7 Daily Things I Do in My Business That You Should Do Too

Hey Friend!

I know that you love the episodes where I give you a sneak peek into different areas of my business or my life. So I thought we could take a look at some of these small habits or actions I do daily that help me perform at my best. I truly believe I am able to turn it on when it comes to work. I get laser-dialed into what I am supposed to be doing and crush my work. This means I can truly be available for my family at the end of the day. I hope that these seven things that I do daily are some simple practices you can start to utilize in your own business.

Testimonial – How My Business is Helping Her Business

Hey Stef, this is Sarah from the Grow Your Christian Business podcast. I just wrapped up my internship with you and I just wanted to say how much of a blessing it has been in my life. I’ve learned things about blogging that I didn’t even learn from my copywriting training. Now I know how to turn a podcast episode into a really effective blog that can help reach more people. These are skills that I am already taking and applying to my own business, which is just so cool.

So thank you so much for the opportunity to come and work for you, to get to see a little bit of the back end of your business, to help you grow your show and earn Podcast to Profit in the process. I’m just so excited to continue growing and learning from you over the next six months. I know that my business and me as a person are going to be so different coming through that program with you.

So if anyone is listening and they want to get into Podcast to Profit, I encourage you to jump in on the internship because you’re going to learn so much from Stef, from her team, from the other interns as you go through. And then you get to continue that journey in Podcast to Profit. So thank you so much for the opportunity. What a blessing. I cannot wait for the next leg of this journey.

And there you have it. Another one of our incredible interns, Sarah, sharing with you the power of getting in the room and learning what it takes to really grow a thriving successful company from the inside out.

7 Things I Do in My Business Daily

While Sarah has had a deeper look at what we do inside our company, this conversation is around the seven things that I personally do in my business daily that you should do too.

My Business Tip #1: Daily Schedule Review

Number one is a schedule review. I have a morning routine that I try to practice every day. You can find out more about this routine in Episode 616 but the fundamental element of it is my time with God. It is only at the end of this time with Lord that I open up my schedule and review it, looking over the day ahead.

I remind myself who is dropping off the kids, what meetings I have, the timing of these meetings, who is picking up the kids, what projects and tasks I am focusing on that day. After I have reviewed my schedule, I feel set up for success for the day. It gets me into the mindset I need for the day. Do I actually have to put on my make up or not? Do I actually have to get out of my joggers or not? I need a minute to get ready if I have important calls so I need to know what my day holds!

If you need more guidance or details on this one, go and listen to Episode 418 where I lay out my successful weekly schedule. It can help you to create your own schedule so you can set your day up for success.

My Business Tip # 2: Time Block

The second thing I do in my business daily is to time block. I have got a lot going on with the kids’ schedule and my husband’s schedule. My kids play sports and my husband plays sports. My son has piano lessons. Just like with any American family nowadays, we have a lot to juggle.

And so time blocking is imperative because I then know exactly when I am going to get my work in for that day. In this season of my life, this is actually quite easy because my boys are at school full-time. They are in elementary school so I am able to work from nine to three Monday through Friday 80% of the time.

I set up my time blocks on a Sunday night for the entire week. But again, each morning I have to reorient myself to the amount of time I have to work for that day. This is especially important for those of you who have a full-time job or are in a season of littles or you homeschool your children. You have to be really intentional with your time blocks. They need to be extremely clear and they need to be mapped out in your schedule.

My Business Tip #3: Do The Hardest Thing First

When I sit down to work in my time block, I am ready to go. I look at my workflow and determine what I am going to sit down and tackle right now. And when I do this, I start with the hardest things first.

You might be someone who procrastinates on the hard stuff. You save that for the end of the day. I am going to say a hard no to that because you want to be the most vibrant, intentional, focused version of yourself in order to do your best work. Things like connecting with our student community in my Facebook group are easy for me so I save them for the end of the day when I am spent.

I do the things that take the most brain power first. For me, this might look like recording a webinar or a virtual summit or podcast episodes first. I do not want to have decision fatigue when I show up to create A-level activity. When I create something of impact or that is going to make an income, I need to be at my best.

So, the hardest things need to come first in your day.

My Business Tip #4: Turn Off All Notifications

Number four is that I have all notifications off. I have been very serious about this for years. If you have been listening to me for a while, you know how I feel about this. If you are on my team, you definitely know how I feel about this. I do not have any notifications of any kind for me personally in my business. My emails are not dinging at me. Voxer is not pinging me. I definitely do not have any social media installed on my phone. I am not going to be subjected to living reactively all day long as the CEO of a company that is going next level.

It is impossible to do this if we do not turn off notifications because we will lose the battle against the engineers who are the best at what they do and who keep us addicted to our devices, addicted to our phones, addicted to socials, addicted to the scrolling, addicted to the dopamine loop. No thank you. I refuse to play their game which means notifications are non-existent in my life and I think that they should be in your life too.

Before you give me a rebuttal on this, I do not silence phone calls. I am available to my family and my husband and my mom are in my favorites. Their text messages get through. So as far as your ‘life’ getting through to you, yes, that is fine. But I am talking about everything else. I don’t want to know when I get a new email. I want to be in the block of time when I am doing emails to sit and tackle them then.

My Business Tip #5: Use Focus Cues

The fifth thing I do is to use focus cues and I have an entire episode on this that you can listen to. Episode 587: Get in the Zone: 10 Hacks to Help You Focus Better outlines these intentional focus cues that I use that I really swear by. For example, one is that I use essential oils for focus.

A Few of My Focus Cues

I also have a very strict rule about my environment. My office needs to be clean and organized. I need to have certain drinks available because I will find any excuse to go and reheat my coffee. It is not really that I need to reheat my coffee but it’s a procrastination or a pattern interrupt. So I need to have my coffee in a hot mug or in my Ember mug which keeps it hot. I need to eliminate any excuses for me to get my booty out of my seat!

One of my favorite hacks, which I know is not possible for everyone, is to sit on my peloton bike with the plastic desk that I bought off Amazon that fits onto it. If I get on the bike and strap my feet in, I can power out an hour and a half of uninterrupted work because my feet are quite literally strapped in! I can’t get up, check on the chickens or see if my dog is bored and needs a snuggle. I have to stay on the bike and work.

What Helps You to Focus?

Ask yourself what the focus cues are that help you to stay hyper-focused. I’m on this relentless pursuit of optimal focus. I’m obsessed with it. I love it. I hate distraction with a passion because I am constantly on the path to being the best version of who God is calling me to be. And I can’t do that if I am my own worst enemy and am distracted by notifications pinging all the time or making excuses about why I can’t show up and do my best work first thing in the morning. So these focus cues really help me and I hope that they help you too.

My Business Tip #6: Take Breaks

Number six is that I take breaks. Contrary to what I have said above, I do get up from my desk but these are scheduled breaks. I used to work like a dog with a bone, slightly obsessively, pounding out work in the time that I had.

Quick Brain Breaks

While I still do work hard, I now know the importance of breaks and know that there is a lot of science behind this. Every hour, I try to stand up and jump up and down. I might do some stretching and move around. I go outside and take a few deep breaths of fresh air. It is critical to have these quick brain breaks.

My Lunch Break Reset

My lunch break has been really important for my focus. After about three hours of work, I am burnt out and so I will go and make a small lunch whether it is an egg white omelette or a turkey sandwich. I try to have something that is high protein and add a little bit of fruit and veg in too. I try to drink a whole glass of water or a La Croix if plain water feels boring!

My lunch break might just be 20 minutes but I sit outside on the patio and get into a different environment. This may not be possible for all of you if you are working full time but what I have found works for me in this season is to try to go outside, get some fresh air, awaken the brain cells again, get the blood pumping and stop looking at a screen.

Everything in me wants to look at the screen during my lunch break. I haven’t been able to check the news or watch a YouTube video or chat with my friends. But I really try to take that lunch break and detox from the screen and tech. I try to sit with the presence of the Lord and feel the breeze, breathing in the fresh air. It is really helpful for me to come back and hit the afternoon with intention.

My Business Tip #7: Turn Off Work When Work is Done

Last but not least is number seven. I turn work off when work is done. This has been a long journey for me. Some of you have heard my story of getting to a healthy place in the balance between work and life and I believe that I am there now and I feel amazing.

I typically work between 20 and 30 hours a week. This depends on what we have going on but the average is about 25 to 30 hours per week. As I have mentioned, I work between nine and three o’clock, Monday through Friday. When work is over, I pick the kids up from school or when my husband and the kids get home from school, I close down my work.

Before I do this, I do make sure that I have completed all the work for that day. I make sure there are no lingering things that need to be finished because that is where you feel that restlessness about turning off. We call it closing the loop, a term that is not mine but which we use. I can’t be at rest if I have started something and haven’t closed the loop. I can’t listen properly or be fully engaged.

Close the Loops

So close the loop. Close all the loops you can and if you don’t manage to finish all the work, schedule it in for the next day or the next day. Do what you need to do to make sure that you can answer yes to the question ‘Is today fully done?’ If the answer is yes, close the laptop and go and be. Go and pour out and listen well. Have meaningful conversations. Put down your phone. Get in a workout. Take a walk. If this is possible for you in this season and you are able to do this, I highly recommend it.

For those of you who are working full-time and are also trying to grow your business, it is even more important for you to have set boundaries when you are working. This might look like coming home and being present from six to eight. You might get the family settled for a movie or if you have little ones, put them to bed. Once this is done, you can work from eight to ten o’clock.

Create the Life You Want

You have got to be intentional with your time blocking and be serious about the life that you are trying to create and the boundaries that you are trying to build, knowing that God has every single thing taken care of including your business and the growth of your company. A lot of it comes back to trusting Him enough to close off work when work is done.

I know that this might be hard for some of you to hear. It was hard for me to hear for a long time. Now I am in this place of experiencing a beautiful balance in my life that I really didn’t know was possible before I was willing to turn my work off when work was over, willing to believe that God was going to create enough hours in the week and the day and the team that I was going to need in the future. And that every single thing was going to be laid out before me because God is always taking care of our next step.

I hope that these seven things have helped you in some way and encouraged you and given you some tactical tips that you want to employ in your own business.

I pray this blesses you!

Xo,

Stef

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