“Batching tasks is how you protect your focus.”
– Anna Angelova
When you’re running your business solo, your calendar can quickly spiral into chaos. You’re wearing every hat (sales, marketing, delivery, admin) and switching constantly between roles is exhausting.
The solution? Structuring your calendar so you can focus, get into the zone, and get real work done.
In this episode, we share simple but powerful ways to use your calendar as a tool for clarity and productivity. From batching tasks to blocking deep work sessions, these strategies will help you stop reacting to your day and start leading it.
We cover:
- Why batching tasks creates focus and eliminates wasted energy
- How to block 90-minute deep work sessions that actually move the needle
- Why mornings (or your personal “quiet hours”) are ideal for focus work
- How to cut distractions by turning off notifications and batching communication
- Why productivity is about progress on the right things, not doing more
If you’ve been feeling like your calendar is running you instead of the other way around, this episode will show you how to take back control and make time work in your favor.
Want accountability and support while building systems that make your calendar (and your business) run smoothly? Join the free Visionary Founders Club, the community where small and mid-sized business owners connect, grow, and support each other.
“Half an hour of focused work beats half a day of distractions.” – Jores Minasvand
Transcript for “Simple Calendar Hacks for Solopreneurs”
The transcript below was automatically generated. Please ignore any errors or inconsistencies in the text.
Anna Angelova 0:05
Good morning, good afternoon, good evening. This is More Than Just Task Management, your favorite daily podcast where we help you build a thriving business. I’m Anna Angelobo, business coach and consultant and a co-host of this podcast. And I have here with me Joris Minisvan, my fellow co-host and business consultant. Hey, Joris.
How are you doing today?
Jores Minasvand 0:27
Anna, I’m doing well, thank you. How about you?
Anna Angelova 0:30
Pretty well, pretty well. It’s been a long day, but things are moving very, very well. I’m really happy with all the progress we’ve made today. Well, this is a topic probably for another conversation.
Now today, today what we’re talking about is a simple way to manage your calendar, especially if you’re a solopreneur. And this is something that actually whether you’re a solopreneur or not, I highly recommend it and I’m thinking this will probably be a shorter conversation.
Jores Minasvand 0:49
Indeed.
Anna Angelova 1:09
similar to Monday.
One of the best, best tools that we are actually utilizing right now to manage your calendar is something called batching.
And when you are a solopreneur, it’s really helpful because you are wearing so many hats right now. Like you are the marketing specialist, you are the salesperson, you deliver whatever needs to be delivered. You are the financial manager, bookkeeper, everything, right?
You do everything for the business, so it can be really hard to jump from one task to another when one task is to prepare a Facebook ad and then the next task is to meet with a client and then the next task is to update the website for example, right?
It can be really hard to go through this list of tasks. So what we’re using right now and something that I I recently talked with one of my clients and she had this realization with her, her way of working as well.
It’s so powerful and when it comes to batching, ultimately what it means is that you allocate at least an hour and a half, I would say like 90 minutes in your calendar. It can be even half a day.
For a specific function, for a specific project, for for something that you focus on. For example, you need to prepare social media content for the week block and it takes you 4 hours.
For to prepare everything for the whole week, for for the next 5-7 days. How much it is block 4 hours in your calendar. Let’s say Thursday, Thursday afternoon you block 4 hours in your calendar where this is your focus, this is it.
Let’s say sales conversations. You might keep Monday open for your client meetings, for example, and then Tuesday morning and Thursday morning might be for sales conversations and blocking your calendar and batching it in a way that you focus on a specific area or specific project for a prolonged of.
Prolonged period of time. It really does wonders for you. And I said that we are just using this right now. We have actually you’re listening to our Tuesday, no Wednesday episode. Yeah, you’re listening to the Wednesday episode right now. We just.
Finished in a matter of an hour and a half, recording the episode for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, batching one sitting like 90 minutes, an hour and a half, where we do all these kind of things and that’s it.
So not a secret. You’ve heard this before, but maybe today is the day when you hear it and you’re like, it makes so much sense. Let me try it. These things like sometimes we hear something a million times until on the million and first time it actually makes sense.
Clicks and it’s like, Oh yeah, this is it.
Jores Minasvand 4:23
Absolutely. Prioritize, focus and get it done. And when you will talk about 90 minutes, I think we again, we always refer back to our, I love our podcasts. We had a conversation a couple of weeks ago.
Where we talked about how do we be most productive when you remember that that day that I was doing something and you came into the room and then I didn’t notice you come and then an hour after you asked me, I never even saw you.
Anna Angelova 4:53
Yeah, you didn’t. You realize? Yeah. I’m like, how didn’t you see me? Yeah.
Jores Minasvand 4:57
You no. And you even spoke with me. You said you put something in my on my desk and I think it was vitamins or something. Yeah. And I said your morning vitamins are here and you left. I never even heard you or saw you. And that’s the power of concentration. But that’s all I like.
Anna Angelova 5:01
I don’t think I.
Vitamins. Yeah. The vitamins. Yeah. I I didn’t talk with you. Yeah.
No.
Jores Minasvand 5:17
You saw another the other day. I woke up this week. I’ve been waking up very early before I came to to Europe. I woke up at 4:30 in the morning. By 9:00, all my work was done because there’s no disruption. There’s nothing. It’s quiet. So again, you can what? What? What’s your quiet hour?
What’s the the task that you need to do? Put it in your calendar, get it prioritized and get it done.
Anna Angelova 5:47
Yes, yeah. And The thing is that if we just give ourselves 5 minutes to do something, we don’t really get into that state of mind where you were like that, so concentrated, so focused. But once we get in the, you’ve heard probably that saying in the zone.
Jores Minasvand 5:50
Mm.
Anna Angelova 6:07
For us to get in the zone, I think it actually takes us like 20 minutes or so for us to get in the zone, like really get in the zone. So if you give yourself less than 20 minutes, you never get in the zone. You never do that kind of deep work that’s so productive and so impactful.
Jores Minasvand 6:13
Mhm.
Anna Angelova 6:25
So give it a chance, give it a try. I know I didn’t mention any CTAs like I mean the task or action items for you yesterday and the day before that. So today I actually am giving you homework as you’re listening to.
This episode or after you finish listening to this episode, go to your calendar for tomorrow and book like batch time for something that you really need to do something that based on what your goal is like. So what is your goal?
Jores Minasvand 6:53
Mm.
Anna Angelova 6:58
For for for this month, based on this, what is one thing that if you do tomorrow, something that you work on tomorrow that it will move the needle so much that you’ll be like, yes, this is it. So decide what it is and then.
Go to your calendar and book at least an hour and a half to work on this and if you need to work more like you can book book 234 hours even and get it done and then come back and say thank you for us reminding you about this.
Jores Minasvand 7:32
Yep, absolutely. You’ll be amazed how much you get done in focus time.
Anna Angelova 7:37
Oh yeah. Oh yeah, absolutely.
Jores Minasvand 7:38
And and and one of the other things that I do when I’m doing this stuff, I actually turn off my e-mail notification. I’m not getting emails. I’m not answering phones. I’m not getting interrupted. I’m looking at focusing on the task at hand.
Anna Angelova 7:45
Oh, yes.
Jores Minasvand 7:57
And half an hour focused equals half a day of jumping back and forth.
Anna Angelova 8:02
100% distractions, yeah.
Jores Minasvand 8:04
Yeah, and and I know that and I know by 1011 o’clock I’m gonna go into that where I’m gonna be jumping up back and forth, back and forth 6 priorities, 8 different priorities after 12 emails and and six meetings.
My priorities, I mean there are times that I get to 6:00 PM and something that I start at 9:30 or 10:00. I’m I haven’t still haven’t done. I have to finish it. It was an open. I wrote half an e-mail. So before you get to these points.
Make sure that you finish the core items of your day.
Anna Angelova 8:41
If you can do this, like this is even a bonus right? If you can do this and and block that time before all the hectic stuff starts. And this can be of course depending on where you are and what work you do.
Jores Minasvand 8:45
Yeah.
Anna Angelova 8:57
For a lot of people, this is before the work day, right? 6:00 AM to 9:00 AM now, and this is where a lot of us are very energized, like after a good night’s sleep, especially depending on where you are, who you work with, maybe this this actually period.
Jores Minasvand 9:06
Mm.
Anna Angelova 9:16
Of time might be later in the afternoon. Whatever it is, though, do it. Highly, highly recommend.
Jores Minasvand 9:29
Absolutely. And find your own way. I mean, everybody concentrates differently, right? So yeah, explore. Yeah, find what works for you. There are.
Anna Angelova 9:35
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Explore.
Jores Minasvand 9:44
Again, my 4:30 to 8:30 or 7:30 AM is my most productive one. Maybe yours is 2:30 PM to 5:30 PM. I don’t know. Find what’s what’s yours. Depend on your schedule, right?
Find what’s what’s yours. Depend on your schedule, right? See.
Anna Angelova 10:00
Yeah, think about it. If you are, if you are in, let’s say Pacific Time, right, and you work with the rest of US, Canada and you might even work with Europe, the morning is probably very hectic because you want to catch up with people who are in the different time zones.
Jores Minasvand 10:03
Oh.
Yeah.
Anna Angelova 10:18
But then towards the afternoon they’re already their days are over, so you actually get the chance to do a lot of work at that time.
Jores Minasvand 10:29
Yes, absolutely.
Anna Angelova 10:32
And I would say as we are finalizing the conversation today, if you need accountability with getting more focused, with getting more productive, with structuring your calendar in a better way, especially as you’re starting your business, especially while you’re still working as a solopreneur.
You guessed it. Join the Visionary Founders Club. It’s the place where founders like you, like aspiring entrepreneurs and current business owners, small, mid-sized business owners, where they come to support each other, grow together and and.
Make the world a better place in a way. So come join the community. It’s a free community. We’d love to see you there. We’d love to keep you accountable and support you every step of the way. If you haven’t joined it yet, join it.
This is the place for you.
Jores Minasvand 11:27
Lower community. Thanks, Anna.
Anna Angelova 11:30
No, thanks, Joris. And tomorrow we are coming back with, oh, a topic for you, Joris, how to reduce risk if your business relies on one key platform.
So this is the topic for tomorrow, Thursday and this is yeah, Joris, you will, you will share a lot there. So looking forward to another wonderful conversation on Thursday.
Jores Minasvand 11:51
All right.
Mhm.
Hello.
Yes, until until then.
Anna Angelova 12:04
Yeah, until then, enjoy your Wednesday. Go book the time in your calendar and remember to come back tomorrow.
Jores Minasvand 12:07
Thank you.
Mhm.
All right, Lana.
Anna Angelova 12:16
By Joris.
