Crafting Your Ideal Work Week
There’s all this hype about the ‘4-Day Work Week’ but as solo business owners, it may seem like it’s just A Pipedream.
Being in business by ourselves, it seems that so much falls onto our shoulders.
Answering emails/the phone/general customer service
Number Crunching and Accounts
Social Media/Marketing and Advertising
Networking and Relationship Building
Programme Creation and Delivering
And it may be that we’re working 7 days of the week - plus evenings and Bank Holidays too!
So, whilst the idea of having a 4-Day Week seems a long way off, we may have aspirations to work less. And this could look like:
⭐️ Taking 2 half days off during the week
⭐️ Working only school hours so that we can take the kids to school
⭐️ Taking a Monday or a Friday off to give us a 3 day weekend
⭐️ Taking a mid-week day off
But really it is up to us to ‘design’ our own week.
This blog is going to give you some ideas as to how you can utilise the time that you do spend working more effectively so that you can have the week that you desire.
Why would you want a 4-Day Week anyway?!
There are so many reasons why you would want to get more done in less time!
Imagine being able to:
🏠 Be around for family members
🧶 Take up old hobbies or start new ones
☕️Spend time with friends that you don’t get to see much
🐾 Exercise more and get out in nature
Designing a week that works for you, means that you can be more focused in the time that you do spend working. Knowing that you have e.g. 4 days to get your head down and get busy will inspire you to stop procrastinating and just get on with the important stuff.
Balancing client expectations with a new schedule
Of course, if you are a client-facing business, there may be expectations from others that you are around to answer queries and emails in 'traditional office hours'.
There are several ways in which you can manage this:
Clearly display your official working days and times. Have these on your Google Business Profile, on your website, in your email signature etc.
Use your email autoresponder to set up expectations for when you will be checking and answering emails. If you will reply within 24-48 hours, say this.
Use an appointment booking app such as Calendly or TidyCal. Ensure that clients (or potential ones) can book on your working days only.
How can I do more in less time?
This may seem an impossible feat when you think about all the things that you need to do in each week.
Firstly, track your time over a few days. Knowledge is definitely power when it comes to planning your week. Once you have tracked your time, and you know where your time is actually going, you can start to work out a better schedule for your week.
Take your list of tasks and group like with like. I like using coloured highlighters for this.
Look at which tasks are e.g. Marketing or Social Media tasks, General Admin, Accounting etc.
Start batching the tasks together and decide where across your week you are going to do them. E.g Thursday could be Content Creation and Scheduling Day. Friday Afternoons could be spent invoicing and doing accounts.
Bonus points for documenting these tasks and creating checklists and procedures to follow for each one!
When you have your week organised like this, you’ll be way less reactive and will save lots of time because your brain is not flitting around from task to task.
Consider your environment!
It may be that working from home is making you work less effectively. There are so many distractions at home:
The washing pile
Kid’s toys to sort out
That pesky DIY or decorating project
Looking out the window to see who the big delivery van belongs to
The temptation to clean out the cutlery drawer or organise the knives in size order
For me, I find myself being way more productive on the days that I go into my office which is outside of the house. So, I plan my week so that the days that I am at home, I allocate my more creative tasks e.g. Writing content, creating images or monotonous tasks such as admin and accounts. The days that I have meetings and/or need more brain power, I schedule for my office days.
While you may not be able to rent an office space, it may be that a change of scenery once or twice a week could really help you. But do make sure that you know exactly what you want to achieve during that time.
You could choose to spend half a day or a full day working from:
A co-working space
A cafe or quiet pub
The local library
Make sure that if you do go elsewhere to work, you have the equipment that you need and Wifi. There’s nothing worse than planning to spend the day working and finding the Wifi is rubbish or you’ve forgotten your charger!
Automation is your friend!
Once you get into batching your tasks and recording how you conduct each section of your business, you may find yourself thinking, ‘this task could be automated’!
Things like:
Email Automations
Getting your apps to communicate with each other via a tool such as Zapier
Using Rules and Integrations in your Task Management tool
All these things can save you time and stop you having to repeat tasks across your business.
So, is the 4-Day Work Week For You?
It's clear that achieving a balanced work life is not just a fantasy—it's a tangible goal within reach. Working towards a 4-day work week or another schedule begins with carefully considering what you actually want your week to look like.
By managing your time, balancing client expectations, and implementing efficient techniques, you can design a week that not only meets the demands of your business but also aligns with your personal goals. Batching tasks, scheduling mindfully, and embracing automation emerge as powerful tools for reclaiming control over your time.
Remember, the benefits extend beyond work. Picture being present for your family, indulging in hobbies, and enjoying quality time with friends—all made possible by a well-designed work week.
In essence, this is about seizing control, enhancing productivity, and ultimately crafting a work week that aligns with your own unique aspirations.
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