E7: How to Manage Your Time When You’ve Got a Million Things to Do

Let’s talk about time… or more accurately, the lack of it.

In this episode of Real Talk and a Slice of Cake, we get stuck into one of the biggest struggles for new business owners: finding the time to get it all done. Whether you’re still in your 9–5, juggling family life, or running more than one business, you’ll relate to this one.

We’re sharing:

• Why being productive matters more than being busy
• The two simple time-management tools we actually use (spoiler: one involves Post-it notes)
• A sneaky trick to get more done in 45 minutes than you usually do in half a day
• Why crossing things off your list feels SO damn good (even if you write them down just to cross them off)

This isn’t about being perfect. It’s about getting things done, keeping it simple, and building momentum...even when life is full.

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Transcript

Welcome to the Real Talk and a Slice of Cake Podcast with your favourite business besties, Emma & Leanne

No fluff. No jargon. Just straight-talking advice, smart strategies and a dash of mischief to keep things interesting.

If you’re starting or growing a business and feeling a bit overwhelmed don’t worry, we’ve got you.

Between us, we’ve built four successful businesses - and learned a lot the hard way.  Now we’re sharing what actually works… PLUS the stuff we wish someone had told us sooner.

From hobby to hustle, side gig to full-time business…you’ll get honest conversations, practical tips, and lots of laughs along the way.

So grab a brew, cut yourself a slice of your favourite cake, and let’s dive in!

Hello and welcome to Real Talk and a slice of Cake with me, Leanne, and my business bestie Emma. So in today's episode, we want to talk about time managing your time, and more importantly, how to find the time in your day to launch your business and. I think for me, it all comes down to prioritization.

We've all got different things in the different seasons of our life, whether that's young children, elderly parents, multiple businesses, maybe you're still working. And so we've all got, we've all got different things. We've all got different priorities. We've all got different challenges, if you like, but that's why it's super important to get clear on.

Where you're going, what you're trying to achieve, and then how to break it down. So today we want to talk about a couple of tools that Emma and I use that can really help you to manage your time and be a bit more effective and efficient in every day. So Emma, would you like to talk about your favorite time management tool?

Absolutely, and mine is super, super simple because that's how Emma rolls. The simpler, the easier, the better. And I've tried lots of things. So, so mine is, is a bit of an old fashioned diary system. I love to be able to write things down and cross things off. To be able to physically sit there with my pen and scribble it through to say I've achieved that task.

So every week I will sit and I will take my bigger goals, the things that I want to achieve during that week, and I'll break them down into smaller tasks that I need to do each day. That will also include things that I need to do every week. Every day. So dealing with emails, dealing with inquiries, you know, all of the client work that needs to go on.

Um, so I literally break it down into those teeny weeny little tasks that we need to do. It'll, it'll say, record a podcast episode. It'll say, you know, send something to a client. If I know I need to send something to a client, it'll say, create some content and it'll tell me which day's content I'm gonna create.

It will literally everything that I need to do to move me forward. During the course of the week, I write it down and then at the end of. Doing each of those tasks, I cross them through. For me, that has made my productivity shoot through the roof because before what I was doing is I was spending time working out what I needed to do rather than just getting it done.

So this has given me focus and priority in terms of what I need to do. Super simple. Um, and it doesn't mean you can't still have automated diaries. It's just about something nice and easy that I can follow. What about you, Liam? What's your favorite go-to tool? So I have, I do have a favorite tool, which I'm gonna talk about in in a minute, but I just wanted to build, I wanted to ask you a question actually, Emma.

And do you ever write things down after you've done them, just so you can cross them off? Absolutely, I do. Nothing feels better than seeing how much progress you've made during the day. So yeah, if I've forgotten to write something down and I do something, it gets written down and immediately crossed through.

Does that make me strange? Well, if it makes you strange, that's two of us that are strange as well. 'cause I definitely do that. And just as, just as a little add-on, um, a bit more of a, a tip if you like, I I do exactly the same as you. Some days I will have a list of, you know, I must get through this list and that can feel a little bit overwhelming, can't it?

And so what I do is I will set myself a timer and say, right, I have got 45 minutes now, and it's almost a bit of a competition with myself. It keeps me focused, but then it's, how many of these things can I cross off in, in 45 minutes? So it's kind of phoning the phone in the drawer, um, and emails switched off, and literally that focus time.

And I think that really helps me to focus my mind and get through the list a lot quicker. Absolutely, and I think that's key, isn't it? Is finding that thing that motivates and encourages you to keep going. Yeah, so I'll share, um, another tool that I have used, I've used in corporate. It is a lean tool. It's called Kanban, K-A-N-B-A-N.

And what that is, it's a visual way to track the progress of tasks. So this is more for tasks that you know, that you are going to have to come back to. At some point that you can't just set the timer and cross it off the list and it's, it's quite simple. It's very visual. The best way to use this is to get some post-its and write down everything that you need to do on an individual Post-it.

And you can have it on a board, or you can, you can just have it on your notebook if you, if you like. And it's in three columns. So the first column is to do so all of those post-its would go in that column to start with. Then the middle column is in progress. So. When you have done something of that first task, you would then lift that, post-it up, and move it across to the in progress column.

And then when it's done, you move it across to the done or completed column. And what that's doing, not only is it a tangible thing that you can actually pick up and move across, but you, you can also then see at a glance the things that you. You are moving from left to right if you like. So from to do to in progress, to done.

Some things jump straight from, to do, to done, and there's no right or wrong way with, with these tools is there at all? It's, it's about finding the thing that feels manageable for you, that's going to take away that overwhelm, that's going to keep you focused and more importantly, it's gonna get the damn thing done.

Exactly that. And that's the key thing, isn't it? That is the absolute key thing, whether you are, you know, in a full-time job and trying to launch your business, whether you are already in the business and you're running that business, whether you've got, you know, young children, elderly parents. All the businesses to run, there are only so many hours in the day.

So you need to find a way. I always talk about being productive, not busy. It's very easy, isn't it, to just become busy and just to be doing stuff constantly. But what you need to start doing is not just doing anything. But focusing on the things that are actually moving you forward. And I think that's a key question, isn't it?

Is this activity moving me closer to having this business set up to actually getting your first clients to get in your first customers to being able to sell your products and services? If it's not, then it's probably not something you should prioritize right now. Exactly. And I think also another thing to touch on just very quickly before we end this episode, when it comes to priorities, it's also looking at the stuff that you are wasting time doing as well.

So the one we're all guilty of. I haven't found anybody that hasn't, had some people been guilty for this scrolling social media, you know, you can't help it, can you? It's addictive to scroll to find the reels. I love finding reels and sending them to Leanne. She must get sick of receiving them, but she loves sending them back.

Um, it's a bit of a joke, isn't it? We are always sending these reels between each other, but. But I have to make sure that that isn't at the detriment of the things that I need to be doing. And I think that's key, isn't it? You know, when it comes to using your time, making sure that you aren't wasting time on things that aren't adding any value.

Yes. Sorry. And they were just silence. Neither are gonna speak next. I was just thinking. Absolutely. And um. At times Precious, it's the one thing that we can't get back. And actually, I think as soon as you start tracking and monitoring and focusing on it, you'll realize just how much you can actually get done.

Absolutely. So you've got to prioritize your time. Once you start to tick things off your list, whether it's physically like I do with my pen, whether it is like Leanne does with her Post-it notes, moving from one thing to another, that absolutely boosts your confidence and it gives you that momentum, that drive to keep going and to keep doing the next thing.

So prioritize. Have a system where you can physically see that you have took things off your list and, and just use your time more effectively. Anything you wanted to add before we end? Leanna? Are we gonna get more time back in the diaries? I think we give everybody some more time back. Excellent. Right.

Thank you for listening. We will see you next time.

That’s it for today’s slice of real talk…we hope you’re walking away with something you can actually use.If you liked what you heard, hit follow, leave a review, or share it with a fellow business bestie.  

And if you’re craving more cake and conversation, come hang out with us on Instagram @simplifybusinesssuccess

Thanks for tuning in and remember, no fluff, no jargon…just real talk.

See you next time!