I’m often asked how I organize my schedule and everything I have to do for my clients/projects and business/marketing. Having lots of clients and client projects all at different stages in their projects makes it really crucial that I stay organized on many levels.
First, the big picture:
It’s really important to know your schedule and what you can realistically do. Set goals, set deadlines, and make/schedule the time to do the work. Check your goals daily. Re-adjust as needed. Get an accountability partner if that would help.
Managing my time week-by-week:
In order to specifically track my tasks for each project and stay on track, I keep a spreadsheet (Google Sheets) with the weeks of the year down the left column (each week has 8 rows with 5 for my tasks and 3 for my assistant’s) and each of my current clients gets a column across the top with an additional column for “other client work,” “administrative,” and “content/other.” My assistant shares the spreadsheet with me and can check her tasks a week ahead of time and check in if she has any questions.
At the start of each week, I make the entire week’s text in bod and red, then, as I complete things, a de-bold, add a strikethrough, and change back to black. So satisfying!
This allows me to see what work I have on a weekly basis and where/when I can add a new project and plan things out longer-term.
Managing my time day-to-day:
Each Friday, I use my (chic, Parisian) weekly planner to then assign the next week’s tasks to a specific day of the week depending on my schedule. For example, if I know I’ll be at the Wing for a meeting or an event, I’ll assign non-design/laptop tasks to that day. Planning out the up-coming week of Friday also allows me to see if I need anything from someone else in order to complete a task, so I can reach out ahead of time (and relax over the weekend).
The big goals:
I also keep a macro annual list of goals that I check in with and make sure I’m working towards those things on a monthly basis.
It includes large goals as well as repeating goals like “blog three times a month,” “send monthly newsletters,” and “attend two events a month.” I’ll assign these things to my spreadsheet well ahead of time so I always have the time carved out.
How do you manage your projects? Are you a fan of pencil and paper like me, or are you digital all the way? Share your tips and thoughts in the comments: