We all have periods of time “between”. Between gigs, clients, meetings, launches, proposal sent and waiting for the response. You know that time. We also have “dither days”: days when we are sitting in front of the computer and not getting anything done. My Mom called that dithering.
Here are a few sneakily productive ways to use that time.
The best way out of solopreneur craziness is to create systems. What to do? Get your behind-the-scenes act together!
Create a content calendar
If consistency in posting or content creation isn’t your strong suit, create a social content calendar. Choose a daily focus and get ahead by batching your writing into a weekly time block. You can knock out an entire week in less than an hour. Trust me the hard part is thinking about what to post. If you do the thinking in advance, the rest is easy!
I have put together a sample Content Calendar that I have used in my business with much success to give you some inspiration. Download below.
Organize your stuff – electronic and paper
How much time do you waste looking for stuff? Clean out your inbox, scan those receipts, organize your Dropbox folders and files, and break out the label maker. Just start with your DESK if it is messy. Clutter of any kind can add to an inability to focus. Become an organizational ninja.
Create a new lead magnet
What’s one question your ideal audience has that will lead them into the deeper work you do? Write a blog post, create a short video, or develop a checklist. Give yourself a set amount of time to knock it out and get it done. Start using it to attract people to your community and build your email list.
Use this as CEO time.
What’s coming up in the next few weeks? Make a list of what you need to have ready and get it done early.
Update your KPIs. We can get sloppy about this, as we tend to look only at revenue and expenses. But there are so many other measures of success – how is your social media following growing, your email list growing? How many networking events did you attend, or Facebook Lives did you do? Every step of engagement ultimately will lead to an increase in business.
Create templates
What questions do you get frequently? Write a canned response email that you can cut/paste or automate in your email sequence. Always creating custom proposals? Create a template. Got a process, new or old, that can be automated – create a template!
I could go on and on… What are some things you do in downtime? Tell me in the comments.