How to Start or Grow Your Business While Working a 9 to 5

In 2022, 34% of Americans have a side hustle making $1,000+/month. 

If you’re one of those statistics and want to take your side biz that makes $1,000/month into a $10,000+ month business, let’s chat! 

With the right (and focused) effort, you can slash the time it takes to achieve your business goals. Below, you’ll find four steps you can take to cut the time it takes you to create the income you need to make your side hustle your full-time business. 

Use a Power Hour To Keep You On Track

Spend 1 hour a day (at a minimum) in your business. Yes, you really can do it in as little as that… IF you’re focusing on the right things during that hour. Your hour might be before everyone gets up in the morning. Or it might be on your lunch break at your job… or it might be that hour you have in silence before bed.

Whenever your Power Hour shows up most efficiently for you, you can do the following to make it one of your peak performance hours of the day.

Make a list of those non-negotiables and assign times to each task so that you know exactly how you’re spending each minute of your Power Hour. 

For example: 

• Engage on Instagram (15 mins)

• Post and engage in Facebook groups (10 min)

• Content Creation and Scheduling OR Systems/backend management (30 min)

• Managing inbox  (5min) 

Then, make a list of the items you would like to do each week and if you have extra time one day you can check off items from that list. This way, when those extra moments appear, you know exactly how you need to best fill that time.

In a perfect world, you have more than 1 hour a day to work on your business. But if you don’t, don’t let that stop you from simply getting started! 

And note that the more time you can devote the faster your business will grow, but you also don’t want to burn yourself out while working 2 jobs. Hustle culture isn’t the answer.

So focus on those priority tasks, as there will ALWAYS be “more” to do. 

Once you start gaining clients this power hour may have to shift some, or you may need to devote more time to the business to be able to accomplish client work and business growth (there are always trade-offs).

Show up Consistently Every Single Day

To make your Power Hour most efficient, find out where your target market hangs out online then show up there, every single day. 

So, if your clients mostly hang around on Instagram, get on Stories, go live and show your value.

Create Reels so you can engage with, and grow, your target market. Share content that demonstrates your knowledge and expertise, and also builds an emotional connection with your audience.

The more visible you are, the faster they’ll remember you when they need you.

Create a Plan For Your Business 

Outline your short-term and long-term goals, then reverse engineer how you’re going to achieve them. 

Do you want out of your 9 to 5 within the next 3 months, 6 months, or 12 mo?
Do you just want to be able to cut back hours to part-time?
How much time do you have to invest in business-building activities?

Decide what your goals are, then break them down to see what’s realistic to accomplish in your ideal time frame without breaking your back by overworking yourself. 

Then, STICK TO THE PLAN. Don’t let a little thing like an off-week, a bad mood, or someone else’s excuses or doubts throw your plan off. It’s your execution that will determine your success. 

Outsource Everything You Suck At

You either have time or you have money to exchange as a form of currency in business. 

And if you’re still in your 9 to 5, you likely don’t have a lot of time, but maybe you do have some extra capital that gives you the ability to afford to grow your business at a faster pace. 

Outsource the branding, website development, onboarding/backend systems set up, the admin/tech work…whatever you do not do efficiently, or don’t know how to do… so you don’t waste time trying to figure it out and you can stay focused on any new client work and/or doing only the things that only YOU can do.

What you’ll find is the more you can focus on your true zone of genius, the faster your growth will be. 

See? Trying to get your business going while working a 9-5 is possible, if you plan and execute well. And if you’re a new business owner, watch out for these three mistakes and use this advice to avoid them.

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Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.

After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.

Katelyn is also a wife, stepmom, dog mama of three furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.

Click here to book a free call to talk more about your business goals and to see if hiring an OBM is the right fit for you.

3 Must Do’s when Starting your Online Business

When I first launched an online business 3 years ago, I struggled most with figuring out where to start and what to do first to actually “get” clients. I think most people have an idea of what they want to do, but they don’t have the business experience to know how to build a successful business.

There’s so much more that goes into running a business than the actual work that you wanted to do in the first place. It’s why so many people don’t actually make it in the entrepreneurial world. They don’t know about or think about the other things that you need to do to actually be successful.

If you’re just getting started in the online space, or you’re looking to start an online business, here are three “must do” things when just starting out:

1. Get Clear on your Service Offerings, Messaging & Ideal Client

Clarity is oftentimes one of the hardest parts of building your brand. I get it. You “can” do so many things, but that doesn’t always mean you should. Start out by asking yourself what you WANT to do vs. what you CAN do and really focus on those 1 to 2 things in order to not confuse your audience. Then, create a persona or avatar for your ideal client. Know who you want to work with and then your messaging will become much more clear. While your service offerings can always evolve, it’s nice to start out with a smaller focus to draw your audience in and communicate who you are and what you do easier.

2. Set up Foundational Systems and Processes

It truly amazes me how many people do not have any sort of systems or processes set up in their business. I have come into so many 6-figure and 7-figure businesses where there is nothing truly set up or documented for how they do things. So can you be successful without them, sure can, but I promise you that if you set them up from the start you’ll actually save yourself so much time and stress in the long run. So what systems and processes should you establish first? My top 3 are: Asana for project management and process documentation, Dubsado for contracts/ invoicing and overall client onboarding (and hello automations!), Acuity for calendar automation and scheduling. For more of my top recommendations and details, click here.

3. Show Up Consistently 

If I could give you one tip, and only one tip, it would be to be consistent. Show up EVERY SINGLE DAY. Show up on social media, show up to work on your business, show up for your clients, and most importantly show up when you think no one is watching. Contrary to what social media and “society” may lead you to believe, building a successful business does not happen overnight. It takes the relentless hustle of showing up day in and day out for people to start to notice you, build trust in you, and want to hire you. Keep going when it feels hard, and keep showing up when it’s easy. Deliver massive value and I promise you will be on your way to having the successful business you desire.

If you’re willing to do these things, you will see success in your business. It may take time, that’s why consistency is probably the most important of them all. But I promise you will get there. If you want additional support in your business, I strongly encourage you to hire a business coach. They’ve done it before and they can help you work through the strategy AND the mindset blocks that come with owning your own business. If you’re interested in learning more about coaching, book a discovery call with me here.

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Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.

After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.

Katelyn is also a wife, stepmom, dog mama of three furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.

Click here to book a free call to talk more about your business goals and to see if hiring an OBM is the right fit for you.

What it Truly Takes to Start, and Grow, a Successful Online Business

Starting an online business can feel overwhelming, but with the right tools in your toolbox, it doesn’t have to be. I remember when I first started my business, I really didn’t know where to start. The biggest things that helped me early on were finding an online community of women I could learn from and ask questions, diving into the free training’s top coaches provided, and ultimately hiring a business mentor to guide my step-by-step with what I needed to do to grow my business.

That being said, you can do all the free training you want, and get the support you need, but there are also a few things outside of what training can teach you that will determine the longevity of your success.  

Grit

Running your own business is hard work. You will have really great days, and really shitty days - sometimes, if you’re really lucky, that roller coaster of emotions can happen in the same day. But if you let those really hard days get to you, you’ll throw in the towel REAL QUICK! Owning a business isn’t for the faint of heart. You have to have GRIT to keep moving on those hard days. You have to have the courage and strength to face the hard moments and work through them to GROW and come out the other side stronger. You have to look adversity in the eyes and challenge it. You CAN overcome it and those hard days will make you stronger and your business will grow because of them.

Determination 

Just like grit, determination and perseverance are key to success. You have to be flexible about your methods but determined to get to the outcome. When you set goals, you have to have unwavering faith that you will reach them and the determination to do whatever it takes to reach that goal. 

Ability to pivot 

You have to be able to PIVOT in business (sidenote: anyone else immediately think of the episode of Friends where Ross is moving the couch up the stairs as soon as you hear the word PIVOT? No, just me, cool). What was once working, may stop working at one point or another. Or, the year could be 2020 and COVID happens, then what? You have to be willing to adapt to the times and listen to the wants and needs of your target audience to be successful for the long-term. Blockbuster DIED because they didn’t PIVOT when things went to streaming. Be open and creative to new strategies as things change. 

Positive Mindset 

If I had to argue one of these four being more important than the others, it would be this one. A positive mindset is critical if you want to be successful in ANYTHING that you do. Guess what? Life sucks sometimes. And it’s how you choose to look at and approach the obstacles in front of you, whatever they may be big or small, that matters most. If you say to yourself “ugh no one has signed up for my freebie, it’s probably not even good, I’m not going to ever get a client” then guess what? YOU WON’T! You have to approach things with a “this is happening for me, not to me” attitude and you’ll always find a solution to the problem at hand.

If you have those 4 things mentioned above, you will find yourself with the winning framework to handle anything that comes your way in business. Because let me tell you, it’s a roller coaster of a ride, but also TOTALLY worth it! If you’re looking for more 1:1 support, I am filling ONE more 3-month coaching spot before I close up for the rest of the year. This is the LAST chance to get in at my current pricing before it increases Jan 1 and I move to only filling 6-month spots. Click here to book a discovery call.

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Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.

After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.

Katelyn is also a wife, stepmom, dog mama of three furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.

Click here to book a free call to talk more about your business goals and to see if hiring an OBM is the right fit for you.

Hiring: Who to Hire and When in your Business

Congratulations! You’re growing your business and hiring a team for support. That is definitely the way to scale and grow to continue to take on more clients and expand your service offerings, not to mention giving you the opportunity to make things more efficient in your business. When you’re just starting out, you’re doing ALL THE THINGS, right? The accounting, the backend management, the content, the sales calls, the programs, the coaching, the courses, etc. As you grow, you have the opportunity to outsource more of the things you don’t want to be doing in your business to allow you to focus on the things you love, and the things that can grow your income.

The big mystery question when it comes to hiring is WHO do I hire and WHEN do I hire them?

A lot of people make a lot of mistakes when hiring. They hire too late, they hire the wrong person, or they hire without a strategy. I’ve worked in many 6 and 7-figure businesses with teams of 30+ people, as well as hired a team of my own, so I’m here to share with you WHEN and WHO to hire to help your business thrive.

Hire BEFORE you’re ready

The hardest thing to do is hire when you’re desperate for help. This will cloud your judgment because you’ll just be looking for SOMEONE, ANYONE to help take the load off your plate. Hiring takes time, so it’s best to hire before you’re ready. As soon as you start to feel the strain and not enough time to get things done, consider looking for that next hire. The hiring process consists of more than just bringing someone onboard, you have to write the job description, post the job, review applications, conduct interviews, then, onboard and train the new team member. It’s a full month-long process. You want to make sure you’re dedicating the right amount of time to finding the right fit for YOU. 

Hire the PERSON over the resume

Hire QUALITY. You can always TEACH people things, but if you have the wrong person in place just to fill a role, your team and business will suffer. Sometimes yes, it may be best to hire someone a little more experienced that can jump right in, but other times you want to hire someone you can mold and train, someone that doesn’t have “set ways” that you can groom to do things the way you want them done. Determine the values you want in a person and the role and then hire based on the person you liked best. This is why interviewing on the phone is SO much more important than just picking someone out of a stack of “resumes” or emails. The person that is going to be the best fit for you and your team will be worth so much more to you in the long run.

Hire a generalist FIRST then a specialist by niche

One of my most common questions I get is who do I hire first? If you don’t have any support in your business yet, you’ll want to hire a generalist. This is someone who can do a little bit of everything. Schedule emails and social content, engage on your behalf, update reports, manage your new client onboarding and invoicing, etc. Now, don’t expect them to be a MAGICAL UNICORN who has expertise in all things -- like content creation, graphic design, video editing, etc. but just some GENERAL SUPPORT on the backend will help take some things off your plate. THEN, once you get some things off your plate, you can hire the “specialist” when ready to make the next hire. Maybe you suck at graphic design and want someone to create kickass graphics for your IG and social content. Or you really need some tech support for your website and email funnels. Or you want to launch a podcast and need a podcast editor. Or you need someone to manage Facebook ads (because FB Ad Manager is overly complicated for no reason hah). You get the point, first hire general support and then hire in the niche that you spend the most time in, but either don’t love doing or aren’t great at it. This formula right here will 10x your income in a heartbeat.

Hire a kickass OBM to manage your team

Hiring support comes with added responsibilities. Make sure you have someone to support you in managing your team and responsibilities. The last thing you need once you outsource is to fill that time with managing the people you outsource the work to. Hiring an OBM or project manager to support you in managing your team, responsibilities and workflow will truly give you the amount of time back you want and need in your business.

Following these simple reminders when hiring support in your business will allow you to be more efficient and scale your business faster! Support is critical for continued growth and success, but it can also hold you back if done poorly. This will save you time and money in the long run.

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Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.

After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.

Katelyn is also a wife, stepmom, dog mama of three furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.

Click here to book a free call to talk more about your business goals and to see if hiring an OBM is the right fit for you.

The Biggest Mistake Even 6 and 7-Figure Business Owners Make

Over the last few years, I’ve had the opportunity to work in the backend of 6 and 7-figure businesses. There’s one common theme I see repeatedly with each client I work with. This mistake is costing them hours of time in their business, and therefore money left on the table.

The good news? I’m here to save you a few steps.

So what’s the number one mistake? Lack of organization.

You can have all the sales plans, the best content, and prettiest graphics, but if the backend of your business is disorganized, you’re holding yourself back from that next level of success. 

The number one thing a lack of organization affects - your energy.

When your business is disorganized, you’re constantly working from a reactive state of mind instead of a proactive state. This is where things are missed, and mistakes are made. A lack of organization reduces the likelihood of everything running smoothly. Of course, even with the best-organized plan in place mistakes happen, but they happen far less when you’re organized. The result of constant reactive action? Drained energy. You end up spending more time on the backend tasks instead of engaging with your clients or target audience and doing the things you love in your business. 

The number two thing a lack of organization affects - your time.

Not only are you mentally drained by the reactive process, but you’re losing so much time. Whether it’s fixing mistakes, or writing content or searching for things last minute that you don’t know where you put them, this is valuable time you could be spending with your clients or doing business-building activities. If you’re not doing so already, track your time. See how much you’re spending in the backend of your business. Once you get organized, you’ll spend much LESS time searching for things and re-inventing the wheel and so much more doing what you love.

The number three thing a lack of organization affects - your mindset.

It’s so hard to have a GROWTH mindset when you can’t even think about tomorrow because you’re so frazzled with today. When you’re disorganized you often feel overwhelmed which leads to a lack of mentality instead of a growth mentality. You’ll find that when you get organized, you’ll think so much CLEARER and have less clutter filling your brain.

So the real question is, how do you get organized? The first thing I recommend is to use a project management tool like asana, learn more about it in this post here. This will help you stay on track with deadlines, deliverables, and team support. The second thing I recommend is Google Drive. Do NOT, I repeat DO NOT just dump files in there. Organize it by folder -- i.e. content folder, graphics folder, program folder, admin folder, etc. Then write down your processes for things. Onboarding, content creation, launches, etc. That way you don’t have to go digging for things down the line or re-create the wheel. The final thing I would suggest is to outsource. Some people (like me) are wired for organization, and others just aren’t. That’s 100% A-OK. I promise it’s worth the investment to hire out someone to get your business organized and functioning at a higher level. The investment is WELL worth it. If you’re looking for more tools and systems to get organized, I list them out in this blog post here.

There you have it. You’re not alone, as this is a common issue affecting so many business owners. I promise if you take the time to organize your business and set up the right systems and tools, as well as hire the right team, you’ll not only be saving yourself money but also increasing your energy and gaining back valuable time in your business.

Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.

After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.

Katelyn is also a wife, stepmom, dog mama of three furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.

Click here to book a free call to talk more about your business goals and to see if hiring an OBM is the right fit for you.

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5 Actionable Steps to Approach Planning for 2020

It’s crazy to think the new year is upon is less than 30 days. Where did 2019 go!? It’s crazy to think how fast this year went and to look back at everything that was accomplished. I plan to do a “year in review” type post here soon, but right now I want to chat about PLANNING.

Planning is a cornerstone to my business - I LOVE TO PLAN (as if you didn’t know that already about me). I know planning stresses a lot of people out though, so I want to provide some actionable steps to approach planning for 2020. This way you can break it down, and not get so consumed in figuring it all out at once.

Planning is supposed to help you, guide you and is a great way to know if you’re on track and making progress. Plans can shift or change, but it’s nice to have something to work towards to help wandering minds stay on the path a bit if you know what I mean.

So here are 5 actionable steps you can take to approach planning for 2020 today:

1. Change your mindset about planning

So many times I hear “I’m not a planner”. Or “I’m not good at planning”. This is a cop-out. An excuse. It’s not that you’re not good at it - it’s just that you are choosing not to take the time to do it, and to find a way that works for you. Any successful business has a plan, a roadmap, a guide - whatever you want to call it. A plan is required of you if you’re serious about where you want to go in your business. So instead of being frustrated by planning, dreading it, hating it and just not doing it - change your mindset. Figure out a way to make planning fun! Be creative - you can vision board, you can create beautiful graphics of your plan online, you can get a group of friends together for wine and plan together!

2. Start with a brain dump

You know I love a good brain dump! It’s so freeing to me! You aren’t required to do ANYTHING with the information, it could be the silliest idea you’ve ever had, but just write it down. Clear the space in your brain from what you “should” do or want to do and just write. Get everything on paper. This will help you ease into your planning process. I also find that getting started is the hardest part, so start with something fun and easy and you’ll get into the “planning mode” as I like to call it. This will get the wheels turning and you’ll have so many ideas on paper you can plug and play later on.

3. Reverse Engineer your goals

One of my favorite ways to plan is to actually start at the END of the year and work backward. This may seem counterintuitive, but think of it this way, you’re starting with the BIG picture. What do you want to accomplish by this time next year? What’s the end goal? Set your big goal and then work backward for how to get there.

For example, say you want to make six-figures in revenue next year. Great, that’s $100K for the year, $8,333/mo. Say you have one offer that’s $2k/mo, one that’s $1k/mo and one that’s $500/mo. You can then work through what that combination of offers looks like for how many clients you need at those price points. Maybe it’s 3- 2k clients, 1- 1k client and 3 $500/mo clients. You have to analyze your time available and the type of work you want to focus on, as well as the turnover rate for each of those offers. But it’s much easier once you break it down from the big goal into bite-sized pieces that help you focus on where to direct your time and attention.

4. Break it down

Break down your goals. You can do this in a few different ways, and you may find your mind comes up with new ideas depending on how you break them down. I like to break goals down by quarter (starting with Q4) and start BIG/BROAD across the board. Then, for each big idea, I then break it down to what service/offering in my business it applies to. From there, I like to break down what kind of investment will be needed to help me reach that goal - hiring a coach, expanding my team, purchasing a specific course or attending a conference, a physical hardware investment like a computer, etc. Breaking it down in different ways will help you put together a more comprehensive list of goals, actionable steps, tasks and investment throughout the year.

5. Get specific with what you want to accomplish

When it comes to planning, be specific!! Once you get your big goals on paper and break them down - make sure you’re adding in numbers, amounts and the details to know if you actually accomplished your goals. For example, don’t just write as a goal  “Attend more in-person networking events”. Instead, get specific with how many for the year or month “Attend 1 in-person networking event each month, as well as 3 large conferences for the year.” Attending “more” networking events is too vague. What’s “more” mean when you have nothing to compare it to?

I’m so excited to get my 2020 plan together. I want to dedicate a full day to planning! BONUS TIP - do the same. Make sure you give yourself adequate time to plan. Don’t try to plan when you’re not focused, or rushing through just to get it done. Spend some time really thinking, feeling, listening to what you want to achieve over the next 12 months. I’d love to hear how you approach planning and what actionable steps you take to effectively plan for the year ahead.

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Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.

After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.

Katelyn is also a wife, stepmom, dog mama of two furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.

Click here to book a free call to talk more about your business goals and to see if hiring an OBM is the right fit for you.

5 Action Taking Steps for Better Time Management and Boundary Setting

Oh the hottest buzz word, time management. This is a topic that is endlessly covered by so many to help entrepreneurs work smarter not harder, right? It’s true. Time management and boundaries are so important, but let’s be real, we all still struggle with this from time to time.

Lack of time management and boundaries doesn’t necessarily mean you lack discipline and focus. There could be a few reasons why your time management and boundary setting sucks. A lot of it I believe starts with your mindset (make sure you catch up on my blog post on mindset from a couple weeks ago here). If you are stressed or overwhelmed and taking too much on, you could also truly not have the time. 

I am a people pleaser, so naturally, time management and boundaries has been HARD for me because I prioritize everyone else’s wants and needs over my own. It’s been something I’ve had to work hard at, to make sure I am respecting myself and my business. There are still moments when I struggle, but there are certain things that help me to refocus and get back on track. 

Here are 5 simple steps to help you accomplish MORE and live freely in your life.

1. Analyze all of your commitments

Sometimes we take on too much. I am SO guilty of this. So before I give any guidance on what things you can do to manage your time better, I believe it truly starts with analyzing WHAT is actually taking up all of your time. Trying to do it all simply isn’t possible, so of course you may feel overwhelmed and can’t get it all done.

What are your priorities right now? Is it your new baby and family right now, or maybe you’re in a huge biz growth stage, or maybe it’s both or something else entirely. But I’ve found that when you try to focus your attention on EVERYTHING, nothing really thrives. You have to pick one or two things and do those WELL/go all in.

So maybe right now that means cutting out one or two networking groups you’re a part of, not taking on the “room mom”, not volunteering to host the next girls get together, prioritizing your business offerings, or simply saying no to some things in general.

Another thing to consider is your expectations. Are you setting your own expectations too high in this stage of life you’re in? Maybe you’re used to working 30-40 hours a week, but right now you really can only commit to 20-25. How many hours a day do you have to work and for how many days/week? Get realistic with yourself and what you have available from a time and ENERGY standpoint. Then write it down.

2. Track your time

So now that you’ve picked your two main commitments/focuses, write down all the things that support them and then I want you to TRACK how much time it takes to do all of those things and/or write down your time commitment.

For example, all of my clients are on a retainer for a certain number of hours each month, so I add up all of that time and subtract it from the hours a month I want to work on my business. That gives me a better idea of if/when I can add another client to my workload. Then, to take that a step further, I track all of my time spent on each client’s activities. This way I can see how long it takes me to do something and determine if there is a faster, or better way to do something. This, in return, helps not only me to better manage me time, but my clients too so that they get the most out of my time that they’re paying for.

If you find that a task is taking up more time than you’d like in your week, consider outsourcing it to someone else, setting up an automatic workflow so you’re not recreating the wheel, or maybe finding another solution.
 

3. Time block

Actually schedule everything out in your calendar - I use Apple calendar because it syncs nicely to all my tech devices and alerts me for everything. But whether you write things down or do it virtually, use your calendar and schedule out all of the things you need to do. I.e. When you’re going to write your content, your calls, client work time, personal time/workouts/mindset work, etc. This will help you to stay focused and stay on track. It doesn’t mean that you can’t move things around if needed, but it will help you stay organized and give you a rough framework to actually give yourself more freedom if you stick to your schedule. 

4. Decide what you’re available for

Set boundaries when it comes to protecting your time and energy. What are your working hours? Set those and then communicate them with your clients. That way if they contact you outside of work hours you are not obligated to answer and you don’t feel like you’re doing yourself or your clients a disservice.

Some other questions to ask yourself are: How do you expect people to treat you? Are you okay with last minute projects and emergencies? Are you willing to work late some nights if needed to give yourself more time to have some fun the next day? Will you work weekends? What kind of attitude and energy will you let into your conversations and space?

Really work hard on setting not just time boundaries, but emotional boundaries too. Those are equally as important as they will spill over into not only your own work, but your relationships and personal time too.

5. Stick to the boundaries you set

Once you set these boundaries, stick to them. You have to have the sel-frespect to do that. That’s where all of this circles back to the mindset work. In order for you to actually DO any of these things, you have to value yourself and your business enough to stick to them. If you’re struggling with sticking to your boundaries and schedules, ask yourself why you’re not prioritizing yourself or your business? What needs to change for you to do that? Dive into more mindset work to build your confidence and learn to respect and love yourself more. Because at the end of the day, all of these things - whether you do them or you don’t just come back to hurt or help YOU, no one else.

Do you struggle with time management and setting boundaries? What seems to be the hardest part to stick to?

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Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.

After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.

Katelyn is also a soon-to-be wife, stepmom, dog mama of two furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.

Click here to book a free call to talk more about your business goals and to see if hiring an OBM is the right fit for you.