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How to Get Shit Done as a Busy Entrepreneur

Running your own business is serious work – I can’t even remember the last time my brain shut off for five minutes straight. There’s just so much to do and it never ends.

I am constantly moving and I get a ton done every day. But it doesn’t always feel like enough.

I try not to measure my productivity by how much I get done, looking instead at what I got done. And that’s great, but at the end of the day, the less important tasks still need to get done. They may not be what’s moving my business forward, but they’re the glue holding it all together.

But we all still have the same 24 hours in the day, and too much is simply just too much.

So how then do we get shit done as busy entrepreneurs?

That’s a tough question. And I’m not going to pretend to have all the answers.

But if being a productivity coach has taught me anything, it’s that with a little resourcefulness and creativity, anything’s possible.

So let’s take a look at a few of the different options you have as an entrepreneur to get it all done.

**This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive a small commission from any purchase made, at no additional cost to you. I only suggest products that I absolutely love, so you will always see honest reviews. You can read more on my disclosure statement here.

DIY Has Its Limits

As entrepreneurs, we tend to think that we have to do it all. I mean, we are so deeply involved in everything we’re doing, it’s tough to hand the reins over to someone else.

But every minute you spend doing one thing is one minute less you have for something else.

So which one should you be focusing on?

You can break down your goals, make sure they’re SMART.

You can look at which are urgent and which are important.

But the list of things that comes out of doing all of this may still be too much for one person to handle.

So you can either decide which you’re going to do and which you aren’t.

Or you can explore your options and see which of them you can automate, outsource, or delegate.

Automate

The number of tools available to us as entrepreneurs is really outstanding. In fact, there are so many options it can be tough to decide which ones are the best for you and your business.

Plus, we have to watch what we’re spending our budget on.

Because of this, I like to always try something out before I commit to it. Some tools offer free trials, others offer a free starter plan with limited features. And honestly, the free plan for some of these is still completely adequate for the level of business that I’m currently at.

So here are a few of the tools I use to automate some aspects of my business.

Email Marketing – ConvertKit

If you’ve been following me for any length of time, I’ve sure you’ve heard me talk about ConvertKit. Their automations allow me to easily welcome and nurture new email subscribers and let them know a little more about me and my style. This is something that I can set and forget, and it continues to run in the background of my business, taking care of that task for me.

Their tagging features then allow me to segment my list by interest so that I am only sending my subscribers different promotions and specials that they want to receive. Their link activation feature allows me to create automation rules and then activate them with one click in my different emails.

Social Media

Staying on top of social media can be incredibly time-consuming for busy entrepreneurs.

Considering that I get most of my traffic from the different social media platforms, I can easily justify using different tools to help me keep my accounts going.

Recurpost

One of my favorite tools to use is Recurpost. Their free plan allows me to post up to 10 times a day to 3 different accounts. I use this for my 2 different Twitter accounts and my SpikedParenting Facebook page.

To set it up, all I had to do was load all of my content into the libraries (I created 1 for Twitter and 1 for Facebook), max out the posting number to 10, and then select the option for them to post at the best time for my audience.

Then, each week I simply add my new content and that gets added into the recurring posts.

I have seen a significant increase in my traffic from their free plan alone.

HootSuite

For my Facebook Group, The Productive Mompreneur, I prefer to use HootSuite. This way I can plan a month’s worth of posts and schedule them all to go out at a specific time. Then, all I have to do it jump in and engage on the different threads that automatically post for me.

The downside to HootSuite is that it doesn’t keep a library of your content, so you will always have to reload it. Because of this, I just do it once a month (or weekly if I need to). And their free plan has been completely sufficient for this.

Tailwind

Another favorite scheduling tool that I use is Tailwind. I spend about 20 minutes a week scheduling my pins, and Tailwind then pins them all for me throughout the week.

This has increased my page views to 17,000 a month in less than 9 months. For about $10 a month, that’s completely worth it to me!

Outsource

Regardless of today’s technology, there are still some parts of your business that you can’t completely automate. So here, you either have to do it yourself or pay someone else to do it.

And this can be tough, especially if you’re just starting out and haven’t made enough money to reinvest.

So, to decide if you should outsource, ask yourself a few questions.

Is the ROI enough to justify paying someone to do this?

This is probably the most important question because you don’t want to throw money at something if you aren’t going to be able to return that investment.

So consider how much money you will generate by investing in it in the first place.

Do I enjoy doing this task?

Another important question to ask yourself is if it’s something that you enjoy doing.

For example, I love writing, but social media is just so draining to me. Because of this, I plan to outsource some of my social media, and not any of my writing. (This is also why I prefer social media scheduling tools!)

What could I be doing with my time instead of doing this, and will that task generate more income?

Finally, consider what you should be spending your time doing. If you spend too much time on administrative tasks, and, as a result, you don’t have enough time to do the service or create the product that you sell, then you may want to hire an assistant. Even 10 hours a month could be a total game changer.

Simply put, there are tasks in your business that only you can do, and you need to make sure that you have time to do them. If you don’t then you may need to consider outsourcing some of the other work that is eating up your time.

Delegating

Another option that you have is to delegate more of your work to someone else.

This could either be delegating some of your business work to a team member or current assistant.

Or, delegating some of your personal tasks to family members so that you have more time for your business.

This is a fine line to walk because you don’t want to ask too much of people. But if you aren’t able to pay someone to help you out, it’s worth it to explore your options here.

Only you know your situation, know who would be able and willing to help, and how they would be of the best use to you.

Even if it’s something as simple as giving your kids a few additional (age appropriate) responsibilities to free up an extra 15 minutes a day, that adds up to almost 2 hours over the week. And considering I do most of my work in a 2 hour period (nap time for the win!), that’s an extra day of work right there!

Give Yourself Some Credit – And a Break!

And finally, don’t beat yourself up if you just can’t get everything done that you want. You are only one person and we all have our limitations. Try some different things out and see what works for you and your business. The perfect combination for you will only come from trial and error, so get creative and see what you can come up with!

If you want to take your time management to the next level, check out my completely customized course, Be the Boss of Your Time. It’s basically the equivalent of a one-on-one coaching package, minus the hassle (and price tag) that comes with working with a coach!