Last Sunday as I wrote my plans for the week ahead I wondered how many people do this.
 
I don’t do it every Sunday and when I don’t, my week is not productive at all, I feel as though I am wondering about aimlessly productivity-wise.
 
Conversely, when I plan I’m so much more focused that I can just let emails pile up as I try to meet personal deadlines before close of business on Friday. I used to plan work during the weekend but I don’t tend to anymore.
 
So, I sat down and thought about why I like planning on Sundays.
 
Mental Preparation
 
As with most people, my productive/working week starts on Monday. If I make plans on Sunday it means that I am ready to go by the time Monday starts.
 
For me, it doesn’t work to do this planning on any other day because it makes Mondays feel like they’ve started on the wrong path.
 
Reviewing The Week
 
The planning process doesn’t take much time, perhaps 20 minutes, but it also allows me to review what didn’t work or happen the week before.
 
Most people don’t finish everything they tasked themselves to do because, by nature, we all think things take less time than they actually do.
 
It’s Saturday morning as I write this and when I woke up at 4 a.m. I planned to write, post and schedule emails for three blogs. I’m only on my second blog and the third will not happen. This is what happens, it’s life.
 
It’s okay though, because it’s Saturday, and I don’t work on Saturdays but my body clock forgot that so here we are, essentially in “bonus time”, doing some extra work.
 
Creating Focus & Clarity
 
Unlike New Years’ Resolutions weekly reviews tend to be more specific and generally much more achievable.
 
Having a focus for the week gives each day a sense of direction it doesn’t have when you just wake up and start making things up as you go along.
 
Taking Time To Think
 
Normally, when the week starts we go into autopilot and don’t pause to think even when we know we need to. Sundays are a good time to have this very necessary pause so that we don’t go into overdrive doing things week-in week-out that are not working.
 
Sundays are an opportunity to change tack, to refocus, to energize.
 
My big question to you is: do you sit down and plan your week? How do you plan? How could you plan better?

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It’s a dream to have a job that works around your life. I have such a job and a few people I know aspire towards this lifestyle but their approach, I now realize, is completely wrong.

Before I had a baby, I used to imagine that maternity leave allowed one to pursue personal interests other than those of rearing a child.
 
When people told me they planned on starting something during maternity leave I agreed that this was indeed an appropriate time. When friends with babies said they weren’t being able to get anything done I thought they just weren’t balancing things correctly – I, in this case, was wrong.

Unless you pay for childcare don’t expect to have any time to focus on a business when you are on maternity leave. In America where maternity leave is only two months it’s definitely not going to happen but in the UK and Europe where you are allowed up to a year off with your job still guaranteed at the end, an opportunity to plough more energy into a business exists.

My baby is overall an easy one. He sleeps well at night but during the day he requires a fair amount of playing with and attention. I think that’s fair. I wouldn’t feel right to ignore him or place him in front of a TV if he’s awake. I have to deal with my business things on my own time, not his. As a consequence I have a nanny for 3 to 4 hours three afternoons a week and during this time I do my blog writing, video editing, business accounts and catch up with the people that do graphics and other work for my business.

I did start off trying to work while he slept but the problem with that is that it led to inconsistent output: Sometimes my boy would sleep for ages and other times he wouldn’t do more than a 30 minute nap here and there. There was simply no way I could do any solid work unless I had someone caring for him so, in the end, that’s what my husband and I decided to do.

If you want to start a business and think that the best time to start is during maternity leave, I hate to tell you this but this is unlikely to happen unless you organise some support. Several of my friends have tried this and have all tragically failed; now that I too am a mum, I understand why.

So, what are your options for child care?

1. Nanny or nanny share

If you can afford it, pay for several fixed hours every week for childcare. A more affordable way to do this is to have a nanny share whereby one nanny looks after your child and someone else’s at the same time so that the cost is shared.

I am lucky to have someone on my street to nanny share with so this reduces the cost. Mind you, the cost is not exactly slashed in half by having a nanny-share because the hourly cost of taking care of two babies is higher than the cost of one-on-one care (but it’s not double).

I only need to work 20 hours a week (4 hours a day, Monday to Friday) but for now I only pay for 10 hours because I can make up for the rest during nights when my son (and husband are asleep).

2. Ask family for help

If you are lucky enough to have family nearby they may be willing or even dying to spend time with your baby. Work out an arrangement that works for everyone so that your family get some valuable time with your baby and you get to do some work.
3. Speak to your partner

Ask your partner how they can best pitch in to help you get work done. My husband adores our son and gets one-on-one time whilst I work. He loves doing bath time and does some play time.

Luckily, I don’t need to take that much time away from family time. Once I’m done with my work I let it be and spend time with the family.

4. Save for childcare

If you don’t have family nearby, a supportive partner or the funds for child care then it may be a good idea to save a lump sum for childcare before you have your baby.

If you have more suggestions please make a comment.

In summary, maternity leave may provide a chance to put more energy into a business but if you don’t plan for childcare, it won’t happen; so, plan for it!

I hope you have all the knowledge you need to build your 6-figure product business so that you don’t waste time making it up as you go along when you should just be running your business. If you need a blueprint for building a product business join The Money Spot Program. You not only get access to knowledge but to a network of individuals who can share ideas with you via our closed, members-only Facebook page but you can obviously ask me questions whenever you need.

MY ENTREPRENEUR TIMETABLE (2012+)

It depends on what’s happening that day, however, on a normal day: 
10:30 p.m. – 6.30 a.m.: I sleep

My ‘Trep timetable is very much informed by my life as a student and as an employee. In the first 18 months I worked like crazy. I enjoyed it and I was setting up and learning lots of new things so I didn’t really feel any pain.

Now, keep in mind that in the early years of investment banking I rarely went home before 10 p.m. and I frequently went home in the teeny weeny hours of the morning so it shifted my norm for what hard work is.

The First Two Years of Business

• 7:30 – 9:30 a.m.: work
• 10:00 – 12:30 p.m.: work
• 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.: work
• 4:00 – 6:30 p.m.: work
• 7:30 – 9:30 p.m.: work even though I told myself not to!
  

I gymed twice a week in the morning so I’d start work at 8:30 or 9:00 a.m. on such days.

I walked for about an hour daily listening to audiobooks this is why I have so many book reviews. If I wanted to rest my brain I listened to music instead.

I consistently worked 10 to 12 hours per day.

Before bed I always make sure to update my to-do list for the next day. Usually I have to adjust what I need to get done as a week progresses because I am a little overambitious in what I want to achieve; I really pack it in to my schedule. Some goals are placed into the following week and new goals are added to the current one.

As the business started to make more money I started hiring many more freelancers allowing me to enjoy more rest. However, even when I was pregnant I worked at least 8 solid hours per day creating products, setting up automated processes and from about 34 weeks of pregnancy, training my freelancers to do more of my work.

By the time my baby came in Dec-2014 I could keep the business running well with only about 4 to 8 hours of work per WEEK from me. The harder you work setting things up, the more you can rest.

GRANT CARDONE’S TIMETABLE

9:00 p.m. – 4:00 a.m.: sleep  

This was one of the most amazing things to me about his schedule. I would previously have called 04:00 a.m. an ungodly hour but Grant changed my frame of thinking a little.

Fortunately, I found Grant when I was suffering from pregnancy insomnia and I frequently naturally woke up at 4:00 a.m. – so what did I do? Well, if Grant can start his day then, so can I. I got up and handled my business and caught up by having a two-hour sleep in the afternoon instead. It worked very well for me.  

After Grant gets up he:

• Writes some goals
• Does a 20-minute work out
• Listens to something inspiring
• Showers
• Gets some work done
• Spends an hour with his kids 
• Then he’s out chasing money – he doesn’t do lunch with colleagues because you can’t make money from colleagues
• In the evening he spends another hour with his kids, a quality hour with his wife And before you know it, it’s bedtime. 

FUN 

Within our structure, we have plenty of fun too. There is plenty of time to goof around, laze about, watch the X-Factor, Millionaire Matchmaker, Criminal Minds, Law & Order, eat out and have a laugh. However, the more work you get done in the early years the more fun you can have later.

Importantly, time needs to be scheduled in and managed. If you follow what most people do, i.e. have fun without a deadline, you are setting yourself up for financial poverty.

CONCLUSION

Plan your life around some solid rest. You have to sleep to maintain your productivity. No one can work well without rest. If you need help with creating a schedule I have provided three above: my student timetable, my entrepreneur timetable and Grant Cardone’s timetable. You can use these to create your own.

If you choose to join The Money Spot™ Program you will get a weekly planner. In the meantime, you can download my simple Objectives Template.