Hey New Person! Welcome to the Coach Pony Blog. This is where I share secrets from behind the scenes of my coaching business. You are welcome to steal them :).
I wanted to start with a question I’ve been asked 10 times in the last month from new (and not-so-new) coaches, which is this: “Seriously – how do you structure your time each week?”
But, one big thing to know is that how I structure my time now years in, versus how I used to structure my time when I started and had a very different business, is definitely not the same.
So I’m going to tell you both!
Here’s where I want to start: TODAY (established successful business)
So, to some degree every week has the same routine.
Monday:
Most of my calendar is blocked off for planning.
During that time I:
1. Think about the big (usually 2 or 3) things I need to do that week.
2. I block off time on my calendar to make sure I do them.
3. Then I block off a little extra time for learning and networking. Some of that time is already set to recurring, but as events happen and things get scheduled, I squeeze in extra where possible.
After planning, I dive into writing my blog for the week. I tend to rough it out on Monday, polish it on Tuesday and load it into Ontraport, and it’s scheduled to go out Wednesday morning.
I could have Shannon, my OBM do the last bit, but I like to be free to make changes so I take care of it all myself.
Monday afternoon is devoted to meetings.
I meet with my team, and then I meet with my business mastermind and we work on each other’s businesses.
Then I close out with any admin tasks that I’ve put off.
Tuesday:
Tuesday is all about …
…Creating content, emails, sequences, or anything that’s related to whatever big project I’m working on.
Wednesday:
I tend to schedule any client-related work on Wednesday.
I spend the first part of Wednesday morning checking in on social media.
After that, I do whatever client-related work is needed (these days it’s usually putting the finishing touches on a webinar for my community, since I no longer coach privately).
Then I go back to marketing (like writing guest blogs).
And finally, I deliver on my client work – like the aforementioned webinar.
Thursday:
Thursday is a day for networking and more content work.
I try and plan most of my partnership, “get to know you” or any kind of non-team call or meeting on Thursday so I’m efficient with my time and in a “let’s be awesome together” frame of mind.
If I haven’t had anything planned, then I’m usually creating content for a launch, writing, or doing …yep, more business planning.
Friday:
Friday is a day where I try to NEVER talk to anyone. It’s a day devoted to admin.
I respond to emails (I tend to *mean* to respond to emails during the week, but I put most of them off till Friday), I do admin tasks that I hate and batch them all together, like pay bills or talk to my bookkeeper.
(Note: My bookkeeper is very nice, I just hate looking at spreadsheets).
I schedule anything I need to do for the weekend and take a look ahead at the next week.
And, I end work early. Sometimes at lunch, sometimes at 2 or 3, but I never work a full-day on Friday.
When I first started (very few private clients):
One mistake I made very VERY early on was that I tried to coach every day of the week. But very quickly I realized that Monday was NOT my awesome time, so I spent my week like this:
Monday:
Plan what I was going to do that week, review any coaching client notes for the upcoming week, get client worksheets prepped, and make a marketing goal for myself.
Tuesday/Wed:
Focus on coaching clients (I batched almost all of my coaching into only a couple of days).
Try and be active on social media otherwise, but don’t worry too much about it.
**Attend any evening networking events that are relevant.
Thurs:
Thursday morning was set aside for coaching clients.
Thursday afternoon was for marketing – writing my blog, working on my website, and going to events where I tried to market myself.
Friday:
Follow up with any clients, do admin, focus on completing marketing goal.
And…that’s it!
One thing that really works for me, well – three things:
1. Putting everything remotely important on the calendar (and plenty that isn’t). I have stuff blocked off that says “email so-and-so” – if it’s not on your calendar, it’s not real.
2. Exercise! Coaching and running a business is HARD. Make sure you have a few minutes of time to at least take a walk and let your mind rest.
3. I’m into meditation these days. I don’t need to tell you the benefits of such, you don’t live under a rock :). The app I use because it’s so simple and easy you can’t help but learn is CALM. Love it.
Now, I’ll leave you to schedule your week in peace…happy coaching!
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Christie