Random musings: Want to Cut Your Work Hours in Half? Create an A/B Schedule

Wednesday, November 18, 2020

Want to Cut Your Work Hours in Half? Create an A/B Schedule

Today's blog post is based on an article from Fast Company:

Entrepreneurs wear many hats.

As a coach who works with a lot of business owners and solopreneurs, I’ve seen my clients do everything from marketing to idea generation to logistical firefighting. Often, they’re doing all these things on the same day, if not the same hour. That makes about as much sense as actually balancing, wearing, and placing a stack of hats on your head at the same time. So I tell my clients, they need to put on one hat–one role–at a time, and adopt an A/B schedule.

I do this myself, dividing my schedule between “A” and “B” weeks for different types of work. Working this way has cut my hours almost in half, and has allowed me to run a nearly seven-figure business in just 20 hours a week. Even better, I feel more energized at the end of every day.

The author then talks a little bit about life before and after using an A/B schedule. And then he talks about how to develop one.

Of course, setting up a method that worked for me and my current business took some time and tinkering. You’ll probably learn that you’ll have to test a few things before landing on a system that suits you.

To get started, I recommend taking the following steps:

Examine your current schedule
Communicate
Tinker
Keep your health in mind

Every entrepreneur starts his or her business with particular aims in mind–the people they want to serve, the problems they want to solve, and the goals they want to reach. Fulfilling this purpose demands a lot of energy. If you’re constantly switching tasks, you’re leaking that precious energy. Save that effort. Set up an A/B schedule, and you can get more done with more power to spare.

As an entrepreneur, you have to do everything for your business...you just don't have to do it all at once. Schedule different tasks for different times or different days and see how it makes you both more effective and more efficient.