Business plan | List Producer

Whatever project you have in mind, whether it’s writing a book, planning a big dinner party or starting your own side hustle, these big ideas can quickly become overwhelming. Thinking about all the work you have left to do can make you feel like giving up before you even begin..

To help me feel less overwhelmed I use a little trick called “backtiming.” This is a concept I picked up from my day job as a TV news producer. If your show finishes at 11pm, that’s it, you can’t over run. So to make the news work on time we start with the end in mind and work backwards. This guarantees that you’ll finish on time.

This method has multiple real world applications, if you’re a whiz in the kitchen you probably use this method to ensure all the various elements of your dish will finish at the same time. You can also use backtiming to plan out your future goals. For more on how backtiming works check this out.

It also helps to break up your goals into smaller, more manageable pieces. You can focus on one of these lists at a time to prevent yourself from getting distracted by all the other pieces of the puzzle. Read more

When I first started ListProducer.com in April 2011 it was just a hobby. I didn’t think of myself as a business owner or an entrepreneur. I thought of myself as a writer and list maker who had a blog.

I would write blog posts when I felt like it, because planning and sticking to a schedule was something I did at my regular job and therefore it was not fun. So I didn’t have an editorial calendar at first.

Many new entrepreneurs do themselves a disservice by seeing their side business as a hobby. Once I started to treat my side gig as an actual business, that’s when I started to see results!

When I took my business seriously so did other people! I still enjoy working on it, it just that now it’s a slight more organized kind of fun!

It’s turned into so much more since Listful Thinking was published and I’ve created my online course Take Back Your Inbox and have others in the works. I’m a real entrepreneur.

This idea of turning a hobby into a business is something I discuss on the Brave Podcast where I was recently interviewed. So if you’re a new entrepreneur or thinking of starting up your own business do check it out!

I also delve into my mantra for 2016 ‘Rest is the new hustle’. With our increasingly busy lives we’re not taking any time to ourselves! On the podcast I discuss how to say no and prioritize your time (even though it feels unnatural at first).

Check it out!

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