How to make content (or anything) happen with a full plate
I got this question a few weeks ago, and have been turning around on the answer ever since.
It was specifically about how to make content happen when you’re a busy business owner—when it feels more like a distraction than anything—when it doesn’t feel like a thing that actually pays off, yet it’s a completely necessary activity.
But honestly, this feeling—this problem—can apply to so much more than just creating and executing marketing content. The answer to this question can be the answer to literally anything else for entrepreneurs trying to find time in their day.
So, SEO be damned—let’s dive in to how you can make more time in your day as an entrepreneur.
The answers might be different than you think.
A lesson on time
It’s not a surprise that time is a resource we only have so much of…and no matter how hard we try, we all have the same amount of it.
Finding time to make room in your schedule when you’re already packed to the brim is a lot like trying to stay on a budget.
When you’re running out of money, there are two options at your disposal:
Cut expenses.
Make more money.
And when you’re running out of time, you have two similar options. You can either:
Cut activities.
Make more time.
But wait! Jen, didn’t you just allude that you can’t make more time?
I did! But we’re business owners and we can do anything, right?
…Right???
There’s no easy way there, though. No shortcuts. But luckily, I can give you directions for the scenic route.
How to cut activities
We’re going to start with methods for slashing activities, because these are all of the things you don’t want to hear—but often, it’s the easiest way to quick wins.
Say no…or “not right now.”
DO NOT SCROLL AWAY, MR./MS. “THIS DOESN’T APPLY TO ME.”
I see you, and you’re the one who needs to listen the most.
Most of us are afraid to lose out on opportunities, so we say yes to everything that comes across our plate.
But you need to realize with every yes you say, you’re saying no to something else.
You’re saying no to giving full attention to an opportunity you’ve planned for.
You’re saying no to the things you’ve chosen to focus on in your business plan.
You’re saying no to time with your family.
You’re saying no to a holiday weekend.
You’re saying no to more sleep.
If you’re like most entrepreneurs I know, you started a business because you wanted freedom and flexibility. You didn’t want to have others dictate your day to day.
Guess what? By saying yes all the time, you’re falling right back into that trap, and it’s a prison of your own making.
Hear me: you are more likely to fail from excess of opportunity, not the lack of it.
Read that again.
“You are more likely to fail from excess of opportunity, not the lack of it.”
I am a firm believer that there is more than enough business to go around, both regarding competition and how business finds you.
If you can’t possibly fathom the thought of saying no, then you need to remember the words “not right now.” With clients, you can say, “I can’t do it now, but I can fit you in [future date]!”
It’s okay to push things into the future—that’s called building a pipeline. Lock in meetings, get things on the calendar. Find a system to make sure you’re honoring these appointments.
Wanna know a secret? You can even plan your entire year in advance. That’s a method for a different post, but the next two sections give you hints on how to get there.
Delegate and elevate
One of the lessons I learned from the EOS system is called “delegate and elevate.”
Make a list of everything you do. You don’t have to sit down and think about it all at once; you can start the list, then maybe live through a week or two and take a moment to add on to it as activities come up.
As you make the list, pay attention to:
what are the things that only you can do?
what tasks fill you with terror or dread?
what tasks make the day fly by and bring you joy?
Then, get out a piece of paper and draw this grid:
Evaluate each responsibility or task on your list, and put them in the quadrant that describes how you feel about the task.
Put a star next to the tasks that only you can do (and be honest about it—you may need to take another look here).
Once it’s all written out, this exercise will give you clarity on what tasks you need to offload.
A good place to start is in the “Don’t like doing it and not good at doing it side”—assuming they aren’t things that only you can do.
But the “don’t like doing it and good at doing it” is a great place to offload, too, because these are tasks that drain your energy.
Offloading might mean adding to a team member’s plate, crafting a new role for new hire, or finding a contractor or freelancer to fill some gaps.
Once you make a move toward offloading, the impact won’t be immediate, but you’ll have a path forward.
How to make more time
Now that we’ve learned how to cut activities—either through saying no, moving things to the future, or delegating—we’re moving on to strategies for making more time.
Systematize your calendar
This goes hand-in-hand with the delegate and elevate method above. Now that you have a list of all the things that only you can do, how would you organize them?
Are there things that naturally go together?
Are there things that are radically different and take totally opposite bits of brain energy to execute?
Is there time you need to commuting or resetting?
What is repeatable (marketing tasks, standing meetings, work you execute on a regular basis) and what is more of a one-off thing (speaking engagements, conferences, etc)?
Make a list and try to fit these into 7-10 groups. Here’s an example of mine:
Now, think about how much time you need to actually get these things done.
How do your standing meetings fit into a week? Do they give you room to actually reset and prepare to switch into the next thing?
Your calendar doesn’t lie. As you go through this exercise, you should get a sense of the pockets of chaos. Can you actually fit in all of the things you need to do? Can you make improvements or find efficiency (ie, group certain kinds of standing meetings together so you’re not constantly switching)?
Using all of this information, you can craft a repeatable week that minimizes switching costs—and gives you a clear picture of where your time is going.
Here’s a sample of how all the activities in my list could fit together in a week:
Find engines, not gears
Okay, so you have your list of things only you can do…now it’s time to think about the things you can’t do.
Because really…you can’t do it all. (Sorry.)
Go to the bottom part of the delegate and elevate chart, because this is where you’re going to start.
These are the things that bog you down—things that take you longer to do than you’d like, or kill your mental keep-upitude.
You need to find people who can do those things with their eyes closed—and, as an entrepreneur just starting to build a team, this is the type of person you want. You don’t always want to have to teach someone from the ground up, because you’ll be adding more time blocks for that.
At the early stages, you want engines, not gears.
Engines have power all on their own—they know how to make things happen. Gears, on the other hand, need a push. They can work and work and work, but they need to take power from somewhere.
You probably don’t have the budget to hire a bunch of full-time engines, but you sure can contract them out. And the right engines will be able to do 2-3x more work in the same time as your typical gear.
So as you’re offloading and delegating, do so wisely. Do not hire the first warm body to walk into the room—find seasoned professionals and be clear with your expectations.
Now, back to content
If I had a nickel for every time I hear someone say, “Content is a lot of work!!!”…
Content is a full-time job. It can be a full time job. I don’t know a single busy business owner who doesn’t want to delegate it…because you’re probably not working in your genius while you’re doing it! Unless you’re starting a marketing agency, this is not a thing you do day in and day out.
And if you are in the agency setting, you get to focus on all the other things not in your genius—probably things like building systems, making spreadsheets, and leading a team. Even then, you already know that marketing yourself is way harder than marketing for your clients.
So, don’t beat yourself up if you’re looking for help outside of yourself—it’s okay, and you need to do it.
Just make sure you’re making strategic decisions about what you’re offloading, and not letting desperation take over—because these are the moments that can define your future.
Need help bringing order to the chaos of an entrepreneurial life? I can help. Reach out to set up an intro call with me!
