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Are you feeling overwhelmed by a never-ending to-do list and worried you’re not making the most out of each day? I’ve been there.
In fact, I was JUST there–like, last week–because my ADHD brain deeeefinitely doesn’t love my constant tab-switching and Slack distractions from what I’m working on. (Who knew?!)
But recently, I felt empowered to prioritize tasks, eliminate distractions, and create a laser-focused action plan to help me reach my goals… all because of this conversation I had with Ashley Alderson.
Ashley, founder of The Boutique Hub, is a Midwestern mama who’s busy as a bee and had to create systems around how she could get her work done so she could get back to life. In our conversation, she gives us *loads* of helpful tips for small business owners to manage our time wisely, make the most out of each day, and embrace our inner CEO.
Ready to start managing your time better and get MORE done in LESS time? You’re going to LOVE this episode!
Time Is Money
Ashley Alderson, founder of The Boutique Hub, experienced firsthand the importance of prioritizing income-generating activities. As a busy entrepreneur and mother of three, Ashley found herself in a position where she was trying to do “all the things” and ended up becoming the bottleneck of her business. Her husband, who was constantly reminding her to focus on the 20 percent of activities that would give her 80 percent of the results, helped her realize that she needed to prioritize her time and energy in order to succeed.
Ashley’s story is a lesson for all entrepreneurs (myself included!). It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of tasks that need to be done in order to run a successful business. However, it’s important to remember that not all tasks are created equal.
It’s essential to prioritize the activities that will generate the most income and have the biggest impact on your business–AKA bring in the most revenue, such as marketing, sales, and client relations.
Ashley’s Four-Part To-Do List Strategy
In our conversation, Ashley shared a fantastic system for managing your to-do list to ensure you’re making the most of your time and focusing on income-generating activities to grow your business.
Her strategy involves creating four separate lists:
- Non-Negotiable Tasks: This is a list of tasks that must be completed each week, and Ashley recommends giving each day a “theme” to ensure you don’t forget anything important. For Ashley, this includes “Marketing Mondays,” “Team Stuff Tuesdays,” and “Client Work Wednesdays,” though your themes may look completely different depending on your business!
- Important Tasks: Next, Ashley recommends creating a list of the most important tasks you need to get done that week, delegated to each of your themed days. She calls this her “big rocks” list and includes tasks that would have the most impact on her business financially.
- Later Tasks: This list is where you add your backburner tasks, i.e. things that can be done later in the week or month. Be sure to keep coming back to this list each week and knocking 1-2 of these items out so you don’t have a never-ending list of later tasks! Slow seasons are also a great time to get through your Later tasks, as well as time to learn new skills and educate yourself to be better at what you do.
- Outsource Tasks/No’s: Ashley emphasizes the importance of saying no and walking away from things in our conversation, which is why this list is full of things for you to outsource or say no to. She also suggests having a hard stop at the end of each work day for family events. and identifying your most productive time of the day, which she refers to as “Tiger Time.” Protect this time by not scheduling meetings so you have time to get “in the zone” and get your most important non-negotiable tasks done then!
Using this four-part to-do list is a great way to prioritize our tasks and create systems that will help us get the most out of our days. By creating four lists and organizing tasks into theme days, you can maximize your time and ensure that you are focused on the activities that will bring in the most money. (Ummm, yes please!)
Join the FREE Boutique Hub Summer School
Did you know that the “J” months are notoriously the slowest months for product based businesses? We’re talking January, June, and July! If you run a product-based business, you’ll want to listen all the way to the end. At the end of our convo, Ashley shares about a completely FREE 3-day bootcamp called Summer School that is perfect for any product based business.
Check it out here to deep dive into what the most profitable business-building activities are during the summer months so you can continue to grow your business.
And be sure to connect with Ashley on Instagram, too!
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