How I Plan and Organise My Working Week
Organise Your Time According to the Type of Business You Have
Before becoming self-employed, I always thought I was a relatively well organised person. Then, as soon as you make the decision to become your own boss, the never-ending number of tasks you have to deal with can trick you into believing that you are the most unorganised person on this planet! Curiously, you may also notice fellow business owners around you claiming the same, despite appearing as though they have absolutely everything under control. Having tried to juggle everything myself in the early days to now having my own team of editors and operation managers, I can safely say that both require careful planning and organisation skills.
Secondly, through experience I’ve learned that the scheduling system you choose to adopt has to compliment the type of business you’re running. Minnirella is not my first business. I regard this business as a creative business, whereas my previous businesses have been more corporate, powered by logic and action. Therefore, I have modified the way I plan and organise my working time accordingly. Previous strategies and ways of working just wouldn’t be effective for a fashion brand and magazine. As a creative, I have set tasks to ensure we're hitting our sales targets, while at the same time allowing myself the time and freedom I need to create. A large proportion of my work is creating, whether that’s designing clothing for our collections, editing our magazine or conducting meetings about the brand.
My 12-Month Editorial Planner
I use what we call an "editorial planner" because the majority of my work over the last 14 years has involved creating content. I’ve explored both digital and offline planners. Personally, I just love a simple notebook - the pen and paper method because when I am offline, ideas flow better and I can think more clearly. For me, lists work really well and when I say lists, I mean listing off everything I need to do in every area of my life. The micro/macro lists concept encourages you to do something similar. Basically, break down every task you need to complete into very small, manageable steps that each take 30-60 minutes or less. I then group similar activities together and this is what we call batch tasking. Similarly, because I have so much going on in my business – from product design, content creation to maintaining the aesthetics of the brand, I plan these activities in the same way.
First, I think about absolutely everything that I need to do and then I break down these jobs into manageable tasks and add them to my to-do list. I use my Bullet Journal method for my to-do lists and check lists and I created my very own 1-year editorial planner that reminds me of all the tasks I must complete in order to successfully run my fashion brand and magazine. The editorial planner also enables me to plan our upcoming fashion collections and future product launches. I have a big editorial calendar so that I can see the entire month at a glance. Then I create daily to-do lists, project planners and notes in my trusty Bullet Journal.
I’m really happy with the way I organise and run my business now. Finally, 14 years into my business journey, I can firmly say that I have my planning and organisation under control.
What organisation and planning methods do you use? I’d love to know!
