Are you making these mistakes?

I know, that’s a mighty glamorous pic of me (count on me to keep it real, Sisters!) but that’s what I look like when I’m frantically running around trying to do ALL. THE. THINGS.

Because no matter what’s going on in your life, you’ve got a LOT going on in your life: kids, family, part-time jobs, books you want to read, classes you want to take. And don’t forget all the things you think you SHOULD be doing: eating right, exercising, meditating, journaling, doing yoga every day…

And each one of these things takes time — your precious time.

With all that going on in your life, do you really need to take the time for business development (aka) having a clue about what you’re going to do to move your business forward?

Research shows that businesses that make a plan for the future outperform those without a plan by 60%. Think about that a second: Instead of earning $1500 each month in your bodywork business, you could easily earn $2500.

An extra thousand a month just from having a plan?

Yes please!

So how do you find the time to work ON your business, and not just IN your biz?

Today I’ll share 3 common time-waster mistakes that we bodyworkers make, and I’ll give you the tools you need to stop making them. Ready?

Let’s do this.

Time-Waster #1: Social freaking media.

It’s no secret that I’m not a huge fan of social media. I’m pretty darned Old School in my approach to life, so the idea of sharing what I ate for breakfast online with a bunch of folks who are friends of friends of friends still puzzles me…

That being said, there is certainly some value to having a social media presence when you are starting to grow your business.

The key is to remember that to use SM as a tool, and not to get sucked into the abyss of scrolling.

The average American spends… wait for it… 135 minutes a DAY on social media. That’s 2 hours and 15 minutes. Think of what you could do with an extra 2 hours a day! (If you just count weekdays, you would save an entire 40-hour workweek, just by spending 15 minutes a day on social media, rather than 2 hours and 15 minutes.)

Think of it! You’d have an extra 40 hours every month to become the best you that you can be.

How to fix it: Limit your time on your feeds. Check in once or twice a WEEK on your SM accounts. If you absolutely must check in every day, you can use a tool like Newsfeed Eradicator for Facebook, and other tools that will help you overcome the urge to scroll, like, and swipe.

Time-Waster #2: Endless Trades with other Bodyworkers.

One of the amazing bodywork therapists I’m working with in my Private Mentoring Program told me that even though she was full every week, she wasn’t earning enough money to pay her basic bills.

When we looked more closely, we saw that she had 2-3 trades with other bodyworkers every WEEK! That’s about $250 a week that she was leaving on the table (so to speak) by not filling those time slots with paying clients. Multiply by 4, and she could easily be making $1000 more each month!

And the worst thing? She was no longer enjoying the trades, and often the other therapists didn’t even show up.

When we went deeper, she confessed that she felt guilty about ending the trades because she thought she “should” be doing them.

How to fix it: My rule for trades is One-N-Done. Trades are a marvelous way to share your work with other therapists so that they can become referral partners, and for you to get a taste of what others are offering.

After one trade with someone, if you’d like to continue receiving their services, you need to make an appointment with them to become a paying client. And they need to do the same for you.

That keeps the energy open and flowing as you both expand your practices so that you can serve more people.

Time-waster #3: Searching online for clever marketing ideas.

Boy, if this worked, I would have been the Queen Bee Marketer!

You don’t need a catchy phrase (“You knead a massage today!”) or clever business name to create a sustainable practice.

You need to go deeper and get guidance and a simple step-by-step Marketing Plan designed especially for YOU by someone who has already done what you want to do.

How to fix it: Stop looking for shortcuts — look for a mentor or guide that you resonate with, and begin taking inspired action steps to move your practice in the direction you want to go.