How to be More Productive

Productivity hacks for wedding pros

Admit it—you’ve wished for more hours in the day at least once since starting your wedding business. Whether it was because your to-do list for the day was a mile long, your phone wouldn’t stop buzzing and pulling away your attention, or (let’s be real) you procrastinated and your brain suddenly stopped working when you only had an hour to get it done, there are lots of reasons why wedding pros wish for more time. But, since we can’t actually add hours to the clock or days to the week, we wanted to help you make the most of the minutes you do have with a few productivity hacks. Learn how to be more productive with these productivity tips from us and other pros. 

Set yourself up with a realistic to-do list

We’re going to dive right in with what we think is most important to having productive days—and that is to have realistic expectations about what you can get done. Oftentimes, the stress we feel about productivity is a result of us tasking ourselves with too much with too little time. So, if you want to make sure you are maximizing the time you have on any given work day, we suggest limiting your to-do list to the number of items you can actually get done.

Pro-tip: Many of the things you do for your clients and to run your business are repetitive. If you want to become better at scheduling your days, knowing how much time it takes to do certain tasks becomes a very helpful piece of information. Time how long it takes you to do the things that are common across all of your weddings as well as the things you routinely have to do for your business.

Lean on technology to help keep you focused

Technology can be a huge help when it comes to staying on task. And, with tons of small business software out on the market, we needed a little help picking two favorites—so we asked Michelle Loretta of Be Sage Consulting and Victoria Holland of Victoria Ann Events for the ones they love and think are productivity hacks you need to know about.

How Michelle pauses her email inbox – “I use a Gmail app called Boomerang to pause my inbox when I need to stay focused. When I turn it on, it moves any new email into a temporary folder that is separate from my main inbox. I find it’s a really great way to batch my email time, and I also like to do it when I’m feeling tempted to check email constantly (i.e. vacation or when I’m working on projects with a close deadline).” 

How Victoria cuts back on the back-and-forth – “Using Calendly to set up my appointments has boosted my daily productivity because it cut out all the back and forth emails I used to have to send to schedule calls or meeting times. All I have to do now is send my link to clients and they can pick the best date and time for them. The best part is that it talks to my calendar so I don’t have to do a thing—it literally has changed my life!”

Tackle challenging tasks when it makes sense for you 

Similar to the stress you might feel when you have too many tasks on your list is the stress you feel when you have to force creativity or strategic thinking. So, if you want to learn how to be more productive by working on tasks when it makes most sense for you, Katharine Phillips of Katharine Phillips Design has a unique productivity hack for you.

“Learning my chronotype oddly helped me better prioritize my tasks because it gave me permission to accept that I’m not a morning person. Your chronotype is based on your sleep cycle and knowing yours can help you prioritize your health too (the best productivity hack!). Now that I know mine, I do easy work first and save tasks that are more involved or require more of my attention for the late afternoon or early evening. As wedding pros, we’re always pushing to do our best but it should never be at the expense of our own well being. I’ve found this approach has increased my productivity and helps me avoid burnout.” 

The WeddingPro team’s favorite productivity tips

• “Close out of your email and turn off notifications! It’s so easy to get distracted when the Gmail tab is visible.” – Bevin Stella, Director of Marketing
• “Keep a detailed to-do list so you don’t need to think about what you have to do—it’s right in front of you!” – Alana Krechmer, Marketing Coordinator
• “Block periods of time to complete specific tasks so you can work on one thing at a time instead of spinning your wheels on that massive to-do list!” – Emilie Smith, Marketing Manager
• “If I feel like I am hitting a wall, I’ll walk away from the task for a bit. Sometimes your brain needs a break to come back and do what you need.” – Tayler Cusick Hollman, Contributing Editor
• “I set three achievable goals for myself each morning. Doesn’t need to be anything big but it holds you accountable and keeps you motivated throughout the day.” – Colette Mitola, Associate Marketing Manager 

Knowing how to be productive is an important skill to have as a wedding business owner but remember—being productive isn’t everything. If you feel like your days are always jam-packed and that you might be losing steam, be sure to create some boundaries and learn how to avoid burning out to keep the momentum you’ve worked so hard to build.

Photo Credit: ColorJoy Stock