Hey fellow entrepreneurs! Are you checking off the right tasks on your to-do list to have the most productive week? Are you dividing your time in the most efficient way to move the needle on your business ideas?

Or, do you feel stuck in the trenches when it comes to propelling your business forward?

As a small biz owner and coach, the biggest reason I’ve noticed why creative entrepreneurs (including myself, sometimes!) aren't getting their businesses where they need to be is because of the way we manage our time.

I’m here to set the record straight and make it crystal clear on how you should divide your time as an entrepreneur. I want YOU to learn from my mistakes, and take everything I’ve gathered from my 10+ years as an entrepreneur to maximize your business.

Oftentimes, we spend way too much time in the operations or marketing category of our business and a deficit of time in other important areas― especially sales.

Here’s the special sauce to a successful and productive workweek: on average, you should be spending 40% of your time on sales, 25% on marketing, 20% on growth, and 15% on operations. Wait...what?

Let's break it down ―

Marketing System 25%

Marketing tasks include writing copy for social media, writing blogs, emailing your list, developing advertisements, creating graphics, and editing pictures in Photoshop. These are all time-consuming tasks, and you may find that this is where you spend most of your time.

I’ve worked with women who spend 8+ hours a week writing Instagram captions and editing photos. For a 40-hour work week, 25% of your time equals 10 hours per week, so you’ve almost blown through your allotted marketing time, and that doesn’t even include posting or any other marketing endeavors! Listen, your grid is important, but girl, that is not the best use of your time.

Pro tip: Canva is a fantastic tool that can help you cut down time spent on graphics. Another tip: schedule a photoshoot once per quarter. Pull 5-10 outfits, find a handful of locations in close proximity to one another, and grab a photographer or an entrepreneurial friend with a good eye, and shoot away. You can get so much content in 2 hours! And don’t be afraid to be an outfit repeater in your grid. It’s just not a sin, plus it will actually help with the cohesiveness of the grid.

Growth System 20%

The growth system is all about lead generation such as growing your email list, sales funnels, and networking. All of your backend and backbone business changes happen in this area. You want to be sure that you have the ability to scale up, do more, and reach your goals.

Pro tip: Once you systemize, things get easier. I use Flodesk to create emails and workflows for each freebie I offer. This process is time-consuming on the front end but time-saving in the long run! I call it my Freedom Funnel, and I’ll show you exactly how to build one in my group coaching program, "Let’s Uplevel Your Business.”

Operations System 15%

“Operations” focuses on the business side of things, like delivering your product or service to a client or customer, talking with your team, and program development. It also includes the time you spend on accounting, bookkeeping, or admin work. Most people spend much more than 15% of their time in this area, so it’s crucial to get more efficient with your time!

I know this area might be why you got into business in the first place so it can be hard to get out of the trenches, but if you want to scale and grow like I know you do, it’s time to re-evaluate how you’re spending your time.

Hot tip alert: Do you find yourself answering the same question over and over again via Instagram or email? Take some time right now to write your most thorough and poignant response with space to personalize the name and maybe a few other details. Then save this so you can copy and paste for future responses.

Here’s another tip: Honeybook is my fave! I used to spend hours creating custom proposals for clients, but now it takes me all of 15 minutes. Use my referral link for 50% off your first year!

And have you heard of Loom? If not, download it and thank me later. Rather than explaining something 15 times to 15 different people (like how to create a new blog post in Squarespace, for example), you can record yourself walking through it once, save it, and share that video each time you need to show someone the steps. Presto! You have a system and you just saved a ton of time.

Grab this graphic to remind yourself how to spend your time.

Sales System 40%

Ah, the big 4-0. You should be spending 40% of your time focusing on SELLING YOUR DANG BUSINESS! Sales consists of making offers, sales calls, having live (and virtual) gigs, hosting webinars or 5-day challenges, etc. For a 40-hour work week, 40% of your time equates to 16 hours. I like to break this down into 4 hours a day if I take Friday off from selling. Really puts it into perspective, huh?

The sales system includes the direct contact that is involved with actually making a sale. Yes, you can even count some of the time you spend in your DMs as sales time — but only if you’re actually connecting with leads and not scrolling.

Pro tip: DMs are money. Respond to your ideal customers’ stories or send them a DM if one of their posts really touched you. I promise no one tires of fan mail, even in the form of a DM. This further strengthens the human connection. And guess what? Humans buy from humans!

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Now, it’s time to put the pen to paper. Write down two areas where you think you spend most of your time, and write down 2 areas where you want to spend most of your time.

Let’s put it to the test. Today, next to every item on your to-do list, sort each task into one of the four buckets (sales, marketing, growth, or operations) and record how long it took you.

Do this for one week, and you’ll have a sense of where you designate most of your time. With this information, you’re able to make the much-needed tweaks and changes to improve your biz.

How to Right the Ship

You may then ask yourself, “How will I shave things off my list? How am I going to get everything done?” Well, I’m here to give you that kick in the pants in deciding what's really relevant and what’s not moving the needle. Did your Instagram bring in any quality leads last week? If not, it’s time to re-evaluate how much time you’re spending taking and editing photos or writing captions, and re-allocate that time for connecting with potentail sales leads. Next up, ask yourself, “What can I take off my plate through outsourcing or systemizing?”

If you want more guidance on how to uplevel your business or you feel like you need a hand to hold through this process, I get it. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for the coaches I hired along the way. I’d love for you to check out my 10-week group coaching program, Let’s Uplevel Your Business. I’ll guide you with my signature UPLEVEL Method so you can go from overwhelmed and defeated to optimized and thriving!

P.S. There will be seasons in your entrepreneurial journey when this breakdown simply won’t work, for example when you’re building out a new course or you’re designing a new collection. During that season, you’ll need to spend more than 15% of your time in Operations. That’s okay. But keep this breakdown handy as a guide and make adjustments as needed through the many seasons of your business.

Looking for an app that can help you track your time and plan out a more balance day? Try Sunsama. Mark your tasks using the 4 categories up above, document how much time you spend doing everything in a day, and it will measure your results and spit it out to you in a nifty little pie chart. Game changer! If there was ever an easy way to right the ship, Sunsama is it.