Written by Jessica Lawlor

Just because you’re a solo PR pro doesn’t mean you’re in this alone. There’s a whole community of like minded people you can lean on.

In this monthly series, we ask five Solo PR Pro members to share their best tips, tricks and resources for managing their solo business.

How 5 solo PR pros manage their time

This month, we asked our panel of solo PR pros to tell us how they manage their time.

Read on for their helpful tips.

1. Melissa Vela-Williamson, APR, Chief Communication Architect, MVW Communications

I rely on a mix of human and AI support to help me manage my time. I delegate what I can and save things that only I can do as priority. My remote assistant helps with complex scheduling arrangements, research, editing, starting documents and such. 

For easier one-on-one scheduling, I like Calendly. For group scheduling, I use Doodle.com. I ask Siri to remind me of things often, have important dates on my electronic calendar, leave reminders in my desk planner and keep hot items per account on a large whiteboard. My social media coordinator will attend talks I give to get copy and images for MVW Communications’ owned channels. I also create templates and repurpose just about anything I have written that can be tailored for another opportunity. It saves time, brain capacity and offers a consistent message.

2. John Walker, Managing Partner, Chirp

For time management, I focus on quality vs. quantity with the hours devoted to business. I find after a morning walk, I can get a lot done in two hours, then take some time to ideate over lunch and/or run errands before a nap, and close out the day strong before shutting all work down by 6 p.m. 

It’s not for everyone to have a very fluid work/life blend, but it’s ideal for me.

3. Paula Johns, Paula Johns Communications

The Harvest time tracking app is my go-to for monitoring and managing my time and ensuring I stay on budget. As I go about my day I make note of my activities in the app. This also supports my monthly reporting. 

Overall, I do my best to tackle email and other communications, including meetings, from morning through mid-day, leaving the bulk of the afternoon to focus on content and strategy — which require my full focus.

4. Scott Rosenblum, President/Founder, LEVEL PR 

The main thing I do to manage my time is to track it as if I was still working at an agency.  Maybe old habits die hard, but I find that by tracking my time (using toggl track), it helps me account for the hours I put toward client work and prioritize the things I need to do on a daily basis.

Also I use it to track non-work related activities – like errands and household chores. I find that tracking these activities helps me remember when it is time to take breaks throughout the day, all while handling errands that need attention. Tracking these things also helps remind me if I am spending too much time on them and if they are pulling me away from necessary client and business work.

5. Janet Falk, Chief Strategist, Falk Communications and Research

Every day I have an appointment at 8:30 a.m. to be active on LinkedIn. In the Note section of the appointment, I have links to tip sheets that I can share, in case I am momentarily stumped for content. Every Thursday evening after dinner, I have an appointment to check my . How did I perform on:

• Networking
• Speaking
• Writing
• Being active in the trade association of my target market
• Being active online

If I came up short, I still have Friday to fill in the spot.

We want to hear from you! How do you manage your time? Leave your response in the comments section below or tag us on social media using #solopr.