Too many marketers make the same time management mistakes over and over again.
I’ve made them plenty of times (still do). Poor time management often leads to poor workflows and unproductive workdays. You feel busy all day jumping from thing to thing but you end the day with very little accomplished. You end up overworked, overwhelmed, and feeling like you’re not in control of your time.
Time management for marketers can be challenging because there are so many things to be done at any moment in time. Few of us have effective strategies for how to deal with it. The truth is, if you want to be a better marketer you need to improve your time management
Here are 5 common time management mistakes I see many marketers and how to fix them:
- They don’t use their calendar
- They don’t pay themselves first (with time)
- They don’t know their HABUT activities
- They spend too much time in their inbox
- They don’t set guardrails against distractions
Let me show you how to fix them.
1. They don’t use their calendar
Most marketers have blank calendars. At best, it’s a collection of meetings they’ve accepted throughout the week.
Your calendar is a visual representation of your priorities.
Think of your calendar as a visual representation of your priorities. It’s a tool to help you allocate your time more effectively to ensure that the most important things in your work/life are getting sufficient attention.
If you operate from a blank calendar, you lack clarity, vision, and a plan. You’re simply bouncing from one thing to another throughout the week without a sense of whether you’re moving closer to your goals. When your calendar is blank, you allow others to dictate how you should spend your time.
The fix: choose a calendar solution and start planning your weeks in it.
I prefer Google calendar, but there are other solutions out there. Digital calendars are the preferred way to go because it adds an important layer of transparency – others are able to see it and it’s much easier to make changes and accommodations as needed.
If you need help with setting up your calendar, use my simple what-when productivity system.
2. They don’t pay themselves first (with time)
Most marketers don’t carve out enough (or any) time for themselves.
They allow other people’s plans and priorities to dictate how they spend their time. Usually this comes in the form of regular meeting requests, random task and project requests, and endless emails.
If you want to be an effective marketer, you need space in your week to do your most important work.
The fix: time block a few hours for yourself at least three times a week.
How much time you need will depend on your role and your workload, but time blocking at least three 90 minute sessions each week is a good place to start. Ideally you want to block these off when your energy levels are highest (for most of us, it’s in the mornings) because you’ll be spending this time on your most important work.
Now that you’re using a calendar (#1), look ahead 2-4 weeks and block off your 90 minute sessions. Set your blocks recurring to make it easier and more consistent. Label them ‘focus / no meetings’ or something similar so it’s clear to others that this is time that cannot be booked over.
If you need more guidance with time-blocking, check out my time blocking tips.
3. They don’t know their HABUT activities
There are two types of work marketers – like all knowledge workers – do every day: shallow work and deep work.
Shallow work we all know. This is the easy administrative stuff we tend to spend most of our time on – processing emails, shuffling information around, other ‘administrative’ tasks. I consider this low energy work. It’s necessary, but doesn’t bring you much closer to your goals.
Deep work, on the other hand, is the hard but really important stuff. These are your high leverage activities – your HABUT (highest and best use of time) activities. This is the work that actually has potential to move you closer to your desired objective – writing copy, coding, ideating campaigns, designing, etc. I consider this high energy work.
Most marketers a) haven’t identified their HABUT activities, and b) spend way too much time on low energy activities.
The fix: identify your HABUT work and use your focus blocks to work on it.
Take some time to identify your HABUT work, or your highest and best use of time work. These are the most important activities you can spend your time on that will have the most leverage and most needle-moving potential for your department and organization.
If you’re in a specialized role, this is easier to define. If you’re a copywriter, it’s writing copy. If you’re an email marketer, it’s creating great emails. If you’re a designer, it’s making great designs. If you’re a content creator, it’s creating good content.
If you’re in a management or leadership type role, defining your HABUT is more difficult because it varies over time. One week it may be recruiting for a new role, the next it may be working with your strategic partner to tweak a strategy. Create a list to have on hand for what you feel are your most important initiatives are.
Once you know what your most important work is, only bring that work to your focus blocks (#2). Don’t waste your precious high energy periods doing low energy work. The shallow stuff can be done later when your energy levels have weaned. Use the space you’ve carved out for yourself in your calendar to do the important work.
4. They spend too much time in their inbox
This one has always been the most challenging for me.
Like many marketers, I would have my inbox open at all times. Anytime a new email would come in, I’d race to see what it was and clear the notification immediately.
This – as you can imagine – is a terrible (yet very common) way marketers work.
The fix: carve out 1-2 blocks of time for email and only look at it during those times
The best way to deal with email is set aside one or two blocks of time (depending on your email volume) dedicated for processing email (and other administrative work) and only looking at your inbox during those times.
At all other times, keep your inbox turned off (close the tab, turn the notifications off on your phone, etc.).
For a full breakdown of how to process email, check out my system for processing email.
Pro tip: if you’re struggling with keeping your inbox off, consider using a tool like Freedom that allows you to disable access to your inbox during periods of focus. Or you can use a tool like Boomerang to delay new emails from hitting your inbox so even if you did access there is nothing new to see.
5. They don’t set guardrails against distractions
Marketers are very prone to distractions. We’re wired to be drawn to shiny new objects.
There are way too many sources of distraction in today’s modern digital workplace and we do a very poor job of putting protection mechanisms in place to protect our focus. We spend little time thinking about our environment and the myriad of triggers is influencing our ability to get work done.
If you want to be an effective marketer, you have to learn how to manage distractions.
The fix: Turn off ALL notifications.
If you want to protect your time blocks, you have to fight back against distractions. This starts with your communication channels. We’ve already talked about shutting down email, but instant messaging platforms like Slack can do just as much damage.
Whether it’s your phone or computer, the easiest thing you can do is disable/pause notifications on all your devices while you’re working (especially during your focus block). Make sure you and your team are on the same page with communication guidelines and expectations.
If you’re in an open work environment or chaotic home environment, consider implementing visual markers to cut back on distractions.
Do whatever you need to do to protect your focus because without it you’ll struggle to get anything meaningful done.
Final thoughts
Time management is a crucial skill that marketers will need to improve.
Time will always be your most important resource. How you choose to allocate it and manage it will ultimately determine what you’re able to accomplish as a marketer.
Hopefully, the quick time management tips I’ve shared here will help prevent any of the common time management mistakes we all tend to make.
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