Do you ever get to the end of a quarter or month and wonder how you got there and how little things built up to a giant pile on your desk? How your to do list seems to have grown in the last week? We have all been there and it is no fun, I know. The past eight months, I have been implementing duty days into my monthly routine and it has saved me so much time and stress.

There are so many reasons that I adore my duty time, but one of the biggest is that I am a huge advocate of little by little steady progress. I used to write out grand plans and high level dreams, but be too overwhelmed to actually do anything about them. Duty days help me truly focus on action plans and getting things accomplished one small step at a time. In the long run, I am much less stressed because things get done in 15 minutes instead of taking a whole day to back track. I also use it for reflection and as a checkpoint every few weeks to evaluate what has been working and what hasn’t. It allows for dedicated time to refine your system and all of the things we business owners have vying for our attention.

As you, my sweet readers know, I am a huge advocate of Power Sheets and intentional goal setting. That time each month is when I do my big picture evaluations and re-calibrations. Some months, those days also double as duty days. However, I try to have reflection time scheduled in each time I run through my tasks. Adjustment along the way allows me to test if something will work on a larger scale or just improve little by little along the way, without waiting for the next month to roll around. No time like the present, right?

What on Earth are the tasks that I include in duty days? I’m so glad you asked. This can differ for everyone and you might have some of these already in your workflow in other ways. Do whatever works best for you. It might take a few weeks or months to find a rhythm, but you will get there. Typically, my checklist of tasks includes the following, allotting 30 minutes to each that apply that week:

• Record receipts and update budget
• Email
• Schedule out social media and blog posts (scheduling and finalizing, not necessarily writing)
• Pro/Con reflection – write down improvement ideas
• Organize to dos for the week
• Update canned responses
• Update website (gallery images and any copy updates, if applicable)
• Editorial calendar tweaks

Have any of you implemented something like a duty day into  your routine? Do you think it sounds like something that would work for you? I would love to hear your thoughts and any tips you have.

xoxo, Jenn