I’m obsessive about my to-do lists. Everything I need to get done goes on my list so I don’t lose sight of it.
But as a solo business owner, I ran into a problem: when do I have the time to actually work through my list? Anything urgent, I’d work on. Anything non-urgent, well…
Stuff that keeps a business running gets perpetually pushed to “later.” However, “later” can eventually cause problems – like your website is out of date, your files are a mess, or your inbox is chaos. You can’t ignore the small, boring, non-billable tasks, or they’ll compound.
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Why you need a dedicated admin hour
The default solopreneur mode is often reactive. You deal with admin tasks only when they start causing you or your business some pain.
If you set aside a recurring block of time on your calendar, it turns admin tasks into routine maintenance instead of a crisis response. I use Friday mornings. Some weeks it’s 30 minutes; other weeks it’s longer. The point is that I protect that time and stick to it every week.
An admin hour also creates a psychological boundary. Client work has its time, and your business should also get some attention. When you know admin time has a designated slot, you won’t feel the constant pressure of an unfinished to-do list.
What to do during your admin hour
The specifics will depend on your business, but here are the tasks I cycle through most often during my admin hour.
Review your pipeline. Look at what’s coming in, what’s wrapping up, and if you have an upcoming gap in your income. If a prospect went quiet, send a short check-in. Scope out potential clients if you need to drum up new business.
Update your portfolio or website. Add recent projects and remove anything outdated. Refresh your service descriptions since your website is often the first thing a potential client sees.
Review and organize files and folders. Archive completed projects, save any invoices to your Google Drive, and make sure nothing has been overlooked in your Downloads folder. This is the kind of task that feels pointless until you’re scrambling to find something three months from now.
Check in on your finances. Categorize recent expenses, review what you’ve earned this month, and send invoices. If a client’s payment is overdue, send a follow-up.
Tame your inbox. Reply to the emails that have been waiting for a response from you. Archive what you no longer need. Move anything that requires deeper work to your to-do list.
Update your internal processes. Tweak your proposal language based on recent experiences. Audit the tools and subscriptions you’re paying for. Record a quick video of yourself walking through a process so you remember how to do it later.
The admin hour that runs itself?
Over time, I’ve learned not to think of my admin hour as a chore. I put on some music and power through my list.
And some of these tasks — organizing files, triaging your inbox — are increasingly things that AI tools can handle in the background. Quite a few tasks that used to be on my weekly list have now been “outsourced” because they don’t require any human judgment. Just detailed instructions.
Over time, you might find that AI can handle the boring stuff and you can focus your admin hour on higher-value work, like refining your positioning or deciding where your business goes next.
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