In this episode, I explore what your diary can reveal about the way you are actually running your tutoring business. I explain how old decisions, habits and commitments can continue to shape your workload long after they made sense. I share a simple question to help tutors review their time and identify what they would no longer choose today, creating opportunities to streamline their workload.
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👋🏽 Hello! I'm Sumantha McMahon, and I've supported over 100 tutors and education business owners.
As a teacher 'dropout' turned professional tutor, combined with my 20+ years as a business owner, I'm in it with you! Yes, I'm qualified too :-)
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If I really wanted to understand your business, then I wouldn't just ask you about it. I'd ask to see the last couple of weeks of your diary. In fact, I ask people for that when they work with me one-to-one before I've even started working with them and they complete their questionnaire. Because what we say about our business and what we actually do with our time are often two different things. Most tutors, if you ask, will tell you that they're working towards something. So more group work, fewer late sessions.
Sumantha:
Building something that doesn't rely on them solely always being in the room. Real intentions that they are that are meant sincerely. But then you look at the week and it's 26 one-to-one sessions, three of them after seven in the evening and an hour on a Sunday sorting out invoices. So the gap between those two things, it's not a discipline problem. I want to be clear about that because the obvious reading is that you're not trying hard enough and that isn't what's going on here.
What the diary is actually showing you is a set of decisions you made a while ago that are still running.
Sumantha:
The Thursday evening slot you'd agreed to for a family who needed it three years ago. The invoicing you do yourself because it was quicker than explaining it to somebody back when you had four clients, or you didn't have the budget to automate it. The habit of saying yes to inquiries in September because September is when you say yes. Every one of those made sense at the time.
None of them were reviewed afterwards because nothing forced a review.
Sumantha:
So the diary ends up being a fairly accurate picture of who you were when you made those choices. And, you know, that's worth knowing because it isn't the same as who you are now. And it definitely isn't the same as where you said you were going, what you what you're planning for. So here's what I would suggest. And it takes about 10 minutes. Just open last week's diary or
You know, choose a time when it's business as usual. So if you're in the middle of a school holiday, maybe that wouldn't be the right time. So open a week where it's business as usual and go through it slot by slot.
Sumantha:
And for each one, just ask, answer a single question. Would I agree to this again today, knowing what I know now? Not can I get rid of it, just would I say yes to it again right now? You'll find that, you know, for some of them, you would immediately. Those are fine, leave them.
But you'll find that some of those decisions you wouldn't say yes to right now. And those are the interesting ones because they're still there purely because you never went back and reviewed it.
Sumantha:
And that's usually where that time is going. And that's a really quick win to try and streamline your workload.
