The Importance of Creating Your Daily Routine

Andy Splichal  0:57  

Hello, and welcome to the Make Each Click Count Podcast. This is your host, Andy Splichal. For those that don't know me, well, they most likely do not know that I'm a big believer in creating routine and setting goals. And in fact, for those even that do know me, well, they most likely do not know to the extent that I will go to not waver from my routine. However, it is my routine that I will attribute to allowing me to serve my private clients in such an effective way that few if any other SEO agencies can, in terms of managing their paid traffic is also my routine. That has allowed me to write two books, write two or three ongoing articles per month on my blog and record my podcast episodes each and every Friday. My routine is what I want to share with you today. Not because I want to brag as to how disciplined I am or what I've accomplished, but I want to share my schedule in order for you to take ideas to implement into your own daily routines. I recently watched a masterclass with Bob Iger from Disney who went into details of his daily schedule. Now, in no way am I comparing anything about my life to his however, learning about his schedule was both helpful and fascinating to me, I was able to implement an idea or two and tweak my routine just a bit based on a couple of ideas. And I was hoping in this spirit by sharing my weekly schedule that some of you out there may be able to do the same. With that set. Here is what my weekly schedule looks like. Monday morning, starting there 5:30. until seven I create content, the blog, podcast, videos, books, I have a whole different schedule on what content I produce when but this time first thing in the morning is dedicated to purely to content creation. Between seventh and eighth I prepare for the day I shower, I change I make breakfast for my two children. And then eight o'clock to nine o'clock. I work on reviewing the overview report a weekend results from my private clients. Within this time, what I'm looking to identify are any abnormal spikes or decreases in either spend or conversion. Between 9 to 9:30 I assigned daily account optimization work to my trusted traffic optimization specialist based on a set calendar for each client between 9:30 and 11:30. I work for Pomodoro sessions working on private clients accounts based on my schedule of client work. Note for those of you that are not familiar, a Pomodoro session is a technique that helps keep track of time and it works like this. You work for 25 minutes and then you take a five minute break. After four Pomodoro sessions you take a 15 minute break. And I have found that the Pomodoro Technique extremely helpful and keep an organized in terms of my activities. And my focus when working on a variety of tasks between 11:30 and 12:13 lunch, and then 12:30 to 2:30 do for more Pomodoro sessions. Working on private client accounts based on my schedule of client work between 2:30 and 2:45. I take my Pomodoro break 15 minutes, get up I move around this gets the blood flowing and helps me refocus on my new task. Between 2:45 and 3:45. I do two more Pomodoro sessions, focusing on growing true online presence, making connections for podcast guests working on materials for upcoming podcast episodes, running ads on Facebook for true online presence for my book, etc, etc. And between 3:45 and 4:15. I review the daily work done by my traffic optimization specialists. And although I trust her work, it is my responsibility to ensure that everything is implemented correctly. Throughout my private clients accounts delegate don't abdicate between 4:15 and 5 I read after all is the same goes readers are leaders and I want to make sure that I can pull information in from wherever I can. Reading at the end of the workday also allows me to re energize and start to refocus. My thoughts for tomorrow's work. Tuesday and Thursday these days are are much like Monday. Although I'm available for phone calls with both private clients and prospective clients between 11am and 3. Calls must be scheduled in advance so I can work my Pomodoro times around my private client phone calls, starting to 5:30 to 7 again I do my content creation blog, podcast, videos, books etc. Seven and eight between seven and eight I again prepare for the day shower, change make breakfast for the two children eight to nine review yesterday's over overview of results private clients, again looking for any abnormal spikes or decreases in either spend or conversions from the day before. 9 to 9:30, I get assigned daily optimization work for my trusted traffic optimization specialist, 9:30 to 11:30 to do the four Pomodoro sessions, 11:30-12:30 lunch. 12:30 to 2:30 for more Pomodoro sessions working on private client accounts 2:30 to 2:45 is my Pomodoro break, get up and move around gets the blood flowing 2:45 to 3:45 is going to more Pomodoro sessions focusing now on to your online presence 3:45 to 4:15 review the daily work done by the traffic optimization specialists 4:15 to 5 read. Friday, Friday is a little bit more loosey goosey after 8am. However, I still start each Friday. With content creation between 5:30 and 7, I still shower change and make my children breakfast between 7 and 8. And then it varies. I belong to a Mastermind group that for the past five years meets on the fourth Friday of each month and now currently on Zoom. And if you're not familiar with what a Mastermind group is, I would recommend reading the book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill as he does a much more eloquent job of describing it than I ever could. Basically what a Mastermind includes is a group of individuals that gets together regularly taking turns to discuss each one's business. This provides a unique insight from others outside of my professional ways to improve operations and marketing. In addition, I belong to a Friday Lunch group that is hosted by the world famous PR genius Michael Levine. And this meeting takes place on Fridays between noon and 12:30 over zoom and has provided invaluable insight into how to deal with the current environment in a COVID world. I also accept on the fourth Friday of the month available between 11 and 3 one to one phone calls with members of the Academy of Internet Marketing. These calls which must be scheduled at least 48 hours in advance. allow members to reach out to me personally to answer any questions that they may have regarding their online marketing. Finally, Friday is also the day like today that I am dedicated to recording this week's Make Each Click Count Podcast episode and keeping your schedule now. If this schedule seems over the top to you perhaps it is however, it allows me to fit everything I need to have accomplished on a daily and weekly basis to reach my various short term and long term goals that I have set. To quote my friend and world renowned publicist Michael Levine. You can't get unreasonable results providing only a reasonable effort. By the way, Michael Levine's online Friday lunch group is open to the public. So if any listeners are interested in more information, you can email me at info at true online presence.com and my assistant will send you back more information on the group. And putting a schedule in place is key, as it serves as a roadmap. However, it doesn't do any good unless it is faithfully executed. My daily routine is begins at 5:30 and I'll be the first to admit that is early. There are many mornings I don't feel like dragging myself out of bed to get up, walk to my back house office and start pounding away at the keyboard creating content. However, I have fully embraced my goals and reaching my goals is and continues to be on a daily basis more driving, then a few extra wings on the pillow. But make may make no mistake without a clear vision of what you're working on. For what and why then it will become very easy to skimp on the fulfilment of your set schedule. This dedication to mine schedule runs throughout the day which is important especially in our world today. Where external interruptions are everywhere. In a pursuit of efficiency, time management is also extremely important. In terms of time management, I've taken my approach from two different sources. First is Dan Kennedy and his book no No B.s. Time Management. This is a great resource for anyone who struggles with getting things done during the day. Dan writes of the importance of vigilant guarding your time against such things as time vampires. Time vampires are people and things that will consume your time. He believes, as do I, that you must be over the top with your focus on time in order to achieve as much as possible. I had touched earlier describing the Pomodoro technique that I use. Each Pomodoro Technique is 25 minutes of uninterrupted focus. I'm not answering the phone, I'm not checking a text alert I receive it. My family knows not to disturb. What I am doing during these times is working. If you've never tried it, you'd be surprised how much one can accomplish during 25 minutes of uninterrupted focus to work. Once 25 minutes of one Pomodoro Technique there's a five minute break. During the break I stand I stretch a walk go into the house I check with the kids and the wife are doing we're also at home right now due to COVID and I prepare mentally for my next Pomodoro. I have found this technique incredibly value valuable and being able to produce a substantial amount of quality output of work every day. Second source of inspiration in my time management is the book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. In divert Covey's book he has a section of time management, many theories which align with Dan Kennedy's No B.s. However, a great concept on his theory of time management comes with his four quadrants of activities. The first quadrant top left is urgent and important. Your pressing meetings, your important phone calls and deadlines. For me, this is my private client work, I have agreed to perform a service and I will do it to the best of my ability. The second quadrant top right is a non urgent but important this is you're planning you're setting goals you're refining processes, etc. The third quadrant bottom left is urgent, but not important. Most phone calls, most text activities that scream for your attention, but really they're not that important. They do very little to grow or move your business. The fourth quadrant, the bottom right is not urgent and not important. This is checking Facebook, busy work and other time wasters. Now all of us need to attend to the first quadrant however success comes when spending more time in the second quadrant of non urgent but important reallocating time from the third and fourth quadrants. This is where you can make the most dramatic changes in your business and why I have such a dedicated schedule. I'm dedicated to setting time to the second quadrant of activities every day. What if your schedule changes? You know, sometimes your schedule needs to be adjusted just because you haven't scheduled now does not mean that it will be that way forever. When COVID-19 started and my children wife and I all were suddenly working from home adjustments needed to be made. However, just because adjustments are needed, does not mean that sacrifice in the importance of your scheduled needs to be made. Due to the schedule of everyone at home, I've pushed my start time up a half an hour I used to start at five and I pushed my Indian time back I used to end it 4. I consider myself a good father and a good husband but I do not feel that fact should be exclusive from being able to keep a rigorous schedule that allows me to produce for my clients and for my own company. Another instance of  scheduling needed to be adjusted is the new puppy we got about a month ago. Beautiful all black German Shepherd. That takes a whole lot of patience and a whole lot of time. In order to adjust instead of starting my day at 5:30 and wait 20 minutes early at 5:10 to provide a quick stroll around the yard in a doggie breakfast and spend many Pomodoro breaks, making sure everything is good with the dog. So now I have a few less weeks in the morning but a friendly furry companion throughout the day. A final word look quite frankly, I of course don't know what your schedule or your day looks like. What I wanted to do within this episode is share what my day looks like, provide a few resources on how I came to develop the schedule that I do and why it works for me. When your own company whether a search engine marketing agency like mine, or an Ecommerce business, like many of my listeners can be a challenge on time management. My schedule has allowed me to efficiently grow my company each year since its founding. I enjoy my work, which is a definite benefit. But if I was not so schedule reliant and there was more chaos, would I enjoy it as much? I'll probably not. Without a doubt my schedule removes the chaos and allows me to produce at a much higher level than without it. My schedule allows me to run my day in a proactive way. Instead of chasing my tail or tail around, I learned that from my puppy, and reacting only to a day's events instead of planning it. Creating a schedule and executing it is an activity that I highly recommend to all business owners wishing to increase their success. Well, that's it for today. Remember, if you liked this episode, please go to Apple podcasts and leave a five star review. If you're looking for better results from your online marketing request to join the Make Each Click Count Facebook group. If you would like any additional information on any of the resources that I shared during this episode, feel free to email me at info at trueonlinepresence.com. Remember to stay healthy, keep safe and happy marketing. And I will talk to you in the next episode.