sole proprietors: how to schedule your time?

[SLTA]

It's just me here at my company so I wear all the hats. I'm finding it hard to actually get any work done with all the calls, emails, etc. I try to ignore them for a while to focus on actual work but then something else intrudes.

So, for you other sole proprietor folks: How do you schedule your time? Do you have certain times for returning emails, calls, etc? For billing? For marketing, if you do that? Or is it all mixed up chaotically for you too?

 

[DRWeig]

The many hats make it fun.

I truly hate to quote Stephen Covey, but if you put the big rocks in first there will be room for the small ones.

I schedule time in the calendar each week for the highest priorities. Generally, these are the billable hours or anything that otherwise is needed by a client. I might block out 2 hours each morning and the entire afternoon for all week if a deadline is looming.

The things that aren't priority one get the squeaky-wheel approach. For example, on the 14th of each month the state revenue department becomes a big rock.

It seems to work for me. I truly got burnt out on listening to Stephen Covey principles, maybe a decade ago. Two of them stuck with me, though. Put the big rocks in first. Sharpen the saw.

Best to you,

Goober Dave

Haven't see the forum policies? Do so now: Forum Policies

 

[zdas04]

If you can't work in 15 minute chunks you are in the wrong business. I have friend that are sole proprietors (like I am) that have found long-term gigs with one client. In that case you are basically an employee without a 401K. I've always had 20 clients (2-3 active at one time), a future class that needed work, and ideas for new-product development. I find that if I ignore e-mail then it becomes overwhelming so I deal with e-mails as they come in. Same with the phone. My work is done in short sprints. I start really early in the morning, which used to work to give me an hour or two to work on one thing, but my business goes from South Africa to Australia so one of my clients is always awake. You just have to keep your energy level up.

David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering

"Belief" is the acceptance of an hypotheses in the absence of data.
"Prejudice" is having an opinion not supported by the preponderance of the data.
"Knowledge" is only found through the accumulation and analysis of data.
The plural of anecdote is not "data"

 

[PSE]

You will likely get as many different answers and methods as responders. A "system" of sorts will evolve based upon your needs as well as the business. I would have "normal business hours" where I would deal with calls, e-mails, meetings, etc on generally a first in first out basis. Then there was the hour before and the hour after that I used for planning time. You will eventually find your own business style that works. Challenge I always had was even at the "end" of my day, I found that I would still be thinking about work. It took a little time to re-balance business life with non-business life.

Bruce Youngman

http://www.dynamicsolutions-mi.com

 

[berkshire]

There is no " Correct " answer for this. When I ran a business I would start at the beginning of the morning and look at the tasks for the day.
I would then assign a priority to the task. I would take care of the highest priority tasks first either by doing them or delegating them. Then The next highest priority, and so on, If I did not get them done, they would be added to the top of the sheet for the next day.
Bottom line, if all tasks did not get done in one day, at least you got the highest priority ones done first.
You are not going to do that any other way.
B.E.

 

[Sparweb]

I came "this close" to starting a company of my own, and may still do so in the future. The thing that made it the wrong move, was the time commitment. It's not a 9 to 5 job. More like 7 to 7, including Saturdays. With a young family, it was not going to work.
In your case, it might be the part about finishing certain tasks that is holding you back. You have to focus on getting important things done (accounting, billing, taxes, strategizing etc.) before the distractions start coming in and after they stop. If it's quiet during the daytime too then you don't haven enough clients so you still have to get off your keester and drum up business.
Simple round numbers: you have to be billing for 2000 hours per year to be profitable, if you're a consultant. To get billable work done during those hours, you need another 1000 hours per year for all of the overhead stuff. Hopefully you have that much time to spend on it. Starting up is hard; everything is on the steep part of the learning curve, at the same time.

STF

 

[berkshire]

Get used to doing quotes after the business has closed for the day. Do not fall into the booby trap I fell into, keep looking for work even if you are busy.
I ended up with a cash flow like a saw tooth, because when we got a bunch of work in , we concentrated on getting jobs out of the door,and not looking for work, the result, the overtime would stop and five guys would be eyeing each other across the shop, wondering where the next job was.
B.E.

 

[brandonbw]

I still answer emails at midnight to other late night consultants, especially architects. I answered a phone call last night for a new job around 8pm, and the client was surprised I was taking phone calls. I was with my partner trying to come up with the most efficient design on a project and that was a nice little break. I talked while my partner played words with friends. Later into the night I started working on our next project. All the while we are dealing with getting new quotes on insurance, billing clients, writing proposals, and trying to make sure our website stays up to date with blog posts. I don't want to say we are swamped yet but we are starting to get multiple projects aiming for the same submittal dates. So time management is key. I like to stay up at all times of the day and never really sleep much. College got me into that awful habit. But I know that most people, other engineers especially, think I am nuts for working so much.

So how I schedule all of this? Its all memorized, and somehow with more and more stuff to remember it becomes easier to know what needs to be done, and forget what isn't important. Building a good contact list on my phone helps though.

B+W Engineering and Design
Los Angeles Civil Engineer and Structural Engineer

http://bwengr.com

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http://bwstructuralengineer.com

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http://bwcivilengineer.com

 

[vthomidis]

In your words you haven't had proper sleep since high school....if get burned out though
, be sure you will need long chunks of sleep to catch up....

 

[DKirkham]

What I do is try to answer emails and phone calls immediately. Don't let them sit around. Don't get long winded--just answer them, quickly. This will relieve you of a ton of headaches that keep backing up. My next suggestion may sound crazy...work out. Do anything that you like. Walk, run, lift weights, crossfit (I love crossfit and so does my wife). The time you spend working out will be paid back, with interest, in productivity. Almost all of our customers (generally wealthy businessmen) work out religiously.

I also found that a good administrative assistant makes me 10 times more productive.

David

http://www.kirkhammotorsports.com