Fun Business Fun Money Podcast
EP 031 – How to increase your efficiency and productivity
You might associate the word ‘batching’ with creating content and scheduling it out across the various social media platforms.
Time doesn’t come to those who wait, it comes to those who go out and make it. That means being more efficient and more productive with the hours you have available. It frees up the time you spend in and on your business so you have more fun time, or play time.
In this coaching episode I share some insights on how you can apply the START – STOP – CONTINUE concept to almost every aspect of your life or business.
Grab your copy of my ‘handy dandy’ START STOP CONTINUE guide!
KEY MENTIONS
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Business & Money Coaching with Deirdre
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TRANSCRIPT
Hey there, welcome back to the Fun Business Fun Money podcast!
Today is a longer coaching episode on a topic that is by no means a new concept, but I hope this perspective will put a new light on it if you’re not operating as efficiently as you COULD be and you’re keen to make some changes.
In a nutshell what I’m talking about is BATCHING. Which is a word most business owners associate with creating your marketing content.
If you’re not familiar with the concept its high time you take a closer look at it, its a brilliant way to maximise your time, energy and expertise. You sit down and batch create a whole bunch of graphics and posts, and schedule them out so you’re having to constantly think about them.
Now, I’m not a marketing expert AT ALL, in fact I’ve found myself saying more and more recently that marketing will be the hardest thing you ever do in your business.
Thats not because the actual work is hard by any means, but because it needs to be done consistently, persistently and frequently in order to make an impact and get your message out there.
It can feel hard to market yourself if you’re just winging it, flying by the seat of your pants and doing everything purely on intuition and inspiration in the moment.
I know, I’ve been there, done that! Thats exactly how I got started in business, and I can confirm it works very well. But there comes a point where you need some kind of structure, a plan, a framework, whatever you like to call it, so you’re not burning yourself out constantly trying to come up with something new and exciting to wow your audience so they continue to buy from you.
All that said, I’m not actually talking about marketing or batching your content today. Like I said I’m not a marketing pro, I’ve hired marketing coaches and writing experts to help me improve my skills in this area and actually batching that content is a work in progress for me.
What I AM talking about is batching the tasks that consume your time and energy in unnecessary ways.
This analogy is probably going to sound completely left of field, but I promise theres a point!
I’m a huge fan of leftovers. When I cook dinner I’ll make enough for 6-8 people instead of just the 4 of us. For a while there was actually 3 because Cody, our eldest, has left home and moved back to Sydney – which I’m still quietly devo about because I love having my adult kiddos around!
Thats why it was no hardship at all for one of Leo’s workmates to move into one of our spare rooms, so we’re back up to 4. And we’ve recently found out that Cody will be back with us soon, which will bring us to a household of 5 adults.
Basically I’m making a lot of food for 3, 4, 5 adults, so of course we have leftovers. It goes in the fridge and we have it the next day, or someone will take it for lunch. It might go in the freezer for a future quick meal or it’ll be repurposed in some way. It never goes to waste.
The boys usually ask whats for dinner and when I say leftovers, they’re genuinely excited about it! We don’t do formal dinner times or sit around the table for family time because everyone is on the go with different schedules and plans, so being able to grab what you want when you want it is a massive time and energy saver for everyone.
Cooking in bulk means we, because my awesome hubby Chay is also a great cook, we only spend significant time in the kitchen 2-3 times per week.
I’ve done the same thing for breakfasts. I work from home so I have the luxury of being able to make anything, anytime I want. But I can’t always be bothered getting everything out to make a healthy delicious omelette, as much as I love them.
I’ve recently brought back an old favourite – breakfast frittata. I cracked open 16 eggs, chopped up 8 slices of bacon and defrosted a couple of cups of frozen peas, corn and carrots. I’ve also used leftover steamed veggies in the past, whatever is right there and convenient.
Mix it all up, pop it in a shallow oven tray and bake it in the oven with a sprinkle of cheese on top. 20 minutes later I’ve got breakfast sorted for the next week, which now takes me 2 minutes each morning. And most of that 2 minutes is taken up making my punchy small cappuccino to enjoy with it.
Some people think thats boring, they want something different every day, they don’t know what they feel like until its time to eat and thats what they’ll make.
I think people who don’t like leftovers are wasting time and energy that could be utilised for other things, like having more FUN or doing something else that moves your life forward!
Is there anything worse than getting to the end of the day, your brain is tired, you might be physically exhausted, you’ve likely got kids of ANY age saying they’re hungry right NOW… does the thought of creating something amazing to eat fill you with joy and excitement, or dread and a touch of resentment?
If its the latter, you need to look at improving your time and efficiency.
You’re probably wondering how my thrilling leftovers analogy applies to your business and I promise there IS a connection!
Take a look at what are you doing over and over and over again and find the things that you could perhaps do in bulk.
What do you find yourself doing on the regular that could be done once instead of repeatedly?
What ELSE could you be using your time for if you streamlined this thing?
Of course my default response to that is always “Something FUN!” Whether thats learning something new, reading a book, going for a walk so I can listen to a podcast to trigger new creative ideas, or getting my paddle board out on the water – THAT is what I’d rather be doing than sitting at my desk doing an essential but repetitive task in an inefficient way.
Look for the efficiencies you can make in your business. In most cases if you take a serious look at what you’re doing you’ll see where you can make improvements.
You can apply the START – STOP – CONTINUE principle to help you figure it out.
What do you need to START doing?
Maybe you DO need to start batching your content and scheduling it using one of the countless online tools available, which will free up your time and energy for other things. Just spending an hour a week on this can boost your online presence and visibility exponentially, without you having to constantly think about it.
Maybe you need to start prioritising your self care, or soul care as I like to call it. You can’t serve from an empty cup and all that.
If you’re a morning exercise person, get it done so you can feel good about prioritising yourself. Make that healthy breakfast, get dinner planned and prepped ahead of time so you can then get on with your work knowing you’re not ordering take out for the 3rd time this week.
Or it could be you need to start the course you bought ages ago that will help you in your business. Or finally reach out to that awesome business coach you’ve been listening to on the Fun Business Fun Money podcast so you can get help increasing your efficiency and productivity while still having FUN! 😉
Whatever it is, take action on it in the next 24 hours, get it started. Make a note in your diary and don’t let it slip by without doing something about it.
What do you need to STOP doing?
Where are you wasting time? What are you doing that doesn’t create value for you or your clients, and doesn’t make you any money?
If its not essential to the running of your business, like doing your accounts and sending out invoices, chances are you can stop doing it. Or you could outsource it to someone who thrives on those kind of tasks.
Thats an area I love applying the money archetypes, the team you work with. Its great when you’re all on the same wavelength and vibe, but if you keep bringing on people who are just like you, they’re probably going to hate the same tasks that you do.
I like seeing the results of tracking data, but I don’t have the patience to actually collect the data and analyse it. Thats better done by someone with a different set of skills and personality to me.
I’ll pay someone who DOES love it to take that task off my plate so I can focus on the things I LOVE doing – which is writing, creating things and working with amazing entrepreneurs to create more freedom in their lives.
Maybe you need to stop spreading yourself too thin as you try to show up on every social media platform, including the ones you hate. Focus on ONE, get really good at that.
It doesn’t matter what the platform is, thats simply a vehicle. Your ideal clients are EVERYWHERE when you speak to them in just the right way.
What do you want to CONTINUE doing?
What are the things you truly enjoy? Don’t let your business or career become all consuming, all work and no play makes you boring AF, ok? 😉
That can be a hard one to hear for some money personalities like the Ruler, you don’t need a hobby because work IS your hobby! And thats absolutely ok because you should keep doing the things that make you happy.
Just make sure you’re taking some time away from working towards your goals as well because thats where the best ideas, inspiration and fresh energy comes from. It could be something as simple as going for a walk and listening to a podcast.
Set yourself up for an amazing year by improving efficiency and creating more time for fun, enjoyment, play, whatever you like to call it.
If you enjoy creating templates that make life easier for someone else, keep doing that! Get it out into the world and sell it because people will pay good money for that kind of thing, you’re allowing them to STOP doing it themselves.
You can see where I’m going with all of this, its ok for you to start, stop or continue doing things anytime you want. You just have to take a look at them and make that decision.
You don’t need anyone’s permission when you’re the one calling the shots and running your own business!
To help you with all of this I recently created a handy dandy PDF called Start – Stop – Continue. I don’t know why I always refer to PDFs as handy dandy, I’m going to blame all the Blues Clues episodes with the handy dandy notebook that I watched with the kids when they were young!
It really is a handy dandy thing because its got a checklist full of suggested areas of your business to review where you can maybe stop, start or continue doing something. Whatever it is that you choose to do, its always with the intention of making you more productive and efficient with your work time, and free up more FUN TIME!
You’ll find the link to get your copy of the Start Stop Continue Guide in the description of this episode, and in the show notes.
I absolutely love hearing from people about how they’re making improvements to their business, simplifying and creating more freedom for fun and whatever else they want. Send me a DM on Facebook or Instagram and tell me what you’re doing, I’m @funbusinessfunmoney on both platforms.
Thats what I’ve got for you today, go forth and be more productive and efficient! Take care, have fun and I’ll catch you in the next episode!
THE START STOP CONTINUE CHECKLIST
Click here to get your copy and work out what you want to start, stop and continue doing.
Being more efficient and productive in your business means more time for FUN! 😉
