Once upon a time… my website was lame. It was actually embarrassing. It was so flat and uninspiring, in fact, that I was actively telling people NOT to visit my website.
The worst part was, that for two months I had been working with a fabulous team. They had rebranded my business, created a gorgeous new logo that I loved and designed a brand new website that really resonated with me. Everything was ready. Except me. The whole beautiful thing was waiting on a few content pieces from me.
I was embarrassed by the website I had, my new site was prepped to launch and still day after day would roll by and I would dutifully put the “write website content” on my daily to-do list and would just not do it. Every imaginable distraction would get in the way — from answering emails to client development — and that one item would roll over to the next day and the next day and the next.
Then, one day, I got angry.
I got angry at myself for not pulling the trigger on this beautiful new website. I got angry that new high-end, high-revenue clients were going to a clearly amateur-hour website to get their first impression of my work. I got angry that I was wasting my time and energy avoiding writing these simple pieces. I got angry that I was standing my own way.
So I took action.
I had been following a few entrepreneurs on Facebook whom I admired and they talked about how freeing structuring their day was, how much they accomplished in the morning and how happy they were when they unplugged from their work at night. I knew that structure was a key component in sales success for my clients, so I decided to apply all of that to myself and I created my “Daily Plan”.
I know that I am not the kind of person who thrives when every second is mapped out for me, so I didn’t do that.
I also know that I get far better results when I know what I’m going to need to get done before I even get going and that when I just jump in and do the “hard” stuff first and save my favorite things for last (like dessert, yum!), I’m unstoppable.
So that’s what I did.
I bookended my day — I created on block of time at the beginning of my day and one block of time at the end of my day that are exclusively for me. I don’t book client meetings, I don’t answer emails. In that first block, I WRITE. I write blogs, I create articles and I work on fresh new content for my course. It’s my creative space.
During the day I try to remember to stay focused, to take breaks and to eat as I work through all of the other stuff I have to get done.
And then, at the last hour of the day, for dessert, I get to work on the parts of my business that I love the most — big strategy and business development.
Finally, so that I can unplug and go spend some well-earned time with my sweet little son, I spend the last fifteen minutes of my day prepping the next day for success. I write out my list of non-negotiables and of nice-to-dos. I think of items I may still need to do or of the projects that are not yet complete and I decide how I’m going to move the ball forward on them. The very last thing I do is pick my writing topic for the next morning… and my subconscious mind gets right to work on fleshing out that content so when I sit down to write it in the morning, the content just flies out of my fingertips!
I’m no longer stressed and feeling guilty and ducking phone calls from my marketing team and, best of all, you’re reading this on my brand new website!
Photo Credit: Copyright: pixelbliss / 123RF Stock Photo
Madeleine MacRae
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