6 Productivity Hacks for Busy Girl Bosses

Working a “non-traditional” schedule can be both awesome and awful all at once. On the one hand, I love that I can hit-up Whole Foods when it’s empty at 9:30AM on a Wednesday. But on the other hand, some days I start work at the 5:45AM and don’t finish up until 9:15PM. Yep, that’s my typical Thursday…

For most of us with non-traditional work schedules we love what we do and the freedom this schedule allows us. It’s been almost 3 years since I worked a 9-5 job as my full-time gig [I can’t believe it’s been so long!!]

I’ve learned a lot along the way about being productive with my weird schedule as a girlboss juggling teaching yoga and my own business on the side. Here’s what works for me:

Productivity Hacks for Girlbosses

Know your peak times

Knowing your peak times as a solopreneur or freelancer is SO important. Some people can wake up at the crack of dawn, head straight to their desk with a match latte and bang out some bombass blog posts. I am not one of those people. My creativity peaks in the afternoon [or at an inconveniently late hour]. Because I know this about me, I prefer to work out or teach first thing in the morning so I can be home during my peak creative hours.

Some of my friends talk about how they really struggle with productivity after 3PM. If that’s the case for you, maybe starting earlier in the morning with work things is your best bet. Save the workouts and “mindless” activities for later in the day.

 

Optimize Your Schedule

When I say “optimizing your schedule” I mean making the most use of your time every day. It’s something I’m still working on as I figure out the best way to balance teaching yoga and blogging. Some days I feel like I’m running around from one end of Manhattan to another, only stopping at my apartment for 45 minute chunks at a time. Days like that honestly kind of suck and I feel like I waste so much time running around the city.

I’m optimizing my schedule by focusing on teaching back-to-back classes as much as possible. It means less travel time [and metro card swipes!] and I’m better utilizing the hours in my day. I know for me I’m most productive when I have a BIG block of time to get shit done — otherwise I spend the whole time anxious I’m going to get in the writing zone and then have to leave to teach a class.

 

Be realistic

Set super realistic expectations about what you can actually get done every day. If you’re in back-to-back meetings every Monday, don’t expect that to be the day you write your newsletter for the week. It’s just not gonna happen.

I used to go craaaazy with my to-do lists for every day. The day would feel like a total fail if I didn’t conquer every. single. thing on that long winded to-do list. Now I try to focus on being more realistic. I know what items absolutely need to get done that day. The rest is bonus if it happens.

 

Time blocking

This is something I actually don’t do [yet!] but I know a lot of my friends rave about it. Instead of switching from task to task to task, you focus on one lump of activities at a time. For example instead of writing a new blog post every day of the week you write all your blog posts in one big swoop.

 

Set up an email away message

I just started do this a few weeks ago and it’s a game changer.

Email is suuuuuch a huge time suck. Literally the worst. But it’s also a necessary evil in my business — it’s how I connect to brands. And brands are how I make money as a blogger and instagrammer.

I recently set up a permanent email away message on my blog inbox much like I do when I’m on vacation. If I’m teaching all the classes that means I’m not answering any of the emails. I can’t exactly send emails during savasana….

My goal is to manage the expectations of people emailing me.

Does it actually work in managing expectations of those emailing? Sometimes. While I’m so so so appreciative of anyone that’s emailing me, whether it’s to reach out about a business opportunity or just wanting to say “Hey!” and connect, sometimes people can be a bit pushy over email.

And I get it — I’ve worked on the PR side of things at a company and had my boss breathing down my neck to get responses from bloggers ASAP about whether they are interested in attending an event.

To any PR person or brand rep that might stumble upon this post I remind you that as someone that works for themselves I technically don’t get paid to respond to emails. At my old salaried jobs it was part of my 9-5 work flow. I got paid to sit at my desk and do whatever work needed to be done between the hours of 9-5. When you work for yourself, though, there aren’t these set hours of sitting around and getting paid. I only get paid when I do the work — and I can’t do the work if I’m spending my chunk of free time answering emails. [End rant on emails]

All of this is to say: I now have an email away message up on my business email address. Basically saying be patient with me. At the very least it makes me feel less guilty if I don’t respond to an email in less than 24 hours.

 

Take breaks

I don’t want y’all to think that I’m sitting at my desk all the freaking time. Really it’s quite the opposite. I believe STRONGLY in creating space and taking breaks throughout your day. It leads to more productivity in the long run.

I always always always break for lunch. When I worked in corporate jobs there tended to be this guilt around taking lunch breaks — the culture was to eat at your desk and continue working. Now: I work for myself! Imma take a damn lunch break and enjoy food, kthanks.

Most days I’ll also go for a walk mid-afternoon. I’ll listen to a podcast and head outside for 45 or so minutes. This helps wake me up — especially if I woke up at the crack of dawn to teach a class. I also find I come back feeling more refreshed.

One of the joys of working for yourself and working a non-traditional schedule is you CAN take a break. So remember to do it 🙂

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Your turn: What are your favorite hacks for productivity?