A Day in the Life of a Coach, part 1

I consider myself a very blessed individual. At this time in my life, I am able to pursue a passion. I was able to leave behind the confines of a traditional 9-5 desk job and capitalize on my entrepreneurial spirit. Just like any other endeavor, there are good days and there are bad. And there are really good days...and there are really bad days.

I often do miss the routine nature of a traditional job. I have blogged several times before that I live my life fairly systematic. For 30 years, I carefully scripted every move. It provided comfort and stability. The traditional route provided security. Being on your own forces you out of your comfort zone and brings a great deal of anxiety.

If I had to divide up how I spend most my time, I would gather to say the chart would look like this:

Coaching	35%
Training	20%
Emails	10%
Dead time	15%
Networking	10%
Meetings	5%
Creating Content	5%

Clearly coaching takes up the most time. In the offseason, I am coaching between 10-12 hours a week for the group. And I typically have 3-4 sessions with personal clients. So that makes about 15 hours a week where I am 'on.' Of course those hours don't include all the time spent developing and planning workouts, thinking about each client's ability to complete them or even scouting locations.

The next bucket is likely my training and recovery. While difficult on most days, I am successful in maintaining about 8-10 hours of training this offseason. The hardest part is training around everyone else's schedule. Typically I do all my training between 9 am and 4 pm. This is really tough on most days. It is very difficult to go for a long run and coach a long session 30 minutes later.

The emails don't stop coming. And that is a good problem to have. It is a very overwhelming feeling to fall behind on emails when you know clients depend on you so much. I try to have a 24-36 hour rule if something needs attention. For new clients, I try to have a same day policy. While this task isn't physically taxing, it takes a toll to come home late and still have an hour a emails when you only want a bed.

Dead time is the thorn in my side right now. Often I find myself with 90-120 minute gaps in the schedule (like now). It doesn't make sense to commute home and back. Often I hit up a panera and try to take care of business. But there are plenty of days where I don't have the mental energy. This results in just trying to chill and relax (as much as one can knowing the work is piling up).

Networking. Business is all about who you know. You have to keep your clients, sponsors and partners happy. I learned in the business world that out of sight is out of mind. You can't afford to let a small business slip off people's radar. That means at least once a week you need to spend time with one of these entities. It might be lunch. It might be just stopping by to talk shop. When people see you, they are more inclined to help. In a business that relies heavily on referrals, every hand is worth shaking.

Similarly, I find myself in a few meetings from time to time. Jessica and I have a standing Sunday morning brunch meeting to outline the weekly objectives. But I also have current and prospective clients wanting to meet and talk.

Finally, when time permits, it is spent creating a publishing content. This is our marketing strategy. Fortunately, you can stockpile many of these efforts. I can take one afternoon and create a month's worth of quality content. Our goal is to publish a blog once a week and interact via facebook no less than three times a week. It is all about keeping your audience engaged. I hope that this area will grow as the business grows.

I wish I could say that it was all swimming, biking and running (not that my body would hold up). But there are too many opportunities and not enough time. This week is a classic example. Sunny, 60 degrees. I hope to ride a few times. But I am not 100% sure it will happen. And if it does, it will be a crammed ride because I don't have time.

But I wouldn't change it for anything. It keeps me busy.