WWhen I moved from the life of a corporate lawyer to working for myself, I was thrilled. The freedom! No-one to tell me what to do, no working around the clock, no timesheets. I could start my day when I wanted to and finish early.
It was all up to me.
Except there was no-one to tell me what to do, no set hours, and no way to keep track of what I was doing.
It was all up to me.
That was an exciting, yet daunting prospect.
How do you make sure you’re working on the most impactful tasks in your business and not getting distracted by anything shiny?
How do you track your progress and ensure you’re not putting off actions because they felt too hard, overwhelming, or way out of your skill set?
Have a CEO date to review your week
My solution was to create regular CEO dates with myself. Dedicated time where I reviewed what was happening in my business each week.
This simple system made an extraordinary difference to my business. Instead of doing what I fancied each week, I planned out each week with a goal in mind. Reviewing what I did, or didn’t do, during the week allowed me to closely track my progress and see what needed to be done the following week.
My system took some time to develop, as I experimented with what worked for me. I didn’t need a perfect system, instead I wanted a system that could change with me as I learned more about the way I wanted to run my business.
How to set up a system to review your week
You need to have clear goals to set up this system for yourself. If you’ve been in business for a while, you’ll probably have annual goals then monthly goals, or a 90-day plan, that you can choose your goals from. If you’re new to business your goals will tend to be for a shorter term.
Next, you need to map out the actions you’re taking each week. This can take practise, especially when you’re doing something new like running a webinar.
I used to type up the tasks that needed to get done into a spreadsheet. I’ve since switched to a paper planner as that felt like a better fit for me (plus there is less room so I don’t end up with a huge to do list for the week!). You could also use a project management tool like Asana or stick brightly coloured post it notes on your wall.
Design a flexible system
Your system is there to support you to review your week and reach your goals. It’s not there to constraint you or to be so rigid in its design that you don’t enjoy using it. Make it flexible and make it fun.
In my spreadsheet I had the following column headings:
- Week Starting
- Goal & Tasks
- Achieved
- Worked
- Didn’t work.
I would review what had happened on Friday afternoon. Noting under column 3 if I achieved the tasks, then in columns 4 and 5, I’d note what worked and what didn’t.
Depending on the way you like to work you can do your review at the end of the week, or at the start.
My current system
With my current system I now ask three key questions at the end of the week:
- What worked?
- What didn’t work?
- What needs to change next week?
These questions may appear simple, and they are. They also have a lot of value as they go to the heart of what is going on in your business. By checking in each week it’s easy to see where your improvement areas are and what you don’t need to change.
The answers to these questions can be numbers, feelings, or both. For example:
What worked? I welcomed 2 new clients, OR my week felt abundant, and I had all the time I needed to achieve my tasks without rushing.
What didn’t work? I didn’t finish setting up my webinar OR my week felt really rushed. I’d crammed too much into my calendar and couldn’t give each task the time it deserved.
What needs to change next week? Take more walks at lunchtime to refresh my energy and give myself more time to writing my marketing copy.
Watch out for tasks that get copied from one week to the next as there is usually a deeper issue that needs a closer look.
By adding regular CEO time to your calendar, and having a system to regularly review your week, you can intentionally build your business rather than simply letting it happen.
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