The downfall of many is that there is never enough time in the day to do everything we’d like to do. Learning a new skill, like digital marketing, can be difficult when there’s already so much we have to do. We aren’t lucky enough to have access to Hermione’s Time Turner so we might as well make the best of the time we do have. How do we do that though? Read on to learn some tricks to help you find the time.
- Look at your schedule. What on the list of things you must do each day have to actually be done? What’s mandatory and what’s something you can schedule for another time? Do you say ‘yes’ to going out with friends 3 nights a week? Socializing is important, but that may be something you can cut back on. Maybe you’re eating up time hitting multiple grocery stores, each night so you have something to eat. Meal planning and prepping for the week on Sunday’s can help there. You need to be able to manage the time you do have, or you’ll never find the time to learn a new skill. Lifehacker has a zillion articles on managing your time, and a quick Google search can net you even more results; however, a great resource is from our friends at Switch, who give us 12 time management tips for that time in between clients.
- Day Off. You don’t think about the importance of needing a day off until you’ve scheduled yourself 7 days a week and you’re burning out. You don’t even have to pick a weekend, just pick a day where you don’t learn. Go to work and then go to Taco Tuesday and relax. Give your brain time to relax. You’ll retain the information and feel sharper when you pick your book (or tablet) back up.
- Use a Planner or Planner App. You’ve cut back your schedule and you’re only focusing on the things you must do each day. You’ve given yourself a day off. Now put it on paper so you stick with it. I live by my, wait for it, archaic paper planner. I live my life out of it and if it’s not in the planner, there’s a great chance it won’t happen. Have to share your life with someone else? Use a digital calendar and you can share it with others. Both Google and Apple’s native calendars are sharable. Now that you know what you have to do, what day off you have, put into the planner a block of time to learn. Maybe you have an hour a night, maybe 4, block out that time and stick to the schedule.
- Learn to say No. Carl Sandburg the poet, is famous for saying that “…time is your most valuable coin… don’t let others tell you how to spend it.” He’s right, once you lose time you can’t get it back so don’t waste it. Do not do anything that doesn’t bring you happiness or help you further a goal. Don’t take on more than you can handle, or let things distract you. If you need help saying no, Leo Babauta has a great guide; The Gentle Art of Saying No, you may find helpful.
- Prioritize. Only you know what’s important to you. It falls on you to prioritize what is important end of day. You need to be serious about finding time to further your goals. If your not, you’ll find yourself scheduling over the time when you should be learning.
Finding the time to further your goals can be difficult. You just have to make the decision to stick with it. Hopefully these tips will help you carve out the time to learn a new skill. Do you struggle with time management? Are you great at carving out time for yourself? Share your tips in the comments below!
Joe Schaefer is the Marketing Director at Digital Marketing Training Group. Digital Marketing Training Group offers a business opportunity for entrepreneurs that launches a fully-functioning digital marketing agency with full support and a team of white label, professional marketers who perform the heavy-lifting when it comes to implementing modern, forward-thinking, working digital marketing strategies. Apart from being simply the Marketing Director, Joe Schaefer is also the lead instructor of the 5-day, in-person digital marketing training that precedes the launch of an individual's digital agency.
