Theming Your Days To Get Things Done INS 23

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If only we could bottle up a little time to sprinkle in a few extra moments here and there, wouldn’t that be awesome so that we could get everything done? Unfortunately, that’s not possible, however we can still get things done. Keith and I shared a few tools on episode 148 on RNFM Radio, and I did share with you a few Time Management Tips for Entrepreneurs on a previous podcast of INS, but here is another great way I can get everything done and on time.

First, I’ll admit that I do love my Google Calendar. It helps me do so many things, and most importantly, it helps me theme my days.

Theming your days

This concept has really helped me elevate my productivity throughout all of my business endeavors across multiple companies. Now you don’t need to have multiple companies to do this as I bet you have plenty of tasks that could be themed throughout one business endeavor as there’s never anything linear about running a business.

This theming process for me is really about batching days/times for certain businesses and “like” tasks within each business. I can typically handle simple distractions throughout the day, but my team and I work very hard to not let these distractions in, although there are times when we have to deal with a medical related issues with our clients.

Theme options

When I first started theming my days I wanted to make sure I added in time for similar tasks that I do in each business. I’ll talk more about the scheduling process in a moment, but I’ve attempted to batch similar tasks across multiple companies on the same day and/or set time, and I’ve also just allotted dedicated time for a particular business for an entire day.

So essentially as an example, if I’m working solely on Spire Health items on a Tuesday, then that’s all I do that day. Or, I could batch all of my content creation across multiple businesses during the entire day, like I do on Wednesday. An example of batching similar tasks across one day might include content creation for Spire Health (all on Wednesday as an example) from 8am-9am, then Innovative Nurse content from 9:30am-10:30am, and then RNFM Radio content from 11am-noon and so on. The 30 minutes in between each task can be used to move around for a few minutes to get the blood flowing to help facilitate ideas and to have quick check-ins on social media.

 

So the breakdown of the company themes with “sub” themes in the bulleted areas could be:

Spire Health (Theme)

  • Operational executive duties and check in with management (this also includes client/caseload work)
  • Team meetings
  • Emails/Calls
  • Marketing/sales (content creation, advertising, social media)
  • Client/product development
  • Partnership tasks

Innovative Nurse (Theme)

  • Operational
  • Team meetings
  • Emails/Calls
  • Marketing/sales
  • Partnerships, sponsorships and advertising
  • Podcast/video programming and production

Pulse Media Group (Theme)

  • Operational
  • Team meetings
  • Emails/Calls
  • Marketing
  • Partnerships, sponsorships and advertising
  • Podcast/video production

Kick Flip Media (Theme)

  • Operational
  • Team meetings
  • Emails/Calls
  • Marketing/sales
  • Partnerships, sponsorships and advertising
  • Podcast/Video programming and production

I also have some subsidiaries and other endeavors not included here, but you get the idea of how you could theme days for one business, or multiple businesses. Let’s lay it all out on a schedule to give you perspective of what this could look like. I’ll show two examples of how I batch similar tasks together and also just theme an entire day for one business.

Laying It All Out

Here are some examples of how I choose a theme for an entire day for a particular business (i.e. Spire Health), and I’ve also scheduled themed days where it’s just about content across all businesses. Also keep in mind that I have several teams that are also contributing to this calendar and setting things up for me.

This is also just a “skeleton” of the theme as we had to hide some of the specifics due to not wanting to reveal some our client information.

Theming Your Day

(Click on the image to get a more detailed view)

Sunday: I realize that this should be a day off, however I use this time to take a look at my calendar, set priorities, and make adjustments where needed. This can also involve just curating content for the upcoming week’s tasks for marketing.

Monday: I typically theme this day strictly as Spire Health. Everything that needs to happen for Spire, happens on this day (and a few others as you’ll see). I also pepper in a little time for marketing and emails for other companies on these Spire themed days. If I’m responding to emails or doing some marketing research anyway, then if I’m already in that mode I find it’s best to just keep that particular gear going until my next set of scheduled tasks.

Tuesday: This is also a Spire themed day, and as you’ll see it looks very similar to Monday. I also want to note that I also schedule in dropping off kiddos at their school, family time in the evening, and you’ll also see that I get back to work after we’ve had dinner and some down time together.

Wednesday: This day is strictly content. Period. Well, except Spire Health still needs my input via email and the occasional call, but this is where I’m working on marketing and content across all platforms and businesses. Everything I do from video shoots, podcasting, and writing goes here.

You’ll also notice that I attempt to breakout each company’s content tasks. I’m always looking for content across the board for all of my businesses, but I do also dedicate specific time slots for each business during this day.

Thursday: Half of this day is spent on Spire Health, and the rest of the day is spent on Kick Flip Media business. Oh, did you notice that I also schedule exercise and meditation each morning before I hit the ground running? And yes, I do eat throughout the day.

Friday: This is also another strictly marketing and content day with Spire peppered in, and some additional attention to Kick Flip Media. Depending on the week I may choose to cut out at 6PM so as to hang with the family or go out with my wife.

Saturday: If I’m traveling for business, this is usually when conferences are happening and speaking engagements, although some of them are during the week. So, this could also be a work day if I’m out of town for these events.

This day is also open for personal, which can include a variety of things like heading up to the mountains, soccer games, or some other family related tasks.

So, by theming my days I can better stay on task for each company. As an example if I had a brand strategy pitch for a client for Kick Flip Media, I wouldn’t schedule it on the days I’m supposed to be working on Spire Health. Our teams also work on allowing enough lead time for tasks involved in each business that has a “due date” so as to not have Pulse Media Group tasks spilling into Spire Health or Kick Flip Media.

Basically, if I’m performing operations and nursing tasks for Spire Health, it’s going to be really difficult to tweak my thinking if a brand strategy for Pulse Media or Kick Flip Media comes up. It’s possible, and I’ve done this, but it’s not as efficient. On the other side of that coin to reiterate those themed days and tasks for content creation and/or emails in that if I’m already in that mode of marketing or answering emails for one business, it may just be a good time to hit them all (if I can) during those times.

Ultimately, you’ve got to do what works best for you and make tweaks when and where necessary. Are you theming your days?

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305 thoughts on “Theming Your Days To Get Things Done INS 23”

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