How to Create a Work Schedule that Genuinely Serves You

August 17, 2012 Posted by Max Simon

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Run your business, don’t let it run you!

• How does time-off to catch up or relax increase productivity?
• How can you powerfully assert yourself so that your business doesn’t control your life?
• Can you really oversee a 6 or 7-figure business AND take an entire month off to just enjoy it all?

This week’s expert Shanda Sumpter is a stellar example of self-care increasing productivity and success in business…

BVB: So Shanda, what’s really working for you in business right now?

Shanda: My year long coaching program is really working for me.

But what’s also really working is the way that I schedule them.

A lot of people, when they’re entrepreneurs, their schedules run them… and I don’t run our business that way. We sell out all of our high end programs in October and November, and then I take December off. And that works really well for us.

BVB: How does this impact your relationship with your clients?

Shanda: I blogged that I take December off and it really inspired our Tribe.

So many of them do that too now. It gives them permission no matter what dollar amount they make. A lot of them have found a way to do it, and I would say the whole consciousness and morale of our Tribe is really high because they operate that way.

BVB: And you and your team?

Shanda: We only coach three days a week, for private coaching. Then the rest of the week we have for anything internally that we need to get done, for program creation, staff meetings, all of that type of stuff.

We set up our schedule so that we have a lot of space to create. And then the fourth week of every month we take off. It’s a flex week, and we encourage our high-end clients to do the same.

It’s either “love yourself up” or “tie up loose ends.”

What’s really cool about is that the CEO doesn’t become a bag… my head stays screwed on straight! It allows a lot of space to be able to be able to create networks and spend time with friends, take care of myself.

It allows me to be a good example for my Tribe, that busy energy isn’t what creates… Especially when people are in between $0 and that first $300,000 in their business, they tend to work themselves to death. When we built the first $100,000 we worked like crazy, but we didn’t have to, and after that we put this flex schedule in, and we’ve grown every year since.

We’ve made bigger growth spurts by having more time in our schedule than by running our company the way corporate America says to.

BVB: What is the most powerful result you see from this strategy?

Shanda: It truly allows the entrepreneur to be a CEO at whatever stage of the game you are at.

This whole week we’ve been dialoguing about “What are you all doing with your flex week?”

Is it time to sit back and take care of yourself, is it time to take care of your health, your fitness, your vitality? Or is it time to wrap up loose ends because you are in the middle of a project and you are doing a push?

So the attitude, “I’ll take a break when I make the money,” we’ve broken out of that paradigm.

BVB: What are some steps entrepreneurs can take to implement this into their business?

Shanda: First step is not to be afraid to change the schedule that you already have. Because that is going to be a necessity. So when I first implemented this, I had high-end coaching clients all over my schedule, and there was really no time for me to schedule going to the gym or even eating.

I had days where I would go back-to-back from early in the morning to 3 PM and literally eat chips at my desk because I needed to eat something. So I understand that everybody has a system or a lack of a system in play in their business right now, and you’ve got to just realize that you have to change your system. You cannot be afraid to move clients or to change the structure that’s already existing.

So the way we handled this is by getting over the fear of losing clients because of doing it.

Secondly, positioning. I didn’t go to my clients and say “Well, this is kind of what I’m doing,” in an insecure and afraid way. I came from a place of empowerment, of “this is good for me, and this is how you need to run your business, and we’re actually expanding. And so in order for me to help you expand, and for us to expand, this is the structure we’re moving into.”

That was huge, and we had no pushback. And we found that with our clients who have done it, they haven’t had any pushback either. So the positioning is really important.

BVB: What was the best advice you’ve ever received to get to the level of success you are at today?

Shanda: Well, the most recent one actually came from Suzanne Evans. I heard her say that you have to be willing to look ridiculous in order to have a great business and that has been a really powerful shift in my own energy and I have translated that to my clients, and really to my conversation with anybody else as well.

We’re always operating from one of two places, love or fear. You can’t be in between, there’s no grey area. So, whenever we’re not moving forward, we’re in a space of resistance.

Since I’ve heard that from Suzanne I was able to show up with my clients in a new light. It gave me a new angle to say “the only reason you’re not moving forward is because you are afraid of something.” So when you’re standing in a space of resistance, check in and see what you are afraid of. And don’t be afraid to look ridiculous!

BVB: Shanda, this has been absolutely invaluable. Thanks so much for sharing this with our Tribe…

 How has placing importance on self-care impacted your business?

Leave a comment below and let us know!