You’ve started a side hustle (which you hope will become your full time hustle eventually), but for now, you’re wondering how you will do it all.
Here are 4 ideas.
Audit Your Time
Years ago, I interviewed Laura Vanderkam for the Women’s Leadership Lab. She has authored a series of books on time management, including my favorite “What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast” and “168 Hours” referring to the number of hours WE ALL have in one week.
For her first book, she asked her executives to keep a “time audit” for one week. This did two things, it uncovered
The "hidden" pockets of time
A more realistic picture of how we spend our time
Why a Time Audit is Powerful:
A time audit highlights unproductive activities, like doom scrolling on your phone or unnecessary meetings.
Identifies Time Pockets: Small, overlooked segments of time—like 15 minutes between calls or 30 minutes before lunch—can add up significantly. These "time pockets" can be used for quick wins, such as sending emails, brainstorming, or even relaxing intentionally.
Reduces Guilt Around Free Time: A time audit often shows that we have more flexibility than we think. Recognizing this helps executives reclaim leisure time without feeling like they’re neglecting responsibilities.
Supports Alignment with Priorities: By matching how you spend your time to your long-term goals, a time audit ensures that effort is focused on what truly matters.
How to Conduct a Time Audit:
Track Every Activity: Use an Excel sheet or an app like Toggl.com to record what you do in 15–30 minute increments for at least a week.
Categorize Activities:
Essential work (e.g., meetings, planning)
Deep work (e.g., strategy, creative projects)
Maintenance tasks (e.g., emails, administrative work)
Leisure (e.g., family time, hobbies)
Wasted time (e.g., distractions, low-value activities)
Analyze Your Data: Look for trends. Where are your biggest time sinks? Which hours are most productive? What tasks could be delegated or eliminated?
Reallocate Time Strategically: Shift time from low-value activities to high-impact ones. Use newly identified pockets of time to focus on key priorities—-like that side hustle.
Theme days of the week
There was a time that Jack Dorsey was CEO of two publicly traded companies: both Twitter (pre-Elon Musk) and Square. Someone asked him, how he manages the duties of running both.
He themed each day of the week, allowing him to have a touchpoint on each part of his business:
Monday: Management and Direction
Dorsey dedicated Mondays to setting the tone for the week, focusing on strategy.
Tuesday: Product
Tuesdays were all about product development and innovation.
He worked closely with product teams to review progress, explore new features, and address any challenges related to user experience.
Wednesday: Marketing and Growth
Marketing, branding, and growth strategies took center stage on Wednesdays.
Dorsey collaborated with teams to ensure that campaigns, messaging, and customer acquisition plans aligned with the company's vision.
Thursday: Developers and Partnerships
Thursdays focused on fostering relationships with developers and partners.
This included maintaining an ecosystem for developers, exploring integrations, and ensuring healthy external collaborations.
Friday: Company Culture and Recruitment
Fridays were reserved for building and maintaining company culture and talent acquisition.
He conducted interviews, engaged with employees, and worked on initiatives to strengthen the organization's values and morale.
Saturday: Personal Reflection
Saturdays were often reserved for personal reflection and broader strategic thinking. He used this time to disconnect from daily operations and think long-term.
Sunday: Rest and Preparation
Sundays were for rest and preparation for the week ahead.
Dorsey reportedly reviewed his weekly schedule, organized his thoughts, and prepared for Monday.
Why It Worked
Focus and Efficiency: By assigning themes, Dorsey reduced context-switching, which can be a significant drain on productivity.
Accountability: Teams knew when they could expect his undivided attention, which improved collaboration.
Clear Priorities: This approach ensured that no critical area of the business was overlooked.
Energy Management: The structure allowed Dorsey to balance his intense workload effectively while maintaining a rhythm.
Limit Email Checks
In the early days of my business, I interviewed the CEO of Shobha, a beauty service with several locations in New York City. She limited her checking email to 11:30am and 3:30pm. She trained people in her world to understand this was her cadence of response, so not to expect immediate responses.
Why?
Each time you task-switch, your brain needs to "reset" and reallocate mental resources. This process, known as "attention residue," means part of your focus remains on the previous task, reducing your capacity to engage fully with the new one.
There is an opportunity cost in task switching. You lose productivity of up to 20%. You may end up spending more total time on both tasks than if you had completed them sequentially.
OOO Message and Scripts
You can deploy this script, demonstrated in the video above
Subject: Heads-Up: Focused Work Block
Hi [Name],
I hope this message finds you well. I wanted to give you a heads-up that I’ll be dedicating [specific time or timeframe, e.g., 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM] to focused work on [specific project/task]. During this time, I’ll have notifications off to minimize distractions and ensure progress.
If there’s anything urgent that needs my attention before then, please let me know, and I’ll do my best to address it. Otherwise, I’ll follow up after my work block.
Thanks for your understanding!
Best regards,
[Your Name]
Or you can “go guerilla” like the CEO of Fit4Mom
Lisa Druxman remembers the moment her business went nationwide.
“I was in total overwhelm.” She wasn't living in alignment with any of her core values, which were kids, family, and health.
After all, she started a business so she could be a mom first. After a hard look at her calendar, she made a change.
Well two changes:
#1 She made a commitment to take a three-week European vacation with her family.
#2 She chose some bold language for her “out of office” email:
"Thank you for your email. I'm practicing what I preach and I'm unplugging. Your email will be deleted. I am not going to come back to reading a thousand emails. So if it's important, here's other people you can contact, or if it's important to you resend it after this date."
It sent every single email to auto archive.
People thought it was mind blowing.
People would say, “I wish my company would allow me to do that. I certainly would allow any of my team members to do the same.”
Other said, “that's what we need to do more.”
Ultimately, nobody was frustrated or angry with Druxman’s bold “out of office” statement.
“I came home from three weeks to having no emails.” See video
All of my scripts for saying 'no' and doing it nicely live in my digital community here: https://lnkd.in/eMFjTyj8
Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:
1.Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in giving a TEDx style talk on a NYC stage in front of 200 people at the end.
2. Set goals for 2025.
**My 7 day email course shares an easy to follow framework.**
3. Enroll in my workshop: “3 tips to supercharge your TEDx Application”
1600 already took it.
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