Whenever you think of “working for yourself,” most people it seems immediately latch onto the part about making your own schedule. And it definitely is a fantastic part of working for yourself (although I reiterate again, you don’t make any money when you’re not working, so it doesn’t necessarily mean afternoons at the beach).
However, after well over a year of running my small business full time, I’ve learned that there are a few really big pitfalls of making your own schedule, the main one of which I have been stuck in for most of my tenure. I only realized it when my incredible insightful fiance pointed it out.
It’s related to the fear of saying no. “Can you meet Monday?” Yes. “How about Tuesday?” Yes. “Can you meet me Monday halfway across town 30 minutes after your other meeting?” Yes.
That’s not making your own schedule. That’s letting everyone else make your schedule, and it’s a disservice to you and your business to go at it that way.
When you sit down and look at your calendar and it’s 5 days that you can do whatever you see fit with, it’s a great feeling. So it SEEMS to be, YES, I can meet anytime, any place. And you forget to schedule in your WORKING time. Your in-office time, answering emails and printing and doing all the tasks that go along with your little business.
You end up wasting hours upon hours on really inconvenient meeting schedules – i.e. bouncing downtown to Mount Pleasant to West Ashley and back again – when you should have just said, Wednesday is my West Ashley day, and Monday is my Mount Pleasant day, etc.
You’ll also burn a lot of time in between meetings – having a 10 and a 1 relatively far from your office, what are you going to do in the meantime? You might have your computer, but you’ll only have an hour or so, and you won’t be as productive in an hour in a coffee shop as you would have been with three in your office. Then you’ve got to find something to eat and you’ll run into someone you know, etc. etc.
So it seems we never stop learning in life, doesn’t it? I’ve made that change in the last few weeks where I try to stick to two to three days a week when I have meetings, and reserve the other two to three for working in the office. It is just amazing how much more you get done. It’s not that I literally have more hours, but the hours are more productive because they aren’t so choppy with two hours here, two hours there.
As a side note, don’t take this to mean you have to be really difficult and annoying for people to try to meet with. I found that it has worked out just fine for me to say, for example, this week I have Monday / Wednesday / Friday when I can meet, but Tuesday and Thursday are off limits. If someone can only meet on Tuesday / Thursday, then I’m taking back one of the MWF, or I’ll schedule them for next week so that way next week I can meet Tuesday people.
So I guess I just now figured out how to use that perk of the entrepreneur. And I think it holds true for those with regular jobs too – remember to prioritize what you need to do / want to do first and stick to your guns. Then you’ll be happier, more productive, and better when you do meet up with people, for business or for pleasure.
Have you learned anything new lately?
