Ever get to Friday and feel like you’ve accomplished nothing?
Ever get to Friday and feel like you’ve accomplished nothing, even though you’ve been at your desk every day?
That's been me for many months. I’ve been working long hours 6 or 7 days a week but I wasn’t making any real progress. I’ve been busy but not productive if that makes sense. I've felt burned out, tired and bored.
But, the last week I’ve been a machine. I’ve cranked out tons of important work. I'm happy and satisfied.
The change came after reading The 12 Week Year by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington.
They write about creating high-performance time by using a concept called time blocking.
There are 3 types of time blocks:
-
Strategic time. This is a 3 hour block of uninterrupted time. During this time you focus all your energy on preplanned strategic and money-making activities.
-
Buffer time is there for dealing with unplanned things.
-
Breakout time is free time away from work. It’s designed to refresh and reinvigorate so you can focus on work when you’re in the strategic time.
You reserve these blocks on your calendar in advance. Here's how I arranged my working days.
- 9-10: Buffer block to deal with anything that came in overnight.
- 10-2: Strategic block. The book recommends 3 hours but after the first day I liked it so much I increased it to 4 hours.
- 2-3: Lunch break.
- 3-5: Buffer block to deal with anything that came in during my strategic block.
The strategic time was key to my super week.
At the start of strategic time I turned my phone off, closed my email, and shut the office door. I'd told Helen about my plan and she promised not to interrupt unless the house was on fire.
I can’t believe how much real valuable work I got done. This has been the most productive I’ve felt in years. I’ve worked hard but I'm energised even though the same work made me tired, bored and frustrated the previous week.
I used the last few minutes of strategic time to plan for what I was going to do in the next strategic block. That made for a running start the next day.
The buffer time on either side of the strategic block stopped me worrying that I was missing out on something that needed attention. Knowing that I would have time to take care of anything that came up made it much easier to focus on the real work during the strategic block.
I didn’t schedule out a breakout block but I’ll add that into the mix in the future.
I’ll stop now before I sound too evangelical. But it’s been a fantastic week and I wanted to share this with you in case you’ve suffered the same problem of working hard but getting nowhere.
I offer 1-to-1 mentoring and consulting. You’ll get help, advice, support and answers without having to commit to a long-term contract. Details here.
Related articles
"We Tried That, and It Didn’t Work” – How to Overcome Resistance to Change One thing still amazes me: people pay for my advice - then ignore it completely. Sometimes they'll dismiss my suggestions without a second thought. Here's how I fix it.
3 thought-provoking questions I recently came across the work of user experience designer Pavel Samsonov. He shared three thought-provoking questions that really cut through the fluff.
Creating an elevator pitch that makes people want to talk to you. I've always answered the question What do you do? with something like I'm a Google Ads guy. Daniel Priestly changed how I think about answering this question.
Why book-an-appointment conversions are so difficult with Google Ads Why wasn't this wedding photographer getting calendar bookings from Google Ads?
Most Google Ads advice is wrong for small businesses A small account needs a different setup and different management. You see, something that improves a $50 000 a month account might tank a $500 a month account.
Why you might want to pay Google to show an ad when someone searches for your business. It can sometimes be useful to pay Google to show your advert when someone searches for your business by name. Here's why and how...
Why we lost sales. Losing potential sales always hurts. But, if you know why you lost the sale you can make changes that'll help you win more sales down the line.
"Forget about reducing the CPC" In money terms my client paid Google about $1 400 per client he contracted with. He could live with spending $500 per new client. Here's how we're going to hit that target.
An easier way to sell services. Bigger value projects take a lot of work to sell. You have to have the discovery calls, meeting notes, customised proposals and quotes. And, you often need several follow-up meetings. There is another way.
Why I don't just delete fake leads from my inbox If the only thing you do with fake leads from Google Ads is delete the lead delivery email you risk getting swamped by fake leads. Here's why and what to do to improve lead quality.
Leads ghosting you? A business owner complained that his leads were ghosting (ignoring) him after initially showing interest. As we worked together we uncovered a mismatch between lead temperature and his response.
60 leads a week and no sales Their first instinct was to change the adverts. It sort of makes sense. Adverts aren’t producing sales so the adverts must be broken. Fix the adverts and you'll get more sales. But, they could change their ads, spend a load more money and get no sales. This is because the adverts might not be the real problem
About 25% of online leads are lost before they speak to a sales person. Losing 1 in 4 of possible sales before the process even starts is a huge waste. It's also a huge opportunity...
A warning about Google Local Service Ads for doctors, lawyers and other professionals I investigated using Google Local Service Ads for a law firm client. Turns out that there are some privacy issues which were of concern. They may be of concern to you too.
The one number you must know if you're going to use Google Ads to generate leads. How much can you pay for a lead and still be profitable? It is obvious, and it should be advertising 101, but I've lost count of the number of people paying Google who don't know the number.
How do you get value from "low quality" Google Ads leads? One kind of "low quality" Google Ads lead is a genuine enquiry for something adjacent to what you offer. Here's how I helped one client make sales to them.
Do I really need 7 websites? Two groups of people visit your website: people who know what you sell and strangers who don't know you but want what you sell. One website can't serve both groups effectively.
Does PPC work for accountants? The short answer is “Yes, but only sometimes”. Google suggests that AdWords will work for any business but this is not true in real life.
Google Ads for industries with long sales cycles A client installs billboard size video screens. Here's how we used AdWords to get him in front of the decision makers early enough.
How do you test a business idea? You don’t want to invest time and money on a business idea unless you’re sure that it’ll get traction. Read on to learn how to use Google Ads to test an idea before committing to it.
How much is a Facebook like worth? I've just run a quick calculation and can confidently say that a Facebook like is worth $0.007. Let me explain
"I have no idea if his recommendations will increase my conversions..." A friend is trying to hire someone to manage her Google Ads. She's worried that they'll cost more than they bring in. Or, worse, they'll kill the flow of leads her business depends on. Here's how to reduce that risk.
Is AdWords scaleable? There are a finite number of people who want what you sell, can afford what you sell and are in an area you can reach. Some portion of those people will use Google. That number is the upper limit of AdWords scaleability.
Is AdWords worth it? "Is Google Ads really worth it? I have found that through tracking my CPC, I am not having that much success." was asked on Quora. My answer saved below.
Nobody is buying! Can’t you write better ads? Nobody is buying! Can’t you write better ads? That's the last thing you want to hear in a meeting with a new client...
Selling to strangers is different Ask 100 small business owners how they find customers and 99 of us will say "word-of-mouth". What we won't tell you is that our word-of-mouth marketing is not well tuned engine that spits out a steady stream of great prospects. They arrive by luck or magic.
The cost of zero. Every small business owner needs to understand the cost of zero before they next invest in marketing. It does not matter what medium it is: Google Ads, Facebook, LinkedIn, magazines, radio, or anything else. The reason these campaigns fail so often is never as obvious as you might think.
Things you should never advertise on Google. Making money advertising identical branded goods on Google is really hard.
Which are the specifically right targets for a small paper pallet company? This question was asked on Quora. Saving my answer here.
Will Google Ads work? Thinking about advertising on Google? There are thousands of people who've used Google Ads and never made a sale. You don't have to be one of them. Read on to learn how.
Zombie Hunting Wednesday 3pm. You in? We’ve all got zombie leads. These are people we’ve quoted who haven't said yes. They haven’t said no either. Instead they’re ignoring us - our emails go unanswered and they’re always too busy to talk.
I can’t get to the decision maker. "I‘ve got a great product but I can’t get to the decision maker." That’s a problem we smaller business owners face a lot. Can I tell you about how a former client of mine got the decision makers to come to her?
How to turn leads into sales. Two businesses in the same industry. One converts 5% of website leads into sales. The other converts 60%. Read on to find out why.
Make more sales from PPC leads by understanding why people enquire. Understanding why people buy is key to making more sales. Here's how you can get started right away.
Marketing Lessons from a Chimney Sweep There was nothing special about his customer-finding system. But, his customer-keeping system was the best I've ever seen for a small business.
How we turned no-shows into $185 150 worth of new business every month No-shows cost my client $283 328 a month. Here’s how we turned them into $185 150 worth of new business every month - without spending more on Google Ads.
How do I know which of my leads came from Google Ads? Here's the problem... Conversion tracking or analytics can tell you how many leads you got, but not who they are. Read on to see how to fix this.
Should I use my competitors' names as keywords in Google Ads? Should I use my competitors' names as keywords in Google Ads? The answer is, it depends. Read on to find out how to make the right decision for your business.