How a Busy Webmaster Manages Their Time

When it comes to building websites it can be a time consuming daunting task, especially if you have a taxing site to build. Part of this is planning your time wisely so that you can do more in a day. Upfront this was a hard thing for me to do, until I was forced to do it.

Each year the one biggest goal on my list was how to manage my time better allowing me to get more done instead of working in circles. I’m sure you’ve been there as well. Your day starts off well until:

• you get a phone call that takes way longer than intended,
• then an urgent email from a client,
• then another phone call,
• a networking event,
• some time networking after,
• back to the office,
• another call,

until you realize that you’ve literally gotten nothing accomplished. Now you feel frustrated and defeated that your to-do list simply got longer instead of smaller. Sound familiar? Many times these were my days and then my mother moved in with us. As my mother’s care, due to dementia, began to tax more and more of my time, my business took a back seat until the day she passed away 5 years later. This life lesson forced me to face the clock head on. It made me realize that if I wanted my business to survive I had to make some major changes.

Here’s how I managed to do both and get more done each day than most get done in a week.

1. I started looking at my days and which ones I received less client calls than other days. These turned out to be both Monday/Friday’s. So I started blocking these days to work on my business instead of in my business. On these days is when I updated my website, wrote blogs, and started doing more social media posts.
2. I took the remaining days and broke them out to the best times/day to make client phone calls, work on client projects, and network.
3. I cut down my networking to two key groups where I received support and referrals and let all the rest go. Each of these meetings only met once a month allowing me to spend more time in the office to get to business and get stuff done.
4. Once I found the best days/times I blocked these out on my calendar and instilled the calendar program Acuity. This program literally saved me and my business. It allowed me to send a link to both client’s and potential clients to set up an appointment with me based on the date/time they found worked within there schedule and mine.
5. During the times I had blocked to work on client projects, my business, and networking I put my phone on Do-Not-Disturb. I would then take frequent breaks throughout the day, check my messages, and return calls.
6. For potential clients and/or current clients who wanted to meet face-to-face, I set up Zoom calls. Saving me time in travel.

Some of you may say, yeah, that’s easy for you, but I have client’s that need me to contact them right away. I get that. But let me ask you this. How many times has a client called with a rush that could have waited until the next day, week or month? Here’s the deal. It’s your business, and the hours you set are yours. If you set these up front and make your client’s aware of this, they appreciate your candor, and as long as you follow through and call them back when you state, you are setting up a win win. By managing your time well, you are better prepared to get more done without the constant interruptions and coffee meetings.

There comes a time when you have to get real with your time and realize that unless it’s scheduled, it doesn’t get done. That means you taking breaks, having lunch, working on client projects, phoning clients, networking, working on your business. Unless you make the effort to plan it, you simply leave the day up to chance hoping that you’ll get more done today, but then that day passes and nothing gets done, and then the next day passes, and so on, and so on.

By simply setting up your time for success, up front, you allow yourself to work on projects that need to be completed and clients that need attention. Remember, we only have 24 hours in a day, how do you plan to use them? Here’s to growing your business online.