How to Organize Your Life To Make Time For Your Passion or Side Hustle

1. Intro: Hello. My name's knish a snow and welcome to my course How to organize your life to make time for your passion. So you might be like, Who is this crazy chick? I've never heard of her before, but my name is knish. A check out my website and shea snow dot com, and you can see all the things that I love to do. But the most important thing that I want to tell you guys about myself is I'm a multi, passionate person. I work very, very demanding nine five job, and I have found through the years how to work my multiple side hustles and find success. Now some have failed and goulash, but some have been very successful. But no matter what my idea is and what I want to do, I always find time to figure out how to do it without killing myself. And usually that's what other creative entrepreneurs come to me for, especially people who are doing a side hustle. So I am just here today, at least the past on to you, some of the tips and tricks that have worked for me, and I'm hoping that that will also help you get where you need to be 2. Focusing on Priorities: so I completely get it. You're trying to go from point A to point B in your entrepreneurial journey, and you just can't figure out why you don't have enough time to get things done. And there are things that are good things, some things that are challenges and some things that are distractions that might be preventing you from spending more time doing what you love. In order to get to Point B, for example, you might be taking care of your home. Your Children. You might have to goto work full time during it day. You might be in school full time. You might be taking care of an elderly parent. You might be dealing with some health issues. Some distractions are you might have a ton of email and that sucks up all your time. Or maybe you're spending too much time on Netflix. But whatever it is that preventing you from getting to point B today, we're going to really look at where your time is going and how you can get that time back. Not a need you guys to make one promise to me. There will be zero excuses because what I always here is like Nash A. You just don't understand. There's just not enough time in the day. I can't get it done. You know, I have multiple kids. This isn't gonna work. My job is so demanding. Did it did? It goes on and on and on and on and on. Now I know that everybody's situation is a little bit different, but I promise you, if you really look at where your time is going and put some processes in place, that makes sense, anything can be manageable. And if it's possible for you to get help where you need to get help, you can figure out how to get it done. So do me a favor for today. Let's throw all those excuses out the door and let's try to figure out how to make it work . No one is always busy. It's always about priorities. You will always find time for the things that are important to you as we go through this course today off once you guys to keep that in mind and really focus in on what is truly your priority so we can figure out how you can find time for it. 3. Outline and Worksheets: today, we're gonna talk about how you can figure out where your time is actually going, how you can create a new schedule that will make space for your passion. Then we'll also talk about starting some new habits and systems that will actually support your new schedule. And then we'll end up with some resource is that will allow you to continue to schedule time for your passion and help you implement your new system. Who doesn't love a good worksheet? I've created thes free worksheets for you all to help you work through this exercise. And I'll tell you what. There's something powerful about putting pin to paper. I feel like your ideas then become reality, so if you get a chance, please download these worksheets and let's get started. 4. Where is Your Time Going? : So where is your time going? That's the $1,000,000 question, right? We all have the same 24 hours a day before. Some reason, it feels like we're being robbed of a couple hours here and there. So where is that time going? I haven't exercise for you. That will be painful, but it will yield results for the next couple of weeks. I want you to track your time today. You could kind of loosely guess what you do every day, Sunday through Saturday. But really, the next couple of weeks, I want you to track every minute and really look at it and figure out where you're spending wasted time and where you need to spend more time. And you can do that with three things You can either use the worksheet that I provided you . You could use a calendar or journal or planner whatever is more comfortable for you. Or you could choose to use an app called ding dot io actually use that. Several years ago, after getting advice from a friend that owns his own business, he told me he's like Misha, you're burning the candle at both ends because at the time, I had. My first podcast also was creating the laser cut lights, which plates and my job was super demanding, and I was working late, so I was barely getting any sleep and I was just consumed with. I work almost like 24 7 and both things. All the things were making me money and, you know, some more than others. But he was like, Look, you need to figure out what you need to cut He said, Track your time down to the minute and he's told me toe also to tie that into the money I was making toe find out if I was really charging enough for the time that I was putting into different projects. So using that app at that time in my life was really, really helpful because I needed that deep dive. You might not need that much of a deep dive, because that is, I think they have, like, a free trial. But then it's a paid out. But you know, if you dio, that's something to consider. But if not, pen and paper work great. There's something magical about putting pen to paper. I feel like your ideas become reality. It's just a good way, Teoh really evaluate whatever is going through your head so any who? Those are the three methods you can use to track your time, But let's get into how you're going to track your time in how you're going to use this information. So there's 24 hours in a day. Now we need to figure out where that time is going. It's time to track your time. Whatever you decide to use to track your time, make sure you carry it everywhere because I really want you to get into the details. Where hours are you at work? What hours are you in traffic? When do you eat? Do you cook before you eat? Mark that down to when do you create your products? When do you watch TV? When do you sleep? And, of course, it's going a very day to day we two week, but we're just trying to get a general sense of how you spend your time. Remember, at least do it for week. Two weeks is nice, just so you could see how it varies from week to week. But at least a full week will allow you to see the difference between your weekends and your week days. And it'll really allow you to see how day to day you put emphasis on different things or that you can make base for different things. So please make sure you track at least seven days and every detail I mean breakfast. You know, if you work on a hobby, if you take naps like dinner with the family when you take time out to order supplies, when you're posting on social media, whatever that might be, collect every detail because after you do that, you're gonna look at all the details you've collected and figure out how you can start creating a structure for some of these things. Once you've completed jurors schedule, it's time to evaluate. Look at time, waste it where you could have been doing something productive. Look at where there was space in your schedule where maybe you could have added in Ah, hobby or something for your business. Also, look at your sleep. How many hours of sleep are you getting and then figure out to what are your priorities if you add up the time, What are you spending the most time doing and isn't the most important thing that you should be focusing on right now. All right, now, let's start creating your new schedule. 5. Create a New Schedule : Now it's time for my favorite part. We're going to create a new schedule for you and know that there's flexibility in this schedule, right, because things change from week to week. But this is just simply giving you a foundation. So for me, for example, every Sunday I wake up and open my bullet journal in our plan for the week. If you're not exactly sure what a bullet journal is, you can head on over to nish a snow dot com slash bullet journal, and I talk all about it. I'm totally addicted to that method of planning your time. However, for this exercise, you could use a worksheet. The worksheet that I provided you. You could use a calendar to write down, like what you want to focus on every day. Or you can use a planner or a journal in order to start planning out what you want to do each day. All right, let's get started. Let's start building this schedule. Okay, so everything's a blank slate. We're just starting from scratch. I'm going to walk you through the methodology behind building a schedule, cause we're going to do it in layers to don't get caught up too much in the details of the fake schedule I'm about to walk you through. However, I want you to think about this as you're building your schedule, you start with things that are must. For example, I'm going to start with sleep and they work. And then you build in your maybe your side hustle, family and friends and other things. And so you build things in layers, the non negotiables to the things that have a little wiggle room to the things that you would like to dio. All right, let's get started. The first variable we're gonna add is work. For example, if you work a 9 to 5, mark that on the schedule immediately, it's something you have to dio. Of course, you can negotiate with your boss to change our hours, but whatever your work hours are at that in there. And of course, if you're a full time business owner, you're going to do your schedule a little bit different. But if you have set hours that you have to work every single day, let's start with that. The next thing to build into your schedule is sleep. I can not stress the importance of sleep enough. A few years ago, a friend gave me a Fitbit, and I realized I was getting four hours of sleep every night. I was insane. I was not good for me, not good for anybody. And so I adjusted my schedule to now get 6 to 7 hours asleep. So look at your schedule and really figure out when you should wake up and when you should go to sleep to make sure you're getting enough sleep every night. I cannot stress the importance of sleep Enough folks. You need to get your sleep. It is the magic sauce to make this all work. According to help dot com, Sleep helps improve memory. It spurs creativity. It sharpens your attention. It helps lower stress and helps you avoid accidents. Try to track your sleep. Use things like the Fitbit if you can. Because the Fitbit, for example, has amazing features in there that will give you a lot of details so you could figure out how you can improve your sleep and then try to get at least 6 to 7 hours of sleep. If you're someone that's only getting three or four hours, you know, slowly move it up. Moving up to five, moving up to six, move it up to seven and really train yourself to start getting more sleep. And lastly, make it part of your plan. As I showed on the previous slide. Put it in the plan. I even had my Fitbit at the time beep when it was time for me to go to bid, and then I would force myself to get off the computer or get off my phone or walk away from the TV and go to sleep. Now it took some time for me to get used to it, but eventually my body got used to knowing. Okay, A. J It is time to go to sleep. It's 10 o'clock, and I don't even need the Fitbit anymore to remind me. So make sure you make it part of your plan. So now that we're looking at the schedule in this example, we see when we have designated sleep time and when we designated work. So now it's time to start putting those other things in the timeframes that we have left. So in this sample, I'm using family time. So let's say, for example, for family time. You want to block off when you drop off your kids to school and when you pick him up, and then also maybe, if they have specific practices on the weekend that you need Teoh uh, make sure that your therefore, you would then start filling in the schedules with those times that you know you need to be there for your family. Or let's say you all have a movie night. Whatever is important to you, that is when you can start just blocking off those times. So you know, like, okay, that's not a time that I can designate to my passion. And, of course, this is family time. It could be You could replace that with anything, but you get the picture where you're starting to block off times for certain activities. Now here's some tips about setting family time because family means different things for different people. For some people, it might mean be spending more time with their partner or their Children or some. For some people, it might be spending more time with their parents or their sisters, or maybe just their close friends, who they consider family, whatever that might be. Just make sure you do a couple of things. One set boundaries. It's OK to take time for yourself. It's not selfish to want to sneak away for two hours and work on something that you're really passionate about or your business. It doesn't mean that you don't love them. It just means that you're taking some time for yourself. So don't be afraid to set those boundaries. The second thing is, don't feel obligated. Let's say if you have a sibling and they want you to go out to lunch or dinner on the weekend. But you know you need to fill orders or you have something to do, it's okay to say no. You want to make sure that you spend some time with them so you don't want to wait for six months to go by before you say yes to a brunch. But don't feel like you have to do something. It's OK to say no also scheduled time. So what I've been mean by this is what I just showed in the previous example, like scheduled time that you will be there for your family. So let's say if you want to spend more time with apparent. Maybe you say, like, hey, debt Every Sunday morning me and you breakfast. So from 10 toe one every Sunday that is your time with your father. And you know you're not going toe work during that time. But just make sure you figure out a schedule that works for you. So everyone gets what they want, what they want. And last but not least, communication is key, especially if let's say you have Children or other obligations. You know, make sure you're talking to your partner. Hey, you know, I really want to do this. I think this business is going to go somewhere. I need your help in implementing this schedule. And this is why I, like, tell people what you're doing. If you have some good friends and they feel like you're not there anymore, talk to them about like, Hey, this is what I'm trying to dio. But make sure you are clearly communicating what you're trying to do, so there's no hard feelings. So here's has a few examples of how you can start narrowing down your time. Even more so, based on the times that you have left, you can now start adding specific projects or activities to those times, I encourage you to get really specific. So, for example, if you're selling products and you know you need to do a lot of packaging and shipping set specific times where that's all you're focusing on is packaging and shipping. So now your schedule is pretty much set. Of course, it could be flexible because week after week our lives changed. But now at least you know where you have pockets of time to do things and you can adjust accordingly. So based on the example schedule that we set on Saturday, you're gonna wake up. Then you're gonna do your family and friend thing. Then you're going to do some packaging and shipping. You're gonna order some supplies, and then you're gonna work on your passion project so this could be modified. But at least now you have something to go by. And like I said, it can change week by week. But at least you know somewhat where your time is going or where it should go, and then you adjust. Adjust it as time goes along. So a few tips as we move forward remember to continue to evaluate and make changes, and that is going to take about a month to get it right, cause you're gonna have to figure out what works for you. Even when it comes down to really scheduling these things out, there's a paper planner work better for you or a digital calendar, you're gonna have to do some trial and error just to figure it out. Also, let go of unnecessary activities. So in that first exercise, if you found you were watching a lot of TV, let it go schedule specific times that you catch up on your shows. Also, make sure you prioritize. If sleep is a priority and work is a priority, then make sure that's the first thing that you set up in your schedule. Figure out what's important to you and make sure that you put it into your schedule when also use some kind of planner. That is really the only way you're going to stick to this. You just need to figure out what type of planner works for you. 6. Systems: So the last part of making this work is actually setting up systems so you can have the perfect schedule. But if you don't have small little systems in place about when you're gonna check your email or how you check just your physical mail, then sometimes things just tend to fall apart because all the little life things just pile up and then you find that your steel overwhelmed. 7. Systems: Home: Okay. So for systems, of course, now that you have this new schedule, it might not seem like there's time to do day to day activities. But there are, and you need to plan those day to day activities into your schedule, so some things might have to move around to accommodate those things. So some things I would like you to think about is how you handle your mail. So, yes, I'm talking about just snail mail. I have a system. As soon as I get home, I have a letter opener and I have, like, a little address blackout stamp thing that I got from the container store. But you can get it anywhere. I just quickly opened my mail. I separate the junk from the things that I actually need to do something with. I throw the junk in the recycling bin, and then I put things I need to do something with on my desk in depending on what it is. If I can wait a week before I handle it, I'll just have it on the Palin my death so I can get to it one like Saturday morning and then take care of it. but find a plan that works for you. Do not let your mail Palo. Also keep your home clean. Hey, I hate cleaning. I really do it. I hate it, but I find that operate better when I do have a clean house. So just take some time. When you think see things starting a pal up shoes or clothes or whatever it is, take two hours or three hours on a Saturday and just do like this a full cleaning of your house and then try to schedule in some routines, maybe some small cleaning routines weekly. But on a monthly basis, you do a deep clean on your on your home, and now that feels so good. Once you kind of see that your floors are that you could see your floors, depending on how messy you are or aren't. But it's just something that comes over you like a burst of energy. When you see a clean home, it's like starting from scratch and also track your money. It's super important. You can do this multiple ways. Some people actually track it the old fashioned in the journal. I prefer to use Quicken so I can reconcile things to make sure that wasn't overcharged for anything. Go out to a department store or out to a restaurant that's a little too involved for some people. So some people use mint dot com. I mean, there's so many different systems out here, but just make sure whatever you're doing, you're tracking your money because you need to know what money is coming in and out. You need to know how much money you want to make in the future, and you need to make sure that you are able to cover your expenses, your business expenses and your personal expenses. And you can't do that without knowing where every penny is going. So please, regardless, if you're living from paycheck to paycheck to having a six figure business, make sure you understand your numbers. 8. Systems: Work: Now let's talk about just some things revolved around work that can drive you insane and take time from the things that you want to accomplish. The first thing is E mail. Oh, my goodness. That's a whole session right there. So I'm not gonna go into any particular strategies and how to organize email. I'll just tell you this. Set up some rules, set up some filters depending on what email client you're using, and then also set a schedule for when you check your emails of when you're going to answer your emails. If you do that at the bare minimum, it will make your e mails a little bit more manageable. I currently have, like a inbox zero course, because I love my email inbox zero, depending on which email account using. Sometimes I can only get my email to Inbox 25 but I really like having a clean email. If possible, things do come up. There are times where I have to wait, you know, a few days or what have you a week to answer email? But for the most part, I try to have a good system that I stick to so figure out a system that works for you also document your processes. So I love Google Drive personally, I use Google sheets and who will docks and everything that I need to do is documented in there. All of my favorite websites by category, are in there. My brain is Google. Okay, so use that in order. Teoh really organize like your process is the steps. You take your thoughts because you could just easily get to it from your phone because the Google drive has APS that you can use to access Google sheets and Google docks, and it's a great way to pass on information to just in case. For example, you get a virtual assistant, or maybe you're gonna have someone do some particular aspect of your job. You could just give them the steps that you've already created so they can easily pick it up without you having to take time out now to do it. Last minute. Have a social media strategy and there's two things with this, I would say control your time on social media and have a social media strategy. So, for example, because I work during the day, sometimes when I get off work. It's too dark for me to take pictures or videos, so that means everything has to be recorded on a Saturday and Sunday. So when I get up on Saturday and Sunday, I'm just taking pictures. Videos. I'm not worried about editing them too much. I'm just trying to get enough content that'll last me through the week, or sometimes two weeks, depending on what it is. So just think about like what your social media strategy is again there. So many videos and courses on how you can handle social media. But think about it so it doesn't become overwhelming for you. And think about batch processing. For example, with my Studio 78 podcast, I try to record right before a season at least four months of episodes in advance, and then I start. And then after that, I also tried to batch at it those episodes. Sometimes I do get to do that, and sometimes it takes me allow to get through all of them. But at least I have two months for court it and I don't have to worry about emailing. People are getting like flustered because I don't know what I'm gonna do the next week. It's already planned out when I used to have my laser cut lights, which plates, I would sand and oil everything at the same time. And that will also package everything at the same time. I, like had a system and it really involved batch ing what I did. So think about your processes and what could be batch and then include that into your schedule when a my willing to ship things. When, um, I going to make things and get very specific when a my going to a symbol x, y and z you know, when a my going to paint x y and z So then, you know, like okay, this the day is dedicating Onley to doing X and set some rules for yourself like maybe specific times that you're gonna answer emails like I've emailed people before and they they have a response that comes back, that they've set up through their email and they say, Hey, Onley answering emails on Tuesday and Thursday. Check out our F A Q. If you have any questions, if you can't find your answer, there no worries. You'll hear back from us the next day were available. Great. The expectations have been set, and they're not trying to, like, answer every single email that comes in that might not work for every business. But think about like what you conduce in order to like sets of rules. Another example is having a specific day that your packages go out. I've seen some very successful INSTAGRAM accounts do this where they say, Okay, I'm putting everything for sale on Monday and nothing will be shipped until Saturday. All shipment will go out Saturday that you know, and so that's like Great because it sets the expectations by the customer. And it gives that business a little bit more time to do other things during the week and not having to worry about having their mail picked up or having to print out shipping labels or what have you, depending on where you are in your business and how you're handling shipping. That's just another rule you set for yourself may or may not work for everyone, but I'm just giving you examples, upsetting rules 9. Spend Money to Save Time: so I wouldn't talk about something that you may have to pay for in order to get your time back in, Depending on where you are in your business, it may or may not be worth it, but think about paying for help. So, for example, is it time to get a virtual assistant? Is it time to you? Get somebody to help you with? HR is a time to get a CEO. Is it time to get help? Everybody is in a different aspects of their career or their business. But think about hiring help. If you feel like your days are spent doing administrative tasks that really could be handled by someone else. Also think about using the riot software, for example. I love Coast Capital because it sends out all my social media for me, and I don't have to think about it. So during today, when I'm not working cause I'm at work, I know that for my side business, everything is going out. It's all automated, so that's money well invested. Another software that I love using to his calendar early and actually I used the free version. But if the more things pick up I would be willing to invest in the paid virgin. Some people use acuity, for example. I mean, there's all types of amazing software out there. So think about investing in software that makes sense for you in order to help you get back more time. 10. What to Stop and Start Doing: All right, Homestretch. A few things you could do this week as you're figuring out your schedule immediately to give yourself back more time. Get off the social media. Yes. Stop watching movies or TV shows. Yes, yes, yes. And turn off the notifications on your phone turned off. You don't need their distraction. Go into your settings if you don't know how to do it. Google is your friend. You to your friend. Turn off those notifications. Get rid of all distractions and what I What do I want you to start doing? As soon as you wake up, get up. As soon as you feel yourself like my God, it's morning already. Just get up. Don't roll over. Don't hit that alarm. Just get up. Look at your journal and say, OK, let me get started. I do that every Saturday and Sunday morning. You make myself a cup of tea, get on the computer and then just get started. Maybe that will be exercising for your first thing, and then you get on the computer. Then you go to your shop. But as soon as you feel yourself getting up, wake up. Also, I want you to commit to starting. This is a lot of information. I totally realize that. But just start somewhere. You don't have to do all the things that I mentioned at once. Even if you just do one or two things every week, every two weeks and then slowly put more processes in place in your life, it will make a difference, even if you just do one thing a month. So just get started. Learn how to say no, Don't feel obligated to do things when you know that you want to accomplish something else . You know you don't have to say yes to everything. And also remember that opportunities aren't the best opportunities from her business. Really evaluate them and figure out if it's worth your time because your time and effort goes into everything you do. Don't be afraid to say no. And don't be afraid to say yes. Learn the difference of when you should say yes or no and talk to Siri. I talked to Syria all the time. If you are a Google, whatever Google's thing is, but let me just let me tell Siri to do something right now. Remind me to schedule my yoga appointment tomorrow at 12 noon. Our mind you Thank you. Theory. No. Okay, So why did I do that? Because a lot of times I'm always on the go, and I don't want to forget something, but maybe I don't have time to write something in my journal, so I'll just talk to Siri and I'll save Syria. Remind me at 7 a.m. To do this. Remind me tomorrow. Did it to do this right. Remind being two months to do X. Remind me in the year to check my values or whatever. Like just tell Siri what to do, and she'll do it for you. And last. Banana, please. Affirmations. They might seem cheesy and goofy and like, while I do it, ISS. But they really do help you get to where you need to be. So have an affirmation when the screen saver of your phone or on your desktop or on a you know, you can put it in a frame on your desk. But whatever you're trying to accomplish, find some affirmations that will help keep you going. So when you look at it, put on your refrigerator your dash for whatever, but you want to look at it often to remind you where you want to go 11. Resources: So here's some of my favorite resource is the ding that I Oh, if you're really looking to track your time by the minute the Fitbit watch. I love it for tracking. Sleep the to do up. I keep my grocery list and anything else I need to buy on this APP journal. I love the Lloyds Term Journal. The dot it version that is my favorite. A planner. If you're more of a planner person. I love the Helen Deal Tree Journal calendar. Get a large calendar. I love going to paper source every year to get a large calendar for my office. Google Drive. Oh my goodness, Google Drive. You know about Google Drive? Just use it. The Life Cleanse Journal is my personal journal. To help you figure out how to make time for your passion and just to figure out what that passion is, and then the Fringe Hours book are really loved. This, especially for folks that are really trying to maximize their time. They have a busy 9 to 5 schedule or busy family schedule, and they are trying to maximize their quote fringe hours. I hope these resource is work for you 12. Outro: all right. This is it, people. All I can say is be flexible and just just get started. I hope this has been really, really helpful. Definitely. Check me over. Initiates no dot com or leave me a comment on social media. You can find me everywhere. My name is really unique. So easy to find. Let me know what's working or not working for you. I love to hear from you. All right. Thank you again for, uh, listening to my session. Take care, right?