First of all, this is an overview of my day, every day does not look like this. Some days are more defined by client calls and appointments, this is a view of a day I have more control over. My ideal schedule/day is a work in progress, I’m still refining and making tweaks to my approach. I also believe you should always be reevaluating your day, as things change in your business, your day should reflect that.

Break Habits That Don’t Serve You

If you are coming from years of a 9 to 5 it can be hard to give up some habits that don’t necessarily support your new entrepreneurial business. It really helped me to let go of some structure and certain habits/ideas. For me, this was feeling like I had to get up and shower/dress for the day by a certain time. So again, not every day is like this but some days I can wake up and get into a good working groove, so there is really no reason to interrupt that flow to shower by 10 am just because. Other days I can’t wake up or get in a groove, then it makes sense to get the shower out of the way and some days it is necessary because there are meetings.

Structuring each day of the week differently was super beneficial for me. While I think having a structure to your day and knowing what you will be working on is super important, it’s also important to know how to make this work best for you. At the end of each day, I schedule out the next day.

How I Use The Pomodoro Technique

I often get asked about how I use Pomodoro in my schedule. If you aren’t familiar with the Pomodoro technique, read this post. The basic technique is 25 minutes of work, a 5 minute break, after 4 sessions a 30 minute or longer break.

I try to incorporate the Pomodoro technique into a few blocks of my day. I rarely do a full 4 blocks of Pomodoro. The thing is, I find it hard to start facing a full 2 hours, so I usually schedule 2-3 Pomodoro sessions and then if I’m on a roll I will add in one more. I typically do two to three Pomodoro sessions, and maybe do social media, email, eating or something else for 30 minutes or more depending on what the activity is. I always have tasks pre-picked for the Pomodoro time slots, and it’s usually focused on content creation:
Blog Posts
Graphics
Newsletters
Projects
Social Media Batching mostly Instagram
Email clean up (not client emails)
Opt-ins

While 25 minutes does not sound like a lot, you will be surprised what you can get done in that time by just focusing on one task. It’s also great to squeeze a session in between appointments. I often find myself “wasting time” if I only have an hour or something between appointments, and scheduling a Pomodoro can help me make the most of that time.

My Schedule (ish)

I’m sharing with you what my day generally looks like. I’m constantly redefining my days and trying to figure out when I’m more focused/have energy for certain tasks.

6:00 am -7:00 am:

Water, tea, check email, Instagram (maybe Facebook), check my schedule for the day

7:00 am -10:00 am:

Workout (3 x week)
Shower
Breakfast

Tea/Email/Social Media

10:00 am-12:00 pm:

Start first Pomodoro by 10:00 (2 or 3) and then check email/social media

12:00 pm-2:00 pm:

Eat lunch/walk…when I make it a priority

Social Media/Email/Planning/Learning

2:00 pm-4:00 pm:

Start second round of Pomodoro by 2:00

4:00 pm -5:00 pm:

Social media/email/learning

Plan out tomorrow’s schedule

5:00 pm-6:00 pm:

Typically I do social media scheduling or finish up emails/respond to notifications while the husband makes dinner. I tend to do Pinterest while I watch tv in the evening too…I have a very hard time just sitting and watching tv.

Client calls typically replace Pomodoro sessions as needed. I don’t have “set” client times, meaning I don’t work with clients only on Tuesday and Thursday or in the afternoon vs morning. I like to keep my availability open when it comes to scheduling clients as I work with clients in many different time zones.

I do block Monday mornings off for planning, resetting, reading, etc to ease myself into the week. I just like to start the week off feeling as ready as possible and I block off Wednesday’s from client work so I can make time and mental space to move my business forward.

Want to learn my ultimate system for using Trello to keep my business on track from yearly planning to weekly to-do’s? Join me for Manage Your Business With Trello. I will guide you through exactly how I use Trello to plan my year, and then how that plan is translated into action.