5 tips to create more time when business gets too busy

A few years into my catering business, I started to notice a seasonal trend. I was booked from October through December; slow January to March; busy again from April to June; and then slow from July through September.

Contrary to what you might think, the seasonal trends were not because of my clients’ lifestyles; they were because I was too busy during my “busy” seasons to promote my business for the “slow” seasons. When things slowed down in January, I’d ramp up my marketing efforts. The phone would start ringing, and I’d be slammed again… the cyclical approach to my marketing meant that I had a cyclical business. To even out my business, I needed to figure out how to make time in the busy periods to continue to promote.

When I figured out how slot in marketing into my schedule, even in my busy periods, I was able to level out the cycles and work at a good-busy pace year-round instead of the swings of crazy-busy.

Whether it’s farming, cooking or consulting, we all have busy periods where there just aren’t enough hours in the day. We don’t get to all the managerial tasks even though know we should, instead focusing on the immediate tasks at hand.

We can’t just find time, we need to make time. We need to prioritize what’s important and let go of what is not.

Farmers are in the throes of the busy season now. Planting, harvesting, weeding, irrigating, feeding, packing, selling, repairing… there’s just so much to do for production; how do you make time for working “on the business.” It’s not uncommon for entrepreneurs to push aside management work until things slow down.

But pushing things off until the slow season means you’ll always be in catch up mode; not planning mode.

In November, for example, when things start to slow down, you could be planning for the next year: reviewing your historical financials and making decisions as to how to grow more profitably. Instead, you’re catching up on bookkeeping.

This busy/slow cycle can manifest itself in other ways, too. I worked with a client who ran into the cash crunch every April. Every year, they earned all their income (and received payments) from May through December. What was left in the bank had to last until the next May. But inevitably, a tractor would need a major repair, the greenhouse plastic needed replacing or the cooler compressor conked out. They would take a line of credit out; and then repay the debt in June when the cash started flowing in. This happened every year, and yet they still couldn’t get ahead of the curve. They were always in catch up mode.

If you can make the time during the busy season, you can break the cycle. With a little extra planning you can go from working re-actively to working proactively.

Here are 5 tips for making more time in the day:

1.    Capture the crevices of life

Amy Krause Rosenthal describes the crevices of life as “those 20 minutes, 40 minutes, maybe even a whole hour (!) that dangle in the space between The ‘Real’ Thing I Just Finished and The ‘Real’ Thing I Have to Do Next. These small, unassuming pockets of time are easy to dismiss and squander; it’s like somehow, they don’t really ‘count.’”

For me, those crevices often happen a few minutes before a meeting or call; and I don’t want to start a project because I don’t want to lose track of time and be late for the next thing.

Do you have crevices of time in your day? What could you be doing? Could you catch up on email? Return a few phones calls? Enter a few receipts into QuickBooks? We rarely have big chunks of time to get things done; and often all we have are those crevices.

2.    Keep organized.

How many times do you think, “wow, that’s 30 minutes I’ll never get back!” That happened to me just last week. I knew I had received my annual liability insurance bill in the mail; but couldn’t find it anywhere. I spent 20 minutes going through every piece of paper on my desk; still couldn’t find it so had to call my insurance broker. If I had been more organized (and not rushing), I would have been able to keep track of it; and I would have had those 30 minutes for a more productive project.

How much time do you lose each day because you don’t have organized systems… whether it’s looking for an email, finding a piece of equipment or a bill on your desk. Taking time now to create systems will save you many hours in the long run.

3.    Multi-modal multi-tasking

I often refer to this as separating my brain and body – but it actually has an official term! My body can be working on a project on auto-pilot (whether it’s cooking, folding laundry, or weeding) and my brain can be thinking through another project.

What are your “auto-pilot” projects? Maybe it’s harvesting a row of tomatoes, feeding the chickens or driving to the farmer’s market.

And what could you do at the same time? Could you be talking to your farm crew and offering direction? Could you talk with your CSA manager to review your monthly numbers or the upcoming share? Maybe even catch up on podcasts.

Finally, how can you ensure you get the most out of the secondary task? I often times take calls when I’m driving. Of course, when I’m driving, I can’t take notes and keep track of any thoughts or action items that come out of the conversation. I always ask the person if they can take notes and send me a follow-up email. They’re usually happy to oblige.

4.    Prioritize Sleep

When life gets hectic, and there just isn’t enough time in the day, sleep is often the first thing to go. Instead of our usual 8; maybe we just get 6. Certainly, we can function with 6 hours, but let’s be honest, we usually don’t operate at our best.

I know when I haven’t had enough sleep, everything takes more effort; I move slower and make more mistakes (that then needed to be fixed). Cutting out sleep is a classic example of penny-wise pound foolish. You may give yourself an extra hour or two in the short run, but it will cost you over time. Getting a full 8 hours’ sleep ensures that you work at maximum efficiency when you are awake. 

5.    Declutter your email

This is worth calling out separately, even though it is part of “getting organized.” Email is the bane of so many entrepreneurs; but it is a necessarily evil. To be sure – as an entrepreneur, it can be a robust tool for keeping in touch with your client base. And just as you use it to keep in touch with your clients; you are the customer for others and who are trying to keep in touch with you! 

There’s just so much of it! How do you keep track of what’s important versus spam? My best suggestion is to have 4 email accounts, each with a distinct purpose. The goal is to be able to sift through your emails quickly and reduce the clutter that surrounds the most important communications. If you use a program like Outlook or Gmail, you can easily move between the different accounts.

1.    Work email. This is the email you use for important work communications that you want to keep track of. You may also want to have a second email address for outbound work communications. For example, if you send out a mailing through mail-chimp and you get back dozens of out-of-office replies or bounces, you don’t want them cluttering your main email inbox.

2.    Personal email. We all have that friend or family member who emails more than necessary. It clutters up your inbox and makes it that much harder to find the important work emails. By creating a separate account, you can ensure that you don’t lose track of personal or work.

3.    Online purchases and mailing lists. There are certain emails we like to have even though we don’t necessarily want to nor have time to read them. If you shop online, you want to save your email confirmations. You may enjoy monthly newsletters like this one, but don’t want them in your primary inbox. This is an email address that you don’t need to check regularly, but it’s good to have. Pro-tip: As bulk-mailings come through my primary work address, I’ll update my preferences with my “online” email address.

4.    Spam list. There are times when you need to give out an email address but have no interest in the organization or getting their emails. I check this email once every few months, just to make sure it isn’t deactivated.

By having these secondary accounts, you reduce the clutter in your primary account so you can quickly find and respond to emails as needed.

Do you have tips for making extra time in the day?