210 ⎸ My Secret to Managing Time & Prioritizing What Matters

Hey ambitious bookkeepers!

If you're feeling overwhelmed trying to juggle kids, home life, and building your business, I totally get it. I've been there – managing a 20-year-old, a 7-year-old, and a 9-year-old while running my firm and the Ambitious Bookkeeper.

Today I want to share one of the strategies that has made the biggest difference in my life: my Sunday evening planning ritual.

Listen here or on your favorite podcast player, or watch the video version on YouTube >>

Now let's dive into some highlights!

Before We Dive In: A Gentle Reminder

If your kids are still young, please soak it up. I know it's easier said than done, but everyone who has older kids will tell you – it truly does go by in a blink of an eye.

I've experienced all the age ranges, and what they say is absolutely true. So while I know you want to hustle and build your business (that's why you're here, right?), rituals like this one will help you take a step back and reprioritize so you don't get sucked into that hamster wheel of doing more and more and more.

Why I Call It a Ritual

I call this planning session a "ritual" because to me, it feels special. It's part of my self-care and part of making sure I'm prioritizing my work and life according to my values.

Even when we identify our values and know what we want, sometimes we need to be reminded. This ritual helps me keep all of that front of mind.

The Sunday Planning Process

I carve out 15-20 minutes every Sunday (sometimes Saturday, depending on my weekend) to map out my entire week. This prevents me from starting Monday feeling blindsided and ensures I have my goals and priorities outlined and written down.

The Tools I Use

If you're doing a lot of client work, open these three tools:

1. Your project management system (I use Asana)
2. A paper planner (I'm obsessed with my Passion Planner – the medium, Monday-Sunday, dated version)
3. Your phone calendar to see upcoming appointments

My Passion Planner Setup

Let me tell you about my Passion Planner because I've gotten my whole team hooked on it (I even pay for them all as office supplies because it helps us be productive and reach our company goals).

The weekly spread includes:

• This week's focus
• Good things that happened
• Today's focus section for each day
• Personal and work to-do lists
• A "space of infinite possibility" for notes and ideas

One of my favorite features is the Passion Roadmap at the beginning – it's perfect for mapping out lifetime goals, three-year goals, one-year goals, and three-month goals. If you love goal setting like I do, you'll love this exercise.

My Step-by-Step Process

Step 1: Transfer appointments and commitments I look at my phone calendar and write in all my appointments, kids' activities, and non-negotiables. I also write in time slots for working out, lunch, and when I need to pick up the kids.

Step 2: Analyze and adjust This is where the magic happens. I look at each day and ask myself:

• Am I going to have the energy for all of this?
• Am I overdoing it?
• Do I need to reschedule anything?
• Is there stuff I can flat-out cancel?

I get aggressive with guarding my time these days. I look at everything on my calendar with scrutiny.

Step 3: Block time for deep work Through this exercise, I discovered I was booking myself up with so many meetings that I rarely had time for actual client work during business days. I was ending up working nights and weekends.

So I made changes:

• I always block off Wednesdays for deep work
• I only allow appointments on Tuesdays and Thursdays
• Mondays are for easing into the week and personal appointments
• Fridays are for project work (no calls) since my kids get out early

Step 4: Set my main focus I tie this back to my bigger goals. For example, when we're launching the Bookkeeping Biz Workshops, that becomes my main focus. Any extra time gets devoted to launch-related tasks.

Step 5: Create my to-do lists I write down the big things that need to get done in both personal and work categories. If it's a payroll week, that goes on the list. Any project-related tasks get written down.

Step 6: Carry over unfinished tasks I look back at the previous week and carry over anything that didn't get done but still needs attention. If something isn't relevant anymore, I just cross it off.

Step 7: Reality check The final step is looking at how much time I actually have versus how much I want to work. This keeps me from overloading my weeks and over-committing.

For Those Building a Side Hustle

If you're working full-time and wondering when you'll have time to build a business, let me share the methodology I used when studying for my CPA exam while working full-time with a kid at home.

You're going to have to make sacrifices. Here's how I found 20 extra hours per week:

• Woke up 1 hour earlier every weekday for studying
• Studied 1 hour during lunch break (that's 2 hours per day, Monday-Friday = 10 hours)
• Studied 2 hours every evening after my daughter went to bed (another 10 hours)
• Carved out several hours each weekend day

Yes, I had no social life. But it was worth it to reach my goals.

If you really want to build a business to replace your corporate income, you'll find the time.

The Bottom Line

I'm not perfect at this, and I don't expect you to be either. There are weeks where I don't do this ritual, but when I do, I notice the difference. I'm more prepared, I've adjusted my schedule to align with my priorities and goals, and I feel way more in control of my time.

This whole process keeps me realistic and grounded while following my goals and priorities. Yes, we have to continuously reprioritize as business owners. My eyes, probably like yours if you're ambitious, are often much bigger than my actual capacity – especially with kids at home.

Your Turn

Try your own Sunday (or Saturday) planning ritual. Make it your own and see how quickly it propels you toward your goals and aligns you with your values.

Take a deep breath, plan with intention, and give yourself permission to create space for the moments we just can't get back. Plan your weeks accordingly, work it around your priorities, your family, and your values.

Your future self will thank you.

Connect with The Ambitious Bookkeeper®

🌐 Website: ambitiousbookkeeper.com

👩‍💻 Blog: ambitiousbookkeeper.com/blog

📱 Instagram: instagram.com/ambitiousbookkeeper

📱 Facebook: Facebook.com/serenashoupcpa

💼 LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/SerenaShoup

For experienced bookkeepers & accountants:

Learn how to start your bookkeeping business in The Bookkeeping Business Accelerator® >>

Grab my FREE Start your Bookkeeping Biz Checklist >>

Grab my FREE New Client Onboarding Templates >>

For new bookkeepers:

Learn the fundamental accounting skills in Katie Ferro's Become a Bookkeeper >>

For online course creators:

Become a client at my firm, Of Course Financial >>

AFFILIATE DISCLAIMER

We participate in affiliate marketing programs, which means we may earn a commission from purchases made through the links on our blog. However, our recommendations are based on our own research and expertise, and your trust is our priority.