Why you're not getting to where you want to go in your career and how to fix it
It’s Netflix, the Disney Channel, Amazon Prime TV, or whatever other subscription services you dedicate hours to every day.
It’s your phone. It’s your new PS5.
It’s the endless hours you spend on TikTok, Instagram, or some other addictive app or game you can’t seem to rip yourself from.
It’s your procrastination.
Whatever it is, it all boils down to how you manage your time.
If you want to get somewhere or accomplish something, you need to put in the effort to do it, otherwise, it’s just a lot of talk. Good luck and dream on my friend.
I’ve been asked a lot how I am able to manage so many things going on in my life and also be so productive all the time, and the answer to that is time management.
Here’s exactly what I do every weekday; albeit I may switch around the order sometimes the time blocks will still be the same.
6:30 - wake up meditation and yoga
7:30 - hydrate with a few glasses of water and get ready for work
8:15 - leave for work
9:00 - review deliverables and to-do list for the day; from 9 to 5 it’s checking off the to-dos, handling staff issues and questions and client meetings. I usually plan for 4 hour days so the remaining 4 hours of the day I can use to handle new ‘fires’ that pop up during the day (and trust me, if you run a small business there will be plenty of those)
6:00 - return home, short 20-minute exercise session to unwind after a long day sitting at a desk
6:30 - FaceTime my niece and/or visit my mom’s place for dinner to spend time physically with my niece. She’s my light and the source of my motivation to make the world a better place for the next generation with whatever work I do; any marks or footprints I leave on planet earth will hopefully translate to making her life a better and more fulfilling experience someday.
8:00 - plan for tomorrow. Figure out what needs to be done tomorrow, prep for meetings so I don't go to bed worrying about what’s coming up the next morning. By doing this, I know I can wake up feeling refreshed and prepared for the day.
9:00 - learning and improvement time. I set aside an hour each day to learn new things — whether that’s watching videos on how to film vlogs, reading up on the latest digital marketing trends and platform features, or catching up on news from the day — we should aim to stay informed on what matters to us.
10:00 - time to enjoy the fruits of my labour and relax to an episode or two of my favourite show. Yes - with everything I’m doing I still have time to catch all the trending shows. In fact, sometimes my staff think I spend all my time watching shows online.
11:30 - reading better bed. It’s a habit that helps to whisk my mind away from everyday stressors. We all need a time and mechanism that allows us to indulge in a mental massage before turning in for the night. Mine is getting lost in a book. What’s yours?
Getting from A to B won’t happen if you are just talking about it. For me, it’s visualizing how it will happen by getting ideas out of my head and putting it into my note app or onto paper.
This time block planning I use to manage my time each day is tied to priorities in my life as well.
I set aside time for family every day because it is my top priority.
I also set aside time to improve and brush up on my marketing and communications skills because I aim to be the best communicator in the field; right now I am focused on improving my content creation skills because I am passionate about how we can tell better stories with all the new tech and equipment out there. I watch trending shows not just for the sake of burning time, but because it also helps me stay relevant in my field; how can I market to my target audiences if I don’t understand the latest cultural trends? I read because communications is a combination of verbal, written and visual communications, and I need to continually improve and refine all three aspects to get closer to my goal.
Although you may feel that this is a very rigid schedule, it covers everything that matters to me, my personal health, family relationships, and career training. This may seem too granular, but how do you think pro athletes do it? For them, training is on a daily basis and their progress and improvements are measured in seconds, milliseconds, half a pound of weight gain or loss. If you aren’t measuring through tangible time invested and skills acquired, how do you know you are getting closer to your goal? Like I said, if you aren’t prepared to put in the work, don’t expect to get where you want to go. If it is truly somewhere you want to go, I promise you will enjoy every day of the process of getting there because you will see tangible progress and improvement.
For you, you may aspire to be a singer, the next idol to top the charts, and what you may have to do every day could include recording a new YouTube video and 3 TikToks each day to spread the word about your vocal talent. If you love singing, you will enjoy making these videos no matter how much time it takes you each day.
If you aspire to be a singer, then the hours spent in each day in the recording studio will be worth it. You will prioritize it to make sure it gets done.We all make time for things that truly matter to us.
The bottom line is how badly you want it. Want it bad enough and you will be willing to put in the time and effort. You may have chosen to become a Content Creator because it’s the hot new job on the market and it seems like they make the big bucks, or you started your own business because entrepreneurship seemed cool. If you are procrastinating and making excuses, then you already have your answer, the path you chose isn’t really what you want, it’s time to pivot and find something that really speaks to you.
For me, it’s coming up with different marketing ideas for my clients and covering new and interesting stories around the world. It’s stressful but I revel in it, in conquering every communications obstacle that comes my way.
I hope you find that thing that lights your fire every morning. How do you know when you’ve found it? You’ll come back here and start planning your day to build your schedule towards making daily progress. I hope to see you back here soon.
