How does scheduling help you get what you want? Here are 3 ways
Scheduling. Does that word bring you joy or leave you feeling chilled?
For me, someone who loves to plan and be organised, scheduling brings me joy. I do understand though that for some people it can feel restricting and uncomfortable. My husband for example really doesn’t like scheduling or schedules
However, he has learned that scheduling can be incredibly helpful. Not only when it comes to making appointments you need to attend, but also to make your life (and business) so much easier.
If you want to hear my thoughts on scheduling you can listen on Instagram.
Or you can simply keep reading.
In this blog you are going to find out a few things about scheduling:
1/ What it actually is. This may surprise you.
2/ Why it’s important. Not only in your business but in life as well
3/ How it helps you to stay visible online, even if you don’t feel like it.
Let’s start with #1
1/ What is scheduling?
“Scheduling is the art of planning your activities so that you can achieve your goals and priorities in the time you have available.”
This is one of my favourite definitions.
Thinking of scheduling as an art form, rather than a task, helps creative folks to grasp the concept of scheduling as a source of freedom, not restraint.
For those of you, who like me, are planners and organisers at heart, knowing that scheduling can help you achieve what you want is like music to your ears.
Scheduling and getting what you want. Isn’t that simply brilliant?
So scheduling really is an art form that delivers you freedom.
This leads to the next point.
2/ Why is scheduling important?
Here are three reasons why:
1: Scheduling helps you to prioritise the things that are most important to you.
The important things come first. Scheduling these into your calendar so they have a place that recognises their importance. These are the things that will help you move the needle forward in your business.
2: Scheduling ensures your time is well spent.
Time is precious, you know that feeling of losing time when you think you’ll take a quick look at your social media and then an hour later you're still looking at cat videos.
Having a specific time for the important things helps to achieve your priorities in the time you have available.
3: Scheduling reduces your feelings of overwhelm.
Knowing ahead of time what you are doing, is priceless for your peace of mind. When you have scheduled in those tasks that move you forward, you know ahead of time:
what they are,
when you are going to do them and
that there is a greater chance they will get done
Now I understand that life gets in the way sometimes. But when you have scheduled in the important things to do first then it’s easier to get back on track when things do actually derail you.
3/ How scheduling helps you stay visible online.
For many health and wellness business owners showing up online feels so overwhelming.
How do you even start? Just this question by itself can feel overwhelming.
Remember the freedom you heard about at the beginning? Knowing that freedom is part of the outcome of scheduling is a great incentive to start.
Taking baby steps is important. You can’t go from zero to hero in a couple of steps. Like the life-changing behaviours you provide for your clients, starting to schedule for yourself is an ongoing process.
There are many different tools available to assist you with the art of scheduling. its a matter of finding the right ones for you.
Here are some examples that I use on a daily basis to schedule my business activities:
A paper planner to plan out my year/ quarters/ months/ weeks /days. I schedule content creation time, editing time and publishing time to my calendar.
A Google calendar on my computer and smartphone to manage my appointments.
Online scheduling tools to help schedule my business:
Calendly for appointments ,
Convertkit to schedule weekly emails,
Buffer and Meta business suite to schedule my content.
The art of scheduling may be getting you excited or you may be feeling like a deer in the headlights.
How does scheduling help you get what you want?
Scheduling can give you: clarity, confidence and consistency
Clarity on what needs to be done.
Confidence, to know you are doing the right things.
Consistency, to do the right things as often as they need to be done.
These are the 3C’s of content that form the framework of that help my clients to create and keep a healthy presence online.
When it comes to your online content, scheduling can help you with the 3 C's of content
Let’s go through each one.
Clarity:
When you schedule ahead of time, you need to be clear about what it is you are going to say and how each post fits into your content strategy. Scheduling time to get clear on your message saves you time overall.
Confidence:
Sharing your clear message makes you feel confident. And the the more you do it the more confident you get.
Consistency:
But I believe the biggest thing about scheduling is that it can really help with keeping you consistent.
Consistency is key.
Showing up once every now and again is not going to keep you in people’s minds.
Showing up every single day " live" is something most coaches don't have time for and to be honest, don't want to do
Scheduling can help you show up every day without physically having to do it - beware though it's not a panacea to set and forget your online content
How do you schedule your online content?
First, you DO have to create it. You can’t escape this step.
I am a big believer in creating your OWN content yourself. Yes, you can use tools like the new ChatGTP or get people to write it for you BUT you still need to put in your own voice. When you are first starting out, scheduling time to create your own content and find your own voice is gold.
Be wise here, you want your true self to shine.
Choose a day in your week/ month that you sit down and create, then ideally a separate day to edit and publish your content.
Schedule that time into your calendar
Don't forget to also schedule in time to think, to gather ideas and keep them somewhere safe. ( Like an online content library )
Then when you have created your content use scheduling tools to publish your content at a certain time in the future. This is where scheduling can get really helpful and saves you so much time.
Scheduling can help you show up online while still leaving you time for your health and wellness clients. Doing this ONE thing, has saved my clients so much time online. One client actually halved the amount of time she was spending online!
Remember:
“Scheduling is the art of planning your activities so that you can achieve your goals and priorities in the time you have available.”
Is it time for your to give scheduling a chance to help you achieve your goals online?
I'm on a mission to help health and wellness business owners to be visible online without hiding their true selves.
Get clarity, confidence and the courage to show up consistently.
The health and wellness industry needs people committed to making a difference.
If you are committed to making a difference but need some help to get visible then reach out and let’s make it happen!
Note some links in this blog post are affiliate links, which means I may receive a small monetary incentive if you purchase through one of my links.
Photo by carolyn christine on Unsplash
