In today’s video post, I walk you through a step-by-step process for how to find 20 hours a week to work on your business, even if you have a 9 to 5, full-time job. Whether you’re growing a side hustle, writing a book or getting your nonprofit up and running, this strategy can help you get things done on a consistent basis.
In the video, I share a powerful strategy you can use to find more time to work on your passion and make progress in your business:
Get out your calendar.
it doesn’t matter if you use Google Calendar (I do!) or an old-fashioned paper planner. Your calendar should be the main tool you use to manage your time so that you can achieve the goals you have for your life and business.
Find 10 hours during the week and 10 hours on the weekend.
Start by looking at the hours you have available during the week, Monday-Friday. You can easily find one hour before work by waking up just an hour earlier AND one hour before you go to bed every day. That’s 10 hours right there! Now, looking at the weekend, you can choose to carve out 5 hours on both Saturday and Sunday. OR you can put all your 10 hours on Saturday and have your entire Sunday free to relax and celebrate your productivity!
Block those times off in your calendar.
Now that you’ve found the time, you have to commit to using that time for its intended purpose. Set an appointment with yourself for those hours each day in your calendar. In Google Calendar, you can even color code them in GREEN to indicate that those are your GO! times where you should be moving forward, getting things done and making more money in your business.
Once you let go of the excuse that you “don’t have enough time” to work on your business, it will cease to be a challenge for you. Watch your language. And make sure to be mindful of your calendar.
Leave a comment: Where can you find 20 hours in the week to work on your business? Let us know what hours you chose after doing this exercise!
Rosetta Thurman is a nationally-recognized author, speaker, mentor and coach dedicated to helping women create their ideal lives.
i think there are very, very, very few of us who should be cutting out an hour of sleep!
For many of us, the day job is the first place to look for cuts: Putting faith in the future success of the business might mean cutting out that hour a day put in to demonstrate “work ethic” and chase the next promotion. Or it might be time to look for a job with a shorter commute, even if it pays a bit less; the time and energy might be more critcal than the money.
I currently run my own business and I am starting a new venture. I have struggled with finding time to work on the second business. Thank you for the tips! I will begin this evening by staying up two hours past my normal bedtime. Will tell you how it goes!
Z.
Hi Rosetta,
I always gain some powerful tips from your videos/post. I have not utilized all of them to the fullest, however, the ones I have instilled are really helping. They challenge me to challenge myself. This one is a little bit more challenging. I’m a very busy single mother. My youngest child is very active in extra-curricular activities as well as myself. I can make some changes in my life during the week to get the 10 hrs in Mon-Fri. However, I’m having a difficult time trying to squeeze 10 whole hours from my weekends. When I set a goal I get really down on myself if I do not achieve it in the time frame I have set. Therefore, I’m feeling I can challenge myself to get 5 hours from my weekends. That will definitely still be a challenge for me, but it seems more realistic at this current time. I want to thank you for always encouraging us to put forth an effort “any” effort in moving forward in our life. No matter how big or small for some it baby steps are just as significant as giant leaps.
Love how you easily broke it down to get 20 hours a week to work on your business. One tip that I’m incorporating a Business Development Week where I shut myself in my office and only work on those projects that are revenue generating activities.
I just discovered your website a few weeks ago and I am SO glad I did. It has truly been a blessing to me. Thank you so much for this video. It was definitely helpful and I plan to use these tips towards growing my business!
What you said about getting up early is key! I struggle with this one, because I really LOVE to sleep. I believe in the long run the sacrifice will lead to entrepreneurial freedom. Btw, your hair looks AMAZING!!