Fact: We all have the same amount of time to work (and play) with.
24 hours in every day.
168 hours in every week.
None of us who run our own businesses seem to have enough time – ever! And we all talk about work/life balance, but recognizing what it really means to us, let alone achieving it, often evades us. Many of us really don’t know how our time is being spent each day and each week.
If you get stressed out, irritable, feel like you’ve taken on too much and are falling behind, or your family complains they’re getting the short end of the stick…it’s probably time for a time reality check.
To figure it out, start with tracking approximately how much time you spend on the following activities:
Sleeping – Face it. You need it. Some people function better than others on lesser quantities, but I personally find at least 7.5 hours per night is the magic number for me. (7.5 x 7 days. That’s 52.5 hours per week spent on catching z’s!)
Billable Client Work – If you’re a freelancer or professional services provider like me, you want a reasonable amount of this “bring home the bacon” time in your schedule. Too much of it, however, can leave you burned out and overwhelmed when you can’t keep up with all the other business-related tasks you need to tend to. According to freelancing expert Laura Spencer in an article on FreelanceM.ag’s website, generally 6 hours of billable client work per day is what most freelancers can accommodate in combination with their other responsibilities. Of course, that could be less depending on the freelancer and varying other professional and personal demands.
Administrative Tasks – Invoicing, recording expenses in Quickbooks, responding to emails, managing your computer files, etc. It all needs to be done, and if you’re a solopreneur, it likely all needs to be done by you.
Marketing and Social Media – Depending on how many online social media channels you’re active on and how many networking groups you’re involved with, this could require a substantial amount of time every day.
Volunteering – Community involvement can be a win-win all around if you’re giving back without giving up too much of your time. You definitely want to keep tabs on this one!
Exercise – Like sleeping, I consider exercise a necessity personally and professionally because it directly affects my energy level, optimism, and ability to think clearly and creatively. If exercise is a regular part of your routine, it’s good to have a grasp on how much time you’re devoting to it. Not so much to limit it, but rather to make sure you don’t neglect it.
The categories above are the things I consider “professional essentials” and that’s where I’ve focused my efforts in figuring out how my time is distributed every day. I’m presently in the process of zeroing in on it all using a combination of time tracking via the tool Toggl and my own handwritten records.
Next step will be to put it all of my actual data in a pie chart similar to the one below. If you do the same, you’ll be able to get a visual on the time you have left for you (and for those who might be complaining they’re not seeing enough of you!).
Something to note…whatever free time (represented by the powder blue wedge) you have won’t likely be distributed evenly across all seven days. Most people’s weekends contain a disproportionate amount of free time compared to Monday through Friday. So, for example, if you find you’ve got 60 hours of free time per week, you might be using 43 of them over the weekend. That leaves just 17 hours to share throughout the work week. That’s less than 3.5 hours per day for things like running personal errands, homework with the kids, cooking and eating, bathing, reading before bed, watching a movie or a TV show, and whatever else you do in your spare time.
Kind of scary, right? But fear not! While you might be surprised (or perhaps shocked) by what you discover about how you’re spending your time, you’ll also be empowered. Having gone through the exercise, you’ll be able to recognize inconsistencies between how you want to spend your time and what you’re currently spending the majority of your time and effort on. What then? Use that knowledge, make adjustments, and take steps to bring your reality closer to what you consider your ideal work/life balance.
Your turn! What techniques and actions have you taken to keep your work/life balance in step? What time management tips can you share with other small biz owners? I’d love to hear from you, so please leave a comment!
By Dawn Mentzer – a.k.a. The Insatiable Solopreneur™
I view my role as more than an independent contractor for hire — I become a part of your team. You’ll find that I dig into the details to understand what’s important to you — and your customers. I embrace collaboration, communicate openly, and craft content to help you achieve your marketing and business goals. Read More...
Dawn,
You are very correct in the fact that we ALL have the same amount of time per week. It is how one choses to utilize that time that differentiates people.
I attempt to strive towards effecient movements and actions.
Picking up materials in a loop from different suppliers. Never walk towards or from a projects work area empty handed.
What kills my momentum is the 5-10 pm period every weekday.
Between making dinner and being physically spent from a day in the field it just bothers me knowing there are things I should be doing.
I know I can maximize those hours and it would be like picking up a part time job.
Good article. Gives me something else to contemplate today. Thanks
Hi Bob! I love the examples you gave to demonstrate how we can all find ways to make more of the time we have by working smarter. By applying some thought into how we can operate more efficiently, it would be like adding more hours into every day. And there would be no shame in using some of that newly found time for taking care of ourselves…I think we all need to get over feeling guilty about wanting to get some much deserved rest and relaxation!
I have made it a habit to work up until the bell of a Saturday afternoon and then shut it down until Monday morning. I strive not to have an errand to run on Sunday and allow myself to sit and read or watch informative TV.
There was a time not too far ago that I worked seven days a week. Not only was I frazzled but it was very inefficient. I then starting consolidating and putting focus into what I was doing to garner me better use of time during the week.
An extra hour in the field per day Mon – Fri gains me 5 hours. Plus it’s an hour I am not spent packing or unpacking tools. It’s a bonus hour which almost equates to 1.5 or 2 extra hours.
It sounds like you’ve got a great system in place for carving out much-needed down time, Bob. Smart!!
Dawn, thanks for the inspiration to actually track where my time goes. This is valuable for any of us, owners of a small business or not.
Hi Sylvie – and happy Friday! I’m glad you liked the post, and thank you for your comment. While it takes some effort (and ironically, time) to track where the time is going, it can really help identify areas where we need to do things more efficiently or hand tasks over to others. Thanks again – Enjoy your weekend!