (feeling of missing out). There were times I could not type fast enough to get my website in a referral post. I would say things like: "I'm available! I can travel across the country right now and I am packing as I type and I will only charge 1/4 of my normal rate and I can be there by 5am tomorrow, what kind of coffee do they like?!" Facebook has been a truly great way to connect with clients, at the time 90% of website traffic came from Facebook, but being in every single group can lead to checking your phone every 3 seconds. Stick with the groups you truly love and it will be a huge time saver.
2. Screen Time Limits - Mindless scrolling is the death of productivity. I give myself access to all social media apps for 1 hour a day and it has given me the structure needed to be more mindful of how I spend my time on apps with a heavy focus on community and connection. In addition to that I use both the Do Not Disturb Mode overnight from 10pm-8am and the Focus Mode during the day from 10am-3pm. The great thing about both of these is you can customize who can still call or text you. For me, I can still be reached by anyone at either of my kids schools, my hubby and of course my biz partner, Natty.
3. Subscription Emails- You know when you go to a site and they force you to sign up for a newsletter or enter your email just to view the site? Then every single day you delete hundreds of emails and sometimes sending them to spam doesn't work....UNSUBSCRIBE. I spent hours unsubscribing on 3 email accounts. I like the days where if I got an email I knew it was something important and not just another sale. At the bottom of everyone of those emails is a link to unsubscribe and you will click what feels like a thousand of them. It feels good. Now we know that any email we get is from a client, something business related or from a business/blog we actually want to read the contents of.
4. Phone Notifications- GONE! All of them. My phone is on silent 24/7 and I only see updates and posts when I go into an app. I miss a lot of phone calls and texts but I no longer have a phone glued to my hand. I usually only check my phone now when I grab it to take a photo of my kids or dogs. On rare occasion I get a few minutes of down time to can respond to calls and texts. I'm on my computer for work all day and see emails instantly, that's more than enough to keep me busy :)
5. Not having a schedule- I used to just have a really long list of things to do and they would get completed in any random order on any day of the week/month. I was wasting so much time doing that. Creating a schedule with time blocking is what works for my brain. I use a daily planner broken down into 30 minute increments and I am able to complete my to-do list by working on things from highest priority to lowest priority. I got so many hours of my life back. Bouncing around all day long was causing me to work harder than I needed. I created 2 schedules that fit my life and business: 1. a daily schedule for life/work and 2. a blogging/ social media schedule because I was all over the place with no structure. Create a schedule that works best for you and don't hesitate to pivot as many times as needed.
Yay if at least one of these can help you get any amount of time back in your day!
Hey...It's Natty. The other co-founder! Here are five things I do as a small business owner to get more time back in the day. Some of these are very different from Alicia's and some are the same.
Screen time and notifications. Just like Alicia I put my phone on silent. Not 24/7 though. I have 3 different settings and levels. For instance, Tuesday to Friday, from 11-7, my phone is on "work mode". The only people that can get through is my team, Alicia and my mom (lol). This helps me get work done but be available incase my team needs me for immediate things. I also make sure to not have notifications on. Nothing is more annoying than 2am notifications that are from CapCut or another app you do not need a reminder for.
Google Calendar and Reminders I utilize my smart phone for the better. I fully use my google calendar and set reminders to help me prioritize and work smarter. For instance, if I have somewhere I need to be I put the address in the Google Calendar reminder. I also always include anything else I might need in the notes section for quick thoughts. This helps me to not have 19 running lists in my notes apps. I started this when I used to do Bridal Makeup. I would put the bride's trial makeup in the notes section of the day of their wedding. All the information was there and easily accessible
Meal Prepping I meal prep on Sundays for the week. No, I am not eating leftover chicken and rice for six days. Sometimes meal prepping means I am just marinating what I am eating, chopping fruits and veggies, creating things like egg bites, bagging up easily accessible snacks and prepping one or two lunches for travel. My schedule is wild especially with all my travel. It makes it easy to not eat out as much because I am tired. It also leaves me more time for the gym, for my partner and for friends/family. It leaves me time for all the things I love. Plus, I love feeding people and do not mind cooking.
Scheduling I love scheduling in advance. I schedule things during what I call my "high priority days" so that when I am feeling low everything is maintaining. I use PLANOLY for Mango Marketing Co Social Media (it can take care of our FB, IG and Pinterest). I schedule the blogs that our team helps with a month in advance. We schedule our newsletters and one email blast a month on the 15th of every month. They also know what they will be writing about 3 months in advance as I map out all of our marketing for each quarter. For things like TikToks and Threads, I have a running list of threads to post if I "need" something and TikToks I edit/film in batches to keep me ahead. If I happen to be working on the weekends and need to send something to a client, I will have the email scheduled through our gmail to go out on Monday at 8:00 am.
Work Environment I have wasted so much time meeting up with friends who are not good co-workers or working in coffee shops that are not set up for co-working. I have also wasted so much time working on my couch because it was comfy with the TV on. Now, I know who my working buddies can be and I go to the same coffee shops that have lots of outlets, food, wi-fi, etc. Lastly, I work upstairs at my desk in my office. I block out time for breaks and enjoy music to keep me going. This also helps me to separate when I am working and when I am "off the clock". Alicia and I are very similar but very different. One thing that we share though is enjoying our time off!