Time-Budgeting Tricks That Will Power Up Your Health Coach Career

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Being your own boss seems like the ultimate dream job.

Wake up whenever you feel like it, work from your couch in your pajamas, make your own hours, and pocket all your earnings? There’s definitely more than a few perks to working for yourself.

But being an entrepreneur also has its drawbacks—after all, you’re the only one doing all the hard work … and there’s no one else to hold you accountable for getting your work in on time. As a health coach, you’ll get to make your own hours and decide how you want to spend your time. But it can certainly be tricky, especially at first, to balance your workload. Instead of scrambling at the last minute to prep for client meetings, write emails to new prospects, and post on Instagram to promote your services (if you’re not doing this, you should be!), figure out how to budget your time so you’re using every working hour wisely.

Keep on reading for our favorite tips for time management, especially for first-time health coaches.

Utilize online organization tools

Tools like Todoist or Evernote are like high-powered to-do lists—not only will they help you manage day-to-day tasks like responding to emails or grocery store runs, but they can also help you organize your tasks by type. After a few uses, you’ll see why it’s so helpful—you learn almost immediately which tasks you’re likely to put off and which you finish quickly. Stack your schedule accordingly; everyone has different preferences. Some would rather tackle all of the challenging stuff at the beginning of the day, while others would prefer to mix the tough stuff with the fun to-do’s. Regardless of whichever method you chose to go with, tracking your daily efficiency will help you become more productive with your time.

Other tools like Trello and Basecamp are well suited for long-term projects that might last days, weeks, or months. For example, if you’re trying to set up a new website for your coaching services, you can use Trello to organize every page you’re writing and its contents. Basecamp is excellent when you’re working with other people, like a graphic designer or vegan chef, because you can assign tasks to everyone on the platform. If you need a place to keep all of your thoughts together, Basecamp can act as a good dumping ground, too.

Automate as often as possible

As a small business owner, there are plenty of tasks that you alone can complete: No one else can meet with your clients, personally respond to emails, and craft health coaching plans. But the good news is that there is a lot you can automate.

Automation for your social media accounts and email marketing plans can make your life a whole lot easier, and simplify your day to day work flow. Use tools like Mailchimp or Constant Contact to create specific email lists and send weekly updates to new clients, prospective clients, and former clients. Hootsuite, SproutSocial, and HubSpot are great for scheduling your social media posts in advance, so you’re not scrambling every day to stay relevant and caught up.

Schedule a large chunk of time into every week to create and schedule this content in advance. Once you get used to scheduling emails and posts, it becomes much less stressful (and more fun!) to work on the “buisness-y” aspects of your health coaching practice.

Schedule your time to get everything done

Now comes the fun part—figuring out how to manage your time, every week. Remember this: Your time is incredibly valuable. So every spare moment that you spend scrolling through Facebook, zoning out in front of Netflix, or procrastinating by re-organizing your closet is costing you money!

The easiest way to keep yourself on-task and productive is to schedule your time in your calendar in advance. Some people work best by committing time to individual tasks (like answering a specific client’s email, or writing a blog post) while others prefer to dedicate a large chunk of time to an overarching topic and then tackle whichever tasks come up that day.

Personal “Creative” Down Time

With all that hustle you have happening, remember to take some time for yourself! Creative breaks are completely necessary and really important to maintaining your sanity and inspiration. If you have a hard time shutting off, block out a chunk of time on your calendar to treat yourself well—remember, your personal health and wellbeing should always come first.

Do you have a time management tip not listed above? Please share with us below!