Time Management Secrets: Finding Your 'Metaphorical Bigger Ice Scoop' for More Productivity and Joy in Your Solopreneur Journey
There's a scene in “Welcome to Chippendales” (Hulu series about the iconic club's founding and scandals that ensued) where the club owner chats with a lovely lady at the bar.
She's an accountant; her way of flirting is pointing out that his ice scoops are too small –so the club is pouring extra alcohol into each drink, thus losing 50 cents on each over-pour.
Batting her eyelashes and twirling her hair, she calculates that simply buying larger ice-scoops could save him tens of thousands of dollars per month, and hundreds of thousands per year.
It's true love. He marries her a short time later.
Oh, the glamour of the early 80s…I did some similar math when it came to my time:
I was trying to decide which of two gyms to join. One was kind of cheesy, but closer to my house than the “cool” gym.
I calculated that the 5 extra minutes I'd save each way would add up to an extra 10 minutes per weekday, almost an extra hour per week… and about 43 hours per year!
I don't care if I do my deadlifts & shoulder presses with uncool bright magenta dumbbells if it saves me time for more important things. (You know, like binge-watching shows such as Welcome to Chippendales)
Being a solopreneur, there's always a to-do list; most of us wish we had more time in the day to get things done.
Sometimes we can waste 10 extra minutes just stressing about the thing we need to get done, instead of chipping away at it!
So try something:
Scan your day and try to find areas where you can regain an extra 5-10 minutes.
Don't take it from your resting time, health time, family time, self-care time or spiritual time.
Think about the little things that are mini-time-sucks:
Those extra times you check your email when you could wait until after you've finished your current task (a recent study showed the the average person checks their email 77 times per day! Eek!)
Those extra minutes you could cut off from your Instagram or TikTok scrolling.
Email newsletters you rarely read, but don't want to take the time to unsubscribe from. Time spent deleting emails adds up; just unsubscribe (except for mine, of course).
Anywhere else you're draining useless time.
Breakaway pants were a real time-saver for Chippendales dancers.
Every little bit adds up— and you can use the time for those things you want to cross off the to-do list, or even better, for meaningful time to be present for the rest of your life.
Finding your "metaphorical bigger ice scoop” doesn't just apply to money and time— you can also scan for things that drain your energy, too.
Tell me what you find, or let me know if you need ideas. I'm happy to share some of my extra 43 hours ;)
p.s. Last week I talked about the vital importance of fun in business-building. I recently did an interview on the Private Practice Elevation podcast delving even deeper into this topic! Click HERE to listen: