1. Know that this CAN be done. ✅ (Know that I did this working 100 hours/ week at the hospital one week and additional 24/ 7 on call on top of the 100 hours every other week and have 4 little kids. I'm not saying it is easy but I AM saying it is possible.)
But you ....
2. MUST focus on WHAT CAN you do and turn down the volume on what you CAN'T do.
To do that ...
1. Determine what are POTENTIALLY your possible work hours.
Do you work 9-5? ... Do you work in the middle of the night?
For example what times do you never work ... ie. 3 a.m.
I know it sounds ridiculous, but we have to focus on what potential days off you might have.
Do you work 5 days a week? Is there ever a time that you USUALLY or even SOMETIMES have off?
Noon ? 7 pm? Thursdays? Mondays?
You don't want to micromanage your calendar ... but almost always there is a pattern, and even if you set just a little time aside ...usually for that one or two hours ... you could do 4 - 8 call #1s in there and that is plenty.
Sometimes I did them at 7 pm and 8 pm when I wasn't on call (I was either at home or still at the clinic - but rest of staff was gone and I could finish up my other work after our call)
The great news is:
YOU ONLY HAVE TO FOCUS ON TIMES FOR CALL #1S 😀
- Because ON the call #1 is when you book the call #2 manually and you will know your schedule for the next day or two or potentially the following week that you can fit that in.
- You don't have to worry about time for client coaching calls either ... because once you have a paying client and they've poured their heart out about the problem ... I know you and they will figure that out and you will always just "never leave one call without booking the next call" so you can book the weekly coaching calls - one week at a time for the following week.
So it is really only those 15 min. calls you want to make room for in advance from potential 'strangers/cold market'
So I would only put a time when you can almost always make it. But you don't need a lot of availability. Then just block if you can't do that particular time.
But it helps to start with your outside limits ... in other words - what is the earliest and latest times you work? And do you work all 7 days a week or is there often a day when you don't work? Is there ever a break or a routine drive home time ... that you can take a call 1 from the car even. Call 2 has to be from your computer and zoom, but call 1 could just be on your phone.