Are you ready to stop thinking about doing awesome things in your business and actually start doing them?
For so long was my head was spinning with all of these incredible ideas and I knew that I had so much potential but it was like nothing was being executed. It all just stayed up there in my brain and then I get frustrated with myself that nothing was actually happening. Great ideas are worthless without action being made to push them forward, but who has the time to execute everything they dream possible?
For us as hairstylists it's the laundry list of things we know we should be doing. Things like:
Get organized with Instagram
Finally figure out how to use Facebook
Improve my guest experience
Take more classes
Maybe become an educator yourself or even a salon owner
Maybe you are a salon owner and you want to level up.
Plus, the constant struggle of trying to find time for your friends, family and yourself.
Today I'm going to reveal my 6 step process to maximum productivity plus at the bottom of this post there is a multi-page PDF planner that you can download so that you can start maximizing your productivity today too.
I want to remind you before you start completing this plan that the most successful people aren't the ones who do the most work. They're the ones who prioritize the work that needs to be done. Quit trying to do it all and start trying to do what matters the most.
STEP 1: CHOOSE YOUR FOCUS FROM ONLY ONE OF THESE CATEGORIES:
The to do list is endless but it's all about prioritizing what's actually most important. We're going to create a 90 day action plan with weekly and daily to-dos and set goals so that you can celebrate finally making progress in your business.
Attracting more clients
Making more money while seeing the same amount of clients
Having more free time
Being more organized
Having more awareness around your business and brands (meaning more people who know that you even exist as a stylist or an educator or whatever that may be)
More work on my special projects (Move in to a salon suite, become a salon owner, create your brand as an educator, grow as a bridal stylist, etc.
I challenge you to pick from one of those six categories. And listen, I know it's hard because we want all of those things, but the only way to make real progress is to work on just one thing at a time.
2. BRAINSTORM GROWTH STRATEGIES
We're going to start by just kind of clearing your mind of all the possibilities. So let's say you chose "I want to see more clients" as your goal above. Great. So what you're going to do is list out all of the possible ways you can possibly think of to get more clients through the door.
I want you to do this in a very open minded way. I want you to write down even the techniques you hate or you think are stupid or you would never do if you're like somebody told me I can do this but I would never do that write it down anyway. You're not making a checklist right now. I'm not going to force you to do any of these things, I just want you to clear your mind and be open to the possibilities.
Often when you do a brain dump like this ideas will actually come up from your subconscious that you didn't even realize were there. Maybe somebody suggested something to you in a class three years ago that you completely forgot. But once you do this brain dump and you kind of allow your mind to just travel back in time and dig a little deeper. Those things start to resurface. It's an amazing process that happens.
(if you want to hear an example of this brain dump process, click here to listento the podcast episode associated with this article where I walk you through the process in full)
3. CHOOSE 3-5 PROJECTS FROM THAT LIST TO WORK ON OVER THE NEXT 90 DAYS
Now once you're done with that list you might look at that and say oh my gosh how am I ever going to get this all done. You're not. That wasn't the point.
Instead, you're going to take a look at that list. And from there pick and choose just 3-5 projects you're going to work on over the next 90 days. I want you to really pick and choose the three to five that are going to give you the most progress.
I don't want you to say "oh my gosh I would choose this project, but I don't really know how to do it or it scares me" or "I don't know if I'm qualified for it". Don't let those negative thoughts creep into your head of the I'm not good enough. Just look at this list strategically and say:
"if anything was possible and if I could do all of these things, which of these things would push that needle forward and help me to make the most progress in my category".
So now that we're thinking that way. I want you to list three to five projects that you're going to commit to working on over the next three months.
While you're making that commitment I want to remind you that when we make a commitment like this we also have to know that we're going to have to sacrifice in other areas. There are only 24 hours in a day, so if we're going to spend our time strategically we may not be able to spend endless hours scrolling Instagram or watching funny videos, but the trade-off your business will experience will be well worth it.
(if you want to hear an example of this task generating process, click here to listen to the podcast episode associated with this article where I walk you through the process in full)
4. BREAK DOWN THOSE 3-5 PROJECTS INTO SMALLER, MANAGEABLE TASKS
Are you starting to get excited yet?
Okay, from that list of 3-5 projects, think of a list of 5-7 tasks that need to be completed in order to make that project happen.
For example, let's say you decided you're going to work on guest retention, getting consistent on social media and taking great photos of all of your guests.
With retention, I want you to think about all the little things that are going to need change in your business if you're going to actually retain more guests. I know this is hard, but I want you to dig deep and think about the areas you really and truly could shift and change to retain in a big way. Today's top stylists are giving their clients a whole heck of a lot, so we might need to raise the bar a little bit.
You also said get consistent on social media. Maybe you need to kind of like have an instagram bio makeover and you're going to start there. Maybe you want to create a schedule for yourself so create a social media schedule, that can be task number two. Maybe you want to learn how to use Instagram, but I don't know how to do it. So a task may be to educate yourself on how to use the platform correctly.
Continue to break down these bigger projects into a smaller tasks and from there we can make our final plan.
5. CREATE YOUR 90 DAY ACTION PLAN
So now you're going to take a look at your projects your tasks and you're going to make a plan and a calendar for yourself that are going to stick to. I like doing it this way because then these big huge projects become bite sized chunks and suddenly you're actually making progress and not just dreaming hoping and wishing.
If you've already downloaded the workbook, you'll see I only gave you space for three tasks a week in this section. If you do three things to push your business forward every single week, oh my gosh you'll be making insane amounts of progress in no time at all.
(if you want to hear an example of creating the plan, click here to listen to the podcast episode associated with this article where I walk you through the process in full)
6. SET AGGRESSIVE GOALS
I want you to create goals for yourself around these tasks, but let's skip the slam dunk goals. Push yourself because you'll be amazed at what happens when you do.
Whenever I'm coaching a stylist and he or she lists a goal, I always say "add 15% to that". They always cringe and get super nervous, and then I wait anxiously for the email that I know is coming a few months down the line when they thank me for pushing.
You can set a weak goal and hit that, or set a glorious goal and hit that instead. What do you want to do?
That's it! If you've been following along you now have a 90 day action plan that will produce big results in the next 3 months.
If you haven't already done so, click here to download your copy of the Hair Stylists Productivity Planner PDF (it's free!). This tool is going to show you how to get the most of this experience and will serve as a reference in the months to come.