Often, we find a system to solve a current problem but fail to use that system fully, mostly because we don’t have the time to work it out or understand what it could do for us.

They’re normally systems that do the stuff we would rather not do, like Xero for bookkeeping, so it’s easier to ignore, but there’s one process in particular that is very commonly mismanaged and fundamentally affects how you do business.

The most mismanaged process is…

Onboarding. 

By far, this is the most problematic process for the businesses that we help. Not only is it overcomplicated and clunky to carry out, it sets the wrong tone for the relationship going forward.

The most common reason for this is that the business is just doing things they’ve always done. They don’t have time to review it and see where improvements can be made.

The problem

The biggest problem is the lack of communication and sticking to the process.

How often, when taking on new clients, do you hear ‘yeah, I’ve got your contract and I will sign it, but could you just…’ or ‘I will pay your invoice, but could you just…’?

We’re so eager to please that we say ‘of course, no problem’. However, this lack of boundaries at the start of the relationship conveys to the clients that this is perfectly acceptable behaviour and they will expect you to be compliant in further requests down the line.

In essence, being too afraid to say no or to lead the process from the beginning causes problems in the long run. It’s much easier to set the benchmark from the beginning than to change the perception of your business later on.

The solution

Set expectations right from the start.

When you have a process that you follow and communicate to new clients, you set the expectations and boundaries from the beginning. This can be done as early as the discovery call, where you lay out the steps that follow the call in order to do business together. 

Being clear about the onboarding steps and sticking to what you say is the most important part. While you are there to serve, you are also there to lead as they need the expertise you have. 

To learn more about how to onboard clients, read our blog here: https://www.jaxstarsolutions.co.uk/the-importance-of-a-smooth-onboarding-process/ 

Summary

Good onboarding is crucial in creating a working relationship that works for both you and your client, so take the time to review your current system and see if there are any areas that can be improved.

If you have any questions or want help with your onboarding or any other of your operational processes, we’re here for you. Call us for a free 15 minute ‘ask me anything’ and we’ll get you set up in no time.

For more tips on systems and processes that help grow your business, subscribe to our newsletter here.

Contact us on:

Email: info@jaxstarsolutions.co.uk

Telephone: 020 3362 4436

Mobile: 07811 393520

Website: https://www.jaxstarsolutions.co.uk/

So in this blog, we’ll talk about what you need to consider in order to price your services correctly.

Know your worth

Pricing your services shouldn’t be a finger-in-the-air exercise, but that, unfortunately, is how a lot of businesses go about it.

Correct pricing is a balance between knowing your worth in what your expertise brings to the client, and credibility – your experience and ability to do the job.

A helpful maxim to remember is ‘my worth is not determined by your budget’. A lot of businesses are afraid to lose a client if they don’t cut their fees, but your price shouldn’t be driven by what clients want to pay. 

Think of your business like a supermarket. They all sell the same things, but some are more expensive than others. There is a supermarket for everyone and you need to remember the same for your service – it won’t be the right solution for everyone and your job is to find who it is right for.

What to consider when setting a fee

Have you ever worked out how much it costs you to sit at your desk, even before you’ve done anything?

A common mistake is to think ‘I want to make £50,000’ and believe that is all your business has to make. You’ll end up making far less this way.

Working out your business expenses, including your salary (this is an expense and shouldn’t be confused with profit), is the first step in working out your rate.

Add together all your expenses, including:

• Rent, utilities, telephone and internet
• Salaries and subcontractor expenses
• Insurance
• Website hosting and software subscriptions
• Advertising and marketing costs
• Taxes
• Professional services such as accounting and legal
• Mileage and business travel
• Memberships, registrations, courses
• Out-of-pocket expenses…

And whatever else you spend in your business. 

You also need to work out how much profit you want to make, usually in a percentage. 

So let’s say you want a £50,000 salary, your expenses come to £10,000 and you want a 10% profit.

£50,000 salary + £10,000 expenses + £6,000 profit = £66,000 cost of doing business.

This is much higher than the £50,000 original figure.

Now let’s look at how much time you have to earn that figure. Let’s assume you’re a sole trader with no employees. 

It’s tempting to think that you have 40 hours per week and there are 52 weeks of the year, so you have 2,080 hours. 

That works out to an hourly rate of £32.

But you won’t work 52 weeks of the year, and not all 40 hours in the week will be billable.

If you work 8 hour days, spend 1.5 hours on admin and take a 30-minute lunch, that leaves you with 6 billable hours per day or 30 hours per week.

There are 8 bank holidays, and let’s say you take 3 weeks’ holiday, have 5 sick days and 3 days out (conferences/client meets etc.).

That’s 31 days or 930 billable hours. So you now have 1,150 hours to earn £66,000 which is £57 per hour to hit your goal. 

This figure is not necessarily what you would charge, but it gives you a ballpark number to keep in mind when writing proposals or putting packages together. 

Summary

This blog only scratches the surface of working out how you want to price your services but should give you a better understanding of the figures. 

Once you have those, you can think about the clients you currently have and who you’d like to be working for to know where to focus your efforts.

We work with a lot of businesses to get clarity in this area. If you need help with your pricing, get in touch for some superstar treatment!

For more tips on systems and processes that help grow your business, subscribe to our newsletter here.

Contact us on:

Email: info@jaxstarsolutions.co.uk

Telephone: 020 3362 4436

Mobile: 07811 393520

Website: https://www.jaxstarsolutions.co.uk/

In this blog, we’ll explain exactly what the ICO is and whether or not you need to do anything.

What is the ICO?

The ICO is an independent authority set up to protect individual’s data. It’s there to uphold your right to own your own data and have a say in how other people can use it.

You’ll have heard of GDPR – the regulation set up to protect data. The ICO is the body that enforces it.

Do I need to register?

Almost every business will need to register with the ICO, from large corporations all the way to sole traders, groups and clubs. This is because you hold ‘personal information’, which is information that can identify someone either directly or indirectly (a name or an IP address, for example). Check if you are eligible, here: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/data-protection-fee/self-assessment/

There are very few exceptions, most of which don’t apply to the majority of businesses, so it’s easier to talk about who doesn’t have to apply.

On the ICO website, the exemptions are listed for those who process data only for the following purposes:

• Staff administration
• Advertising, marketing and public relations (don’t be fooled by this one – you almost certainly don’t fall into the strict guidelines for this)
• Accounts and records
• Not-for-profit purposes
• Personal, family or household affairs
• Maintaining a public register
• Judicial functions
• Processing personal information without an automated system such as a computer

What happens if I don’t register

You are breaking the law if you are processing data and have not paid the fee. Fines for not paying range from £400 to £4,000. 

How do I register?

Registering is really simple. All you have to do is go to the website (I’ve put the link at the bottom of this blog) and answer 7-8 yes/no/tick box questions. They ask about:

• Use of CCTV
• Whether you process personal information (just having it counts as ‘processing’) 
• Whether you do that electronically
• If you’re responsible for how that information is used
• Whether it is used for exempt purposes only 
• What purpose you’re processing it for
• Whether it’s for certain ‘core business purposes’ (the list of exemptions above)

The last one might trip you up as the business activities include marketing and accounting records, but think of it like this: if you send emails, you almost certainly need to register.

Fees

The fees are divided into three tiers:

Tier 1 – micro organisations – £40 per year 

You can pay by credit or debit card, or by direct debit. With the direct debit, you get a £5 discount (on tier one) and you get an email reminder every year about the next payment due. See the website for more information, here: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/how-much-will-i-need-to-pay/ 

You have a maximum turnover of £632,000 for your financial year or no more than 10 members of staff. 

Tier 2 – small and medium organisations – £60

You have a maximum turnover of £36 million for your financial year or no more than 250 members of staff. 

Tier 3 – large organisations – £2,900

If you do not meet the criteria for tier 1 or tier 2, you have to pay the tier 3 fee of £2,900. 

Summary

The easiest way for you to check for yourself if you need to register is to go to the ICO website and take their self-assessment:

https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/data-protection-fee/self-assessment/

You can also go straight to the registration page here:

https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/data-protection-fee/register/

If you have any questions or want help with your ICO registration, we are always happy to go through it with you. Call us for a free 15 minute ‘ask me anything’ and we’ll get you set up in no time.

For more tips on systems and processes that help grow your business, subscribe to our newsletter here.

Get a little superstar treatment by contacting us on:

Email: info@jaxstarsolutions.co.uk

Telephone: 020 3362 4436

Mobile: 07811 393520

Website: https://www.jaxstarsolutions.co.uk/

This blog gives you some tips for managing your calendar better so that you can claim some of that time back.

What is calendar management?

Calendar management is the process of actively organising your time in order to create the most productive and realistic plan. It includes work tasks, meetings, calls, trips, client work, school runs… whatever you need to do each day.

What are the benefits of proper calendar management?

Calendar management can help you with:

• Prioritising the important ‘must-do’ tasks that can get pushed aside 
• Efficiency and productivity by planning ahead so there’s less time wasted
• Organisation of teams, meetings, calls, goals… 
• Finding achievement in getting things done
• Insight into where your time goes.

Tips for managing your calendar

There are different ways to manage your calendar so you need to find what works best for you. Below are some tips that could help, so try them out and see what sticks!

Review

Review what you need to get done each day and week before you start. This way you can decide in advance what your focus will be and be prepared for what’s ahead. Start by writing down the top three tasks for the day. 

Block booking and batching

Carve out blocks of time for different tasks and where possible, batch like tasks together. 

For example, if you need to write 5 posts this week, block out a set amount of time and do all 5 together. This allows you to focus on one thing and stops you from flitting between different tasks.

This works for any type of task as well as client work. It’s also a great habit to get into for email management – block a certain amount of time in the day to deal with emails and don’t look at them at any other time.

Calendar scheduler

Use Calendly (https://calendly.com/) or another similar calendar scheduler to book appointments. You set times within the app that you are available for meetings and then just send the other person a link to book whenever suits them. 

This way you avoid wasting time going back and forth trying to fix dates and times that work for you both.

Merge calendars

This works well for personal and works calendars as well as collaborative team calendars. Putting all the information in one place will give you a much better idea of how the week should pan out.

Colour code 

Colour coding helps you see at a glance what’s in store for the day, and some people find it very useful for avoiding being overwhelmed by a large list.

Know yourself

Know when you’re at your peak – for many it’s first thing in the morning – and plan your tasks around that. Tasks that require more mental power should be planned for peak time and lighter tasks for when energy wanes, usually after lunch.

Time track to have a better idea of how long things take

Track how long tasks take so that when you’re planning out your calendar you can be more accurate with timescales. Leave some flexibility in your calendar so as to not get stressed when things don’t go to plan.

Summary

Successful calendar management should give you back your time and make you more productive in the time that you have.

If you need help to review your calendar management, then give us a call. 

For more tips on systems and processes that help grow your business, subscribe to our newsletter here.

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Email: info@jaxstarsolutions.co.uk

Telephone: 020 3362 4436

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In this blog, we’ll take a look at what you should be looking for when hiring a VA.

What do you need them to do?

The first question to answer when hiring a VA is ‘what do you want them to do?’.

In the past, a VA could assist in all areas of the business. But as areas such as marketing, social media management or bookkeeping become more specialised, it’s important to make sure your VA can handle the intricacies of the subject. 

That doesn’t mean that a VA who helps with admin tasks can’t also do some marketing, for example, but a VA who claims they can do it all probably won’t do as good a job as a VA who specialises in a specific area. 

This may mean that you need more than one VA, but being a freelancer who joins to support your business rather than an employee, this is still a viable option.

So, when you know what tasks they will be asked to do, you get a clearer idea of what you need.

Their background

VAs come from all sorts of backgrounds and recently over the COVID lockdowns, a lot of VAs have started up their own business coming from employment in all industries. 

Consider the following when checking their background:

Industry

You may want someone who knows your industry. It’s not always necessary and as mentioned, it depends on what they will be doing for you, but a VA with industry knowledge might be more useful if, for example, they were part of the customer support process and need to be able to talk about your product/service. This is not an essential requirement in most cases and is down to personal preference.

Employment

Knowing who else they have worked for and in what capacity will also give you an idea of the experience they have in what you need.

Get references from past employers. You want to know who you are working with and references can be helpful in determining this.

History

Ask how long they have been a VA and how they started. What made them become a VA? Questions like this will give you a feel for the person and what their goals are. Do they see themselves as working in partnership with you or as a separate entity?

Experience alone doesn’t necessarily mean they will be any good, so don’t dismiss newbies out of hand – they could have had experiences that translate into being a great VA.

What else?

You can check out their social media, especially their LinkedIn profile. Don’t be put off if they don’t have one as they may be finding work through other avenues, but it could give you more insight into the person.

Interview them. This person will be representing your business and working with you so you need to interview them as you would any other employee. Find out what they are good at and what they enjoy doing. As with any member of staff, pushing them to do something they don’t enjoy won’t get you the best results. 

If you are hiring a bookkeeping VA, you’ll want to make sure they are registered for anti-money-laundering regulations (MLR).

And finally, as with any business, insist on business insurance. 

Summary

Treat hiring a VA the same way you would treat finding any member of staff. You need to know they can do the things you need them to do, but quite often you can go with your gut on how you feel about them and their ability to integrate with your team. 

At Jaxstar, we see ourselves as partners in your business and are fully committed to your success. We help you in all aspects of admin, processes and systems, and can help give you back your time so you can focus on what you love doing.

For more tips on systems and processes that help grow your business, subscribe to our newsletter here.

Get a little superstar treatment by contacting us on:

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Telephone: 020 3362 4436

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Profit First by Mike Michalowicz

A while ago, I read Profit First by Mike Michaliwicz and it transformed how I manage my money. It wasn’t easy – it can be uncomfortable to go against how you have been trained to deal with your business finances, and you need to hold yourself accountable for the decisions you make, but when implemented correctly, it can change how you manage your finances and helps you build the business that you set out to create.

What’s wrong with how we currently manage money?

The conventional wisdom is that you sell what you can, pay who you owe and then keep the rest.

The problem with this is that we’ve automatically put ourselves last. We’re an afterthought, and in just the same way that you will use all the time allotted for a given task, you will spend all the money earned before you get a chance to see what’s left.

We’re also affected by the Primacy Effect, which states that we focus on whatever we see first and ignore the rest. For example, you’re more likely to pay a bill in hand than to put money aside for a bill that is due in 6 months (like tax). Both are just as important, but what we see is given an automatic boost in priority. 

How is Profit First different?

Profit First flips the formula. Instead of subtracting expenses from your sales, you determine what you want your profits to be and then subtract that from your sales. This way, you’ve excluded it from the funds available for spending and you then work with what you have left.

Not seeing this money in your bank account means you are much less likely to spend it.

How does it work?

The book suggests setting up different accounts for different purposes. It recommends 5 accounts – main income, profit, owner’s salary, taxes, and operating expenses. 

The idea is money gets transferred into your main income account from your clients, and then you divide it up, in order starting with profit, into the other accounts.

This is a tactic that people often use for savings, or if you’re organised, VAT, so Profit First just takes that principle a step further and ensures you pay yourself first.

As each account is only used for its specific purpose, you’re not tempted to spend more than available in each pot.

How can I implement this system?

I highly recommend this system for all businesses, but remember that it may be a challenge, to begin with as it goes against natural instinct.

If you want to see how it could affect your business profits, you have two options:

1. Read the book and do it yourself
2. Give me a call and I’ll help get you set up in 20 minutes

Once you understand the principles and have set up your accounts, it’s a case of following through with the process.

Summary

If you’ve built a business in order to create the life you dream of, then growing your profits should be top of the list.

Using the Profit First method takes time to get used to, but it will help you manage your money in a much more productive way and help you reach your goals faster.

If you want help setting yourself up with these principles, or need someone to help keep you accountable once you’re up and running, I’d be very happy to discuss whatever you need.

For more tips on systems and processes that help grow your business, subscribe to our newsletter here.

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Telephone: 020 3362 4436

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While there are hundreds of different software solutions out there that can help in every area of your business, this blog describes the three most critical in any business, in my opinion.

Clockify

How often have you asked ‘where did the day go’?

If you’re not aware of how much time you spend in each area of your business, how do you expect to increase productivity and as a result, your profits?

Time tracking software, even if you don’t bill by the hour, is essential for working effectively. Every business owner, at some point or other, will be working on their business rather than in it, and the time spent here is just as important to track as client work.

By knowing how much time you’re spending on different business tasks (as opposed to client work), you can see what jobs are taking up your time and what shouldn’t be.

This allows you to delegate the time-consuming or low-value tasks that need to get done but not necessarily by you. You can then focus your time on the efforts that make more of a difference to your business.

Clockify is a great tool for tracking your time and is the one I use in my business. I also like the ability to track time for my team and get the report I need to bill clients correctly.

Another free alternative I recommend is Toggl. Whichever you use, tracking your time will give you insights into how you operate as a business.

Xero and Hubdoc

There are a few good accounting software options out there, but the combination of Xero and Hubdoc has to be my favourite.

It is vital to keep up to date with your business finances for any sort of projections, funding and analysis of how your business is doing. But it doesn’t have to be hard work.

Using Xero helps you track everything for your business finances, from out-going payments and client invoices to tax liabilities and financial reporting. It’s easy to set up (we can help you with that too if you need it), and once you understand the basics, you can keep on top of your finances instead of dreading the day your accountant contacts you for your records.

The integration with Hubdoc makes it even easier as it captures your receipts with a simple click and imports the data into Xero for you. Before you even leave the shop, your bookkeeping is half done!

If you don’t have a bookkeeping system set up, then I highly recommend Xero and Hubdoc as accounting software that will make your finances easier to manage.

And if you do have it set up and are struggling, give me a call. I can solve most niggles in 15 minutes, for free, and get you back on your feet again.

Adobe Sign

One of the most important processes to get right is the on-boarding of new clients.

By making this process slick and easy, you transform the way people value the relationship. They instantly feel in safer hands and have more confidence in the choice they have made in working with you. To read more about onboarding clients, click here.

Adobe sign is an electronic signature app that you can integrate with Mircosoft, Google, Salesforce and other programmes that allows you to collect signatures for your contracts easily.

It takes only a few minutes to generate a contract and all the client has to do is sign it digitally. They can do this at their desk or on their phones on the move.

It’s a simple solution, but it creates a great first impression.

Summary

Choosing the right software for your business can make all the difference to your day-to-day running and enjoyment of your business.

The three recommendations above are vital to my business and if you don’t have software in place that covers these areas, these would be my go-to solutions.

If you want help in setting up processes and software that help your business and save you time, contact us to see how we can help set you up for success.

For more tips on systems and processes that help grow your business, subscribe to our newsletter here.

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Email: info@jaxstarsolutions.co.uk

Telephone: 020 3362 4436

Mobile: 07811 393520

Website: https://www.jaxstarsolutions.co.uk/

The issue

It boils down to time. Being time poor specifically.

The biggest issue we see in struggling businesses is that they ‘do what they’ve always done’ because they don’t have the time to review whether or not it’s working as efficiently as possible.

What they do works, otherwise they would have found another way, but generally speaking, business owners want to create more time for themselves. Because they are stuck in a routine of doing what they know, there’s no reviewing of the process to see how it could be done better.

A lot of small businesses start as a one-man-band before expanding and so ‘do what I’ve always done’ can be ingrained into the business culture.

The other issue is that people are cost-conscious, and the tasks that eat up so much time are things that are easy to do. Email, bookkeeping, calendar management – it’s all doable, so they do it. It’s quite common to see business owners spending time on non-revenue generating tasks at the expense of revenue-generating tasks, all because of ‘this is how it’s done/I can do this so why should I pay someone else to’.

This mindset of it saves money doing it themselves means that the consequences of not delegating are not considered fully. The problem is that it takes away time that could be better spent concentrating on areas of the business that lead to more revenue.

Generating income and developing the business should be the top priorities for the business owner, and the other stuff is what should be delegated. Learning to delegate is an essential part of being a business owner.

What it affects

While there are multiple areas that can be affected by this, the main area that suffers is the customer experience.

For example, having a manual onboarding process that is complicated and drawn out starts the relationship off on the wrong foot. It doesn’t instil confidence or make the customer feel comfortable with their buying decision.

When presales and after-sales customer support is inefficient, the customer feels let down. Processes that aren’t succinct or simple create bumps on the customer journey, which in turn affect your business reputation.

Summary

If you are in this situation, it is only because you’re doing it the only way you know-how. It doesn’t make it wrong or a mistake.

Awareness of the problem is the first step in finding the solution, so knowing where you spend your time in your business is key to creating a more efficient and productive workflow.

Look at the processes in your business and see if they are the best way to do things or just how they’ve always been done. It might be time to shake things up!

And if you need help to review your processes and create more time for yourself in your business, then give us a call.

For more tips on systems and processes that help grow your business, subscribe to our newsletter here.

Get a little superstar treatment by contacting us on:

Email: info@jaxstarsolutions.co.uk

Telephone: 020 3362 4436

Mobile: 07811 393520

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Why it’s important to reflect

It’s so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day of running a business that we sometimes forget to take a step back and check that we’re still on the right path.

Setting time aside to reflect on the past week, fortnight or month keeps us focused on the end goal and the tasks needed to get us there. We can see where things are going well and what needs improvement and make any changes early to not waste time on work that takes us in the wrong direction.

How to reflect

There is no set method for reflecting so it’s up to you how you want to do this. My pointers would be to:

• Put it in your diary – schedule it like you would any meeting and set a time limit.
• Have an idea of what you want to reflect on – know what you want to get out of the session.
• Have an open mind and be kind – especially to yourself. Don’t beat yourself up if the past week didn’t go as planned. It’s all a learning experience.
• Write down your thoughts – no matter how trivial, getting it down on paper clears your mind and opens you up for new ideas.

What to reflect on

Again, this is completely up to you. You might decide to split each week of the month into separate sections of the business, or goals one month and processes the next. Whatever frequency and focus that keeps you moving forward are going to be the best method for you.

You could reflect on:

Goals – are they still your goals, how are you progressing, do you have new ones, what’s your priority?

Vision – is what you’re doing holding true to your vision, is it the same vision?

Values – have you set these out, are they still true or have they changed, does how you run your business reflect these?

Progress – how are you and your business growing, what other areas are you seeing progress in?

Development – are you taking time for personal and business development, where could you develop further, what courses or other training is available to you?

Lessons – what have you learned through interactions, what does this tell you about what you might need in the future?

Message – does your messaging match your vision and values, is it getting through to your clients?

Schedule/time management – are you making the best use of your time, do you find certain tasks being put off consistently, are your work hours eating into your home hours, where would it be more efficient to hand over to someone else?

Tools/processes – are there tools and other processes or systems that could help you, are there any getting in the way?

What to do next

Reflecting allows you to see what’s working, what’s not, and to make a plan.

After thinking about the different areas above, what do you need to change or do more of? What will help you get to where you want to go – why you built your business in the first place.

You might find that you need more time, once you’ve reflected, to fix something. For example, you might find that your message is completely at odds with your values. In that case, you’ll need the time to understand where it went wrong and how to fix it.

The good thing is, now you know and can do something about it.

Summary

Working on your business is just as important, if not more so, than in your business, so see this time as an opportunity for growth. 

Do it regularly and you’ll get further, faster.

If you need more time on your business, we’re experts in taking on those lower-value tasks that eat up your time. Contact us and see how we can help you manage your time more effectively.

For more tips on systems and processes that help grow your business, subscribe to our newsletter here.

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Telephone: 020 3362 4436

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The problem is, email can take over your entire day. Even when you’re not responding, the little ‘ding’ creates micro interruptions, distracting you and cutting your productivity without you even realising.

Managing your email is one of the best ways to gain back your time. And it’s not difficult to do. The 4 easiest ways to deal with your email are:

• Setting up rules
• Using other software
• Turning it off and scheduling
• Unsubscribing

Let’s look at those in turn.

Setting up email rules

Rules allow you to predetermine what happens when certain emails land in your inbox. They are a great way to keep your inbox organised and help you concentrate on the emails that need your attention.

For example, if you have purchase receipts sent to you, you could set up a folder that these are automatically redirected to. That way, when it comes to doing your bookkeeping, all your receipts are in one place, and in the meantime, all those emails aren’t cluttering up your inbox.

Using a different software

This will only work for certain tasks that email currently does, but it is worth investigating which ones will save you time.

One of our favourite alternatives is calendar schedulers such as Calendly or Koalendar. These save massive amounts of time when booking meetings because instead of emailing back and forth trying to fix a date and time that suits you both, you simply send them a link to your calendar and leave it up to them.

Turning email off and scheduling

Turning your emails off for periods during the day will give you back more time than you realise. 

Decide on set periods that you want to deal with email – maybe it’s 3 half-hour slots morning, lunch, and at the end of the day. Or maybe you do an hour at 2 pm and that’s it. Whatever works for you is fine, but set a schedule and stick to it. You can always set up an auto-reply to let people know when you’re available and a phone number if it’s urgent.

You can also write emails and then schedule them to be sent at a more appropriate time. 

For example, if you’re writing an email at 9 pm, you might not want to give the impression that you are contactable at that time. In that case, schedule it to be sent first thing in the morning. 

Unsubscribe from unnecessary emails

This is probably the easiest and most important tip from this entire blog. Unsubscribing from emails you don’t read or know who they’re from will be the biggest decluttering exercise you can do for your inbox.

It’s so easy to sign up for this free report or that free checklist and then forget to unsubscribe again. 

If you’re not sure if you want to read the emails sent from a subscription, set up a rule to send it to a folder. If you don’t look through that folder within 3 months, you can unsubscribe.

Summary

Email is a habit we got into. Therefore, it’s also a habit we can get out of, or at least adjust to suit our lives better. 

Use these simple tips to give yourself more time for the things that matter.

If you want help in organising your email inbox or for other time-saving advice, contact us to see how we can help set you up for success.

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