Top 3 Ways to Value Your Time (Professionally & Personally)

Set Office Hours & Stick to them 

This has proven to be the most difficult for me. At least I know that I am not alone. Setting hours and sticking to them can prove to be a challenge.  setting office hours and sticking to them is super important. One thing that we all want is for others to respect our time, and how can we expect anyone to respect our time when we refuse to do it ourselves? If you are not sure what your hours should be here is a suggestion on how to gain clarity on what those hours should be:

• keep a log of your day to day activities for at least a week, preferably two. Make sure you write everything you are doing. Once you have done that you can see what times of the day you are doing which activities and determine what times you want to set for yourself on a day to day basis. Note that you don’t have to have hours Monday through Friday, and you don’t have to have the exact same hours each day. Regardless, make sure that you set times that work best for you and the clients that you serve. 

Pick at Least 1 Day a Week Off 

One of the top 3 Ways to Value Your Time is to definitely pick at least one free day a week.  We all need free time! You are not a bad person for wanting, needing and demanding at least one free day per week. As an entrepreneur, it can be difficult to designate a day, but the recharge and reset is a necessary part of staying focused and avoiding burnout.  This one ties into number one for a few reasons:

• when you are scheduling your time, figure in when you are working on blog posts, working on social media, when you want to take client calls, etc. all of this needs to be scheduled in your office hours, not your free time. This was a large mistake that I made in the beginning. I was using “free time” to schedule posts, write content, take client calls, and work on projects.  As you can tell, I had no free time and was approaching burnout. I was losing my passion and started to think negatively about my business. 
• By journaling, you also get to see how much time each thing you are doing takes. This helps when you set hours and schedule appointments. This will also help you with setting realistic goals for due dates etc for clients because you will know how long these projects will take you. 

Scheduling Helps You Respect & value Your Time, So Use One!

Another one of the top 3 ways to value your time is utilizing a schedule. Create a schedule and stick to it! This also makes you more aware of your time and just how long it takes to do tasks. By scheduling, you also will not forget important events, dates or info if you keep everything in a schedule. When I have had times that I want to get down on myself for not doing enough, all I have to do is look at my schedule and it is an instant pick me up. I see just how much I have been able to get done and feel accomplished.