Eleven Time Management Tips for a More Profitable & Efficient Interior Design Business

Apr 7

Does it feel like you're always working in your interior design business, and even when you stop, the to-do list in your head and the urge to do “this one last thing” are always there?

As an entrepreneur, it's common to be consumed with your business, especially in the beginning when you have adrenaline and excitement running through your veins at the thought of what’s possible, giving you that boost to persevere and accomplish so much. But eventually, the excitement lapses a bit and you get into a groove with the day-to-day operations of working with clients and running your business (two separate things; don’t miss the second part).

And then, the to-do list gets longer, the inbox fills up, project scopes increase, responsibilities quadruple, and the constant pressure makes it feel like you’ve created a monster.

I get that.

So what do you do when you have more work in a week than you have time for?

How do you know what to take off your plate?

How can you leverage your time to be effective, while also maximizing your efforts so you are profitable?

In this post, I’m going to share practical strategies and tools to help you increase your profitability, work more efficiently, and leverage the limited time you do have. Whether you want to work twenty hours or forty hours, what matters is that you focus your time on the most impactful things so you can make progress more quickly as you grow your business and be much more profitable on a per-hour basis.

I’ll walk you through how to:

Identify your profit centers
Focus on revenue generating activities
Prioritize evergreen content and platforms
Streamline your operations with software
Tighten up your services and remove black holes
Schedule your life first
Understand your energy and when you work best
Time block your week
Eliminate distractions
Fill your plate with work and projects you love
Have a plan

Once you implement these tips, my hope is you can say “byeeeeeee” to burnout and “oh hey there” to building a sustainable business that is both creatively and financially fulfilling.

Let's dive in!

01 | Identify Your Profit Centers

One way to work smarter in your interior design business is to identify your profit centers. This means focusing on the activities that are most profitable for your business.

First, let’s do a quick Finance 101 lesson:

Revenue is the top-line number of all sales and income generated by your company before any expenses are subtracted.

Profit is the number at the very bottom after expenses have been deducted from revenue.

Before you can identify your profit centers, you have to start by making sure your chart of accounts is set up properly so you can actually pull relevant data. Then, make sure you are allocating income and expenses to each client/project so you can assess the profitability on a per project level. We help our designers with this in Design Business Foundations.

Remember: Garbage in, garbage out. When you put good data into your financial systems, you can run accurate reports to assess the health of your business to determine what’s working and what’s not.

Once you have your accounting software set up properly (and are using it), reviewing your P&L every month and analyzing your sales data will be as quick as entering date parameters and pressing RUN REPORT.

Then, you can look at your report to see which products and/or services are profitable and which ones are not.

If you determine that a certain line of products or a particular service is more profitable than others, you’ll know to focus your efforts on those areas and find ways to expand the service or the marketing around that to attract more of those sales.

For the products and/or services that aren’t as profitable, you can consider phasing those out or improving them to increase profitability.

And while that’s in progress, you’ll know exactly what to double down on in your marketing efforts: only market the service or product that’s profitable.

So let’s remove selling, delivering, and marketing the things in your business that aren’t profitable until you’ve had a chance to improve them.

02 | Focus on Revenue Generating Activities

Revenue generating activities are different from profit centers.

A revenue generating activity is something that — when you do it — TOP LINE sales and revenue are brought into the company.

For designers, RGAs are usually networking, marketing, having sales conversations, designing, and focusing on their client experience → yeah shameless plug!

So when your to-do list is six weeks long, ask yourself: “Which of these tasks will bring in revenue for the company?”

Then prioritize those.

In my opinion, anything that expands your reach and connects with your audience is an RGA. Here are some examples:

Non-Revenue Generating Tasks

Organizing your sample library
Paying bills
Researching new product lines
Making a vision board
Receiving and inspecting accessories

Revenue Generating Tasks

Writing marketing content
Emailing previous clients to share about a new service you’re offering
Connecting with local builders and architects
Hosting a meet and greet with clients and their friends in your office
Scheduling sales calls
Designing

Now of course, you have to pay your bills and do admin work; it’s all part of running a business, especially in the beginning when you’re doing everything on your own. BUT, when you have limited time, you’ll want to make sure you PRIORITIZE the revenue generating activities to ensure they get done each day/week/month/etc. These are things that will keep your pipeline full and sales coming in when you truly are too busy to market or do outreach.

03 | Prioritize Evergreen Content

You’ve got limited time (I am right there with you) so you need your efforts to work for you, even when you’re not working. And if #2 is a top priority, let’s turn the dial up a few more notches and make sure when you’re spending time marketing your company, you’re prioritizing evergreen content and marketing channels.

This is a crucial step toward working smarter, not harder, in your interior design business. Creating content that remains relevant and valuable over time will help you build a strong foundation for your brand and attract new customers who are interested in what you have to offer. By investing time and resources into crafting high-quality content that resonates with your audience, you'll establish yourself as an authority in your field and develop a loyal following.

Once you’ve created that content, don’t just put it on social media where it has a shelf life of three minutes. Let that content live on your website so it will show up in Google searches, help potential clients get to know you and your process better, and serve your company for years to come.

Example: when someone googles how to budget for a kitchen renovation in Minneapolis, and your blog post all about kitchen renovations in Minneapolis comes up in the search, GUESS WHAT? You are now on that person’s radar. They read your post, then your next few posts, then they check out your portfolio, then they see your Instagram posts…next thing you know, their name is coming through your inbox as a new project inquiry. WOOP WOOP.

Or, let’s say someone inquires with a few questions about your design philosophy, how you mix highs and lows, or how you determine a budget for a construction project. Well, because you have written blog posts on those topics, it takes you three minutes to draft a response, link the articles you wrote, and BOOM: you’ve sent a detailed and helpful response in minutes, meanwhile they think you’re a total pro and love how helpful you are, and they now see you as someone they could trust with their home.

Now, I’m not saying to NOT post on social media. I’m saying to prioritize evergreen content and the search engines that will continue to show your content when people are searching for it.

So, start with creating blog posts on relevant topics your potential clients will always Google when they are on the hunt for a designer. Then, take bits and pieces of that and share it on social media.

And if you’re writing blog posts, you must post them on Pinterest and Google My Business to further expand the reach of those articles.

Invest the time once, and let your efforts serve you forever.

04 | Streamline Your Operations With Software

I cannot tell you how many designers are doing things manually.

Sourcing products. Invoicing. Creating POs. Reconciling finances. Running reports.

My heart hurts for the hours lost in manually entering information into multiple systems, the increased risk of mistakes from double entry (sometimes triple entry, cry), and the hours lost that could have been spent designing or enjoying family time.

There are programs designed specifically for you that will save you HOURS from reverse google searching YOUR OWN products you’ve sourced because you can’t remember where you grabbed that screenshot and now you want to add that product to your client’s design.

I get wanting to stay small. I know software can be scary, and I know it takes time to get something new up and running, but it will be worth every penny and every minute you spend.

And, it’s honestly the only way some of my designers actually can stay small. By leveraging the time savings and automations software provides, they don’t need to hire a bunch of extra people, because their software has cut out so much of the backend manual work.

So, before you dive headfirst into getting a CRM like Honeybook or Dubsado, or set up a project management software like Asana or Trello or Clickup or Notion, get yourself set up with a product management software that has design capabilities, invoicing capabilities, and purchase order capabilities that also syncs up with your financial software.

This topic deserves a post of its own. But if you want to be more profitable while you work your desired number of hours a week, it means you have to cut out as much manual entry as possible.

In addition to that, you can use other software programs like Later, Zapier, Flodesk, Acuity, etc. to have things running in the background while you work.

Like, if I’m doing client work while the laundry AND dishwasher are running, I feel like the most productive human on the planet (haha).

Or when I take three weeks off and we’re still sending out hundreds of emails a day, clients are getting set up automatically in our software programs, Instagram posts and Pinterest pins are going up, and my expenses are booking to the right expense accounts….I owe that all to software.

05 | Tighten up Your Services and Remove Black Holes

It's crucial to define your services accurately and clearly to prevent misunderstandings and potential issues down the road. It also enables clients to understand your offerings and decide whether your services align with their needs. And even more importantly (in my opinion), it protects YOU as the business owner from going outside of your preferred boundaries and scope and risk losing money.

Defining your services also serves as a guideline for you to create a consistent process for each service.

Onboarding phase, delivery phase, support phase, and offboarding phase.

Set parameters and timelines for each.

Then, identify your black holes. You know, the spots in your service where things go out of control. Where you can’t set a timeline for it. Where there are unclear boundaries. Where you cringe with each passing hour and minute you spend because you just see your profitability going down.

Once you’ve identified those black holes (for designers this is usually revisions, construction management, and communication), put parameters on them that are so clear even a fifth grader would understand them.

Oh yeah, and also remove UNLIMITED from your vocabulary and please please please put a cap on how long your flat fee contracts are and what happens after the term ends.

PS: Designing (and redesigning) services is my favorite thing to do with our 1:1 clients. We just removed TWELVE weeks from one designer’s process. And because she bills flat fee, guess how much more profitable that makes her service???!!

06 | Schedule Your Life First

To be more profitable, you have to rest your brain. Why? Because your brain is a muscle and muscles need a day off to restore and get stronger. And when your muscles don’t get a break, they get tired. They slow down. They eventually give out on you (if you lift weights or run long distance, you know that point of muscle failure).

So by not taking a break, you are actually making everything you do take longer.

Hmmm….not good.

So how do you rest your brain when you have 100 hours of work to do in 25 hours each week? (if this is you, we need to reduce the things you’re saying yes to, OR, help you get your clients on a paid waitlist).

Well, it means you have to prioritize your LIFE FIRST. Look at your calendar, and rather than block out 9-5 for work, block out family time and personal time first. Then fill in for your business.

Put blocks on your calendar for exercise, spending time with family and friends, pursuing hobbies, and engaging in activities that bring you joy and fulfillment. When you make time for these things, you'll find that you are more focused and productive during your work hours.

Understand also that not all waking hours need to be productive, or you will be in burn-out mode constantly. Give yourself permission to experience leisure time without guilt. This can overlap with time spent with family but should be time when your energy expenditure is low, so your body and mind can recover from stress.

So if your kids get home at 3 and you want to be present when they are home, your day ends at 3. Block it off. (Then don’t forget to communicate your business hours to your clients).

If you need an hour to get ready after the kids go to school, your day starts an hour later.

If you like to do yoga on Fridays, put that on your schedule.

Maybe you realize you actually only have 20 hours to work, or maybe you realize you have 40 hours to work (once you know how many hours you truly have, it will be much easier to schedule your projects).

Either way, create a schedule that prioritizes your life and family first. Be a good boss to yourself.

Then watch your productivity increase while you’re at work because you’re showing up with a well rested brain and body.

07 | Understand Your Energy and When You Work Best

Now that we’ve got the important stuff locked into your weekly schedule, it’s time to understand your personal energy patterns.

We all have times of day when we are naturally more alert and focused, and other times when our energy is lower. By recognizing these patterns, you can schedule your most challenging and high-priority tasks during peak energy times, and save lower-priority items for when your energy is naturally lower.

This not only leads to more efficient work but also helps to prevent burnout and fatigue. By working in alignment with your natural energy patterns, you can maintain a sustainable pace of productivity over the long term.

For example, I am an early-morning person. I wake up naturally at 4 am every day of my life. No matter how late I stayed up the night before. For the most part, it’s amazing.

During these early morning hours, my brain is fresh and my environment is quiet and calm (once the girls wake up, it’s like a UFC match). And during this time, I write and work on projects that require deep focus.

Early afternoons I have more interruptions. Breaking for lunch. Walking the dog. Answering text messages from my family. This is when I like to catch up on admin stuff and messages. My brain feels a little more scattered and I can work in little chunks.

Then before my girls get home (I must have time constraints on my schedule otherwise I will just fill the time I have with randomness), I have another boost of focus and productivity and I can typically whip out one more writing project or task that requires more brain power.

Then, while my girls have a snack and do their homework, I can do one final sweep of responding to team messages and cleaning up my Asana to do list for the next day.

08 | Time Block your Week

Now that you’ve identified the times of day that align best with the different work you need to do, let’s look at your days of the week.

I actually DON’T time block my days much more than simply saying: writing and business development in the morning, client work during the day, then admin in the afternoon.

I also don’t work well like that. Yes, I live by my calendar, but not self-imposed time blocks of 30-60 minutes to work on specific tasks. Now don’t get me wrong, when we have new client calls, the remainder of the afternoon is blocked. When we have implementation clients, certain days of the schedule are blocked, and then we have blocks for when we’re presenting.

For my designers, with all the different hats they wear and because they serve a local clientele, time blocking the week is absolutely necessary. What this means is to look at your schedule and the days you have available for work.

What days are best for you to have client meetings?
What days are best for you to GSD (get stuff done)?
What days are best for admin?
What days can be flex days?
When do you like to kick off new projects?
When do you like to present?
What days are choppy because of a midday yoga class or late kid drop off?

Start framing out your week with themed days, then stick to them.

Seriously. This alone could change your life. Here are some examples:

Stop taking discovery calls every day (I see your Acuity calendars on your contact page with full day availability every day of the week).

Only do consults one day a week.

Only kickoff projects on Tuesdays.

Protect Wednesday for your GSD and design only days.

Only present on Thursdays.

Site visits on Fridays and Mondays.

Whatever.

You get the idea.

Then, when you’re scheduling out your projects, you know what’s possible and when things can happen. And now you have clarity into how you might need to stagger your project start dates.

And, you’ll save so much time from having to task switch all day, or make your brain go from running around on project sites to designing for a client to invoicing to answering emails.

OUCH.

09 | Eliminate Distractions

This is a short one but implementing these two things has changed my life.

If you have limited time to work, you need to eliminate your distractions while you work so you can focus your time on the most important tasks.

Two things I highly recommend:

Turn off all notifications on your phone. The only notification that pops up on my phone is when a call is coming in. I don’t get text message notifications or FB or Insta notifications or any of that. My phone sits with an empty screen most of the day. I have to log into my phone and check my text messages to see any new notifications. It is incredible. I’ve worked next to my husband when we’re both working from home and oh my goodness the notifications on his phone are nonstop…I’m like, how do you manage that? SO disruptive.
I leave my phone away from me for most of the day and night. I know my phone is a major distraction. I’m addicted to it (it’s sad, but these reports on cell phone addiction are scary). I don’t want my girls to remember me as someone who was always on her phone when they were talking to me. I see that enough when I’m out at restaurants with my girls or at activities. It’s sad. These sweet babies talking to their parents and the parents staring at their phones instead of their children. Cry. So my phone is usually on the charger in a different room for most of the work day and once my girls get home from school. (Note: phone calls come through on my computer, so I am accessible that way and my husband knows to call me if it’s an emergency).

If you know you get pulled into certain things or have time sucks in your day, physically remove them. It’s not enough to say “I’ll only check Insta for 30 minutes a day” or whatever. If you know you have certain things that distract you, change your environment to protect yourself from that distraction so you can get your best work done in the time you have allotted for it.

10 | Fill Your Plate With Work, Projects, and Tasks You DO Enjoy

You’ve built your perfect schedule. You’ve identified your RGAs and profit centers. You’ve tightened up your services.

Heck yeah.

Now, what to do with that time you do have to dedicate to your business?

Fill it with the work you love most.

You’ll move faster through projects and tasks that naturally align with your skillset and what you enjoy doing most. And, when it’s something you LOVE doing, you’re more likely to just dive right in, rather than procrastinate or create obstacles around even starting the work, let alone finishing it (thus why some projects take f.o.r.e.v.e.r to get through, and others are done in a flash).

As a personal example, I love writing. So when I have a writing project on my schedule, I am filled with ideas and energy and can quickly create content and resources for our designers (some have dubbed them “the best in the industry”).

These resources also serve as training materials for other businesses that support interior designers.

(So not only am I creating evergreen content that supports my audience and the industry, but I’m also getting it done quickly because I love doing it).

But when I have to figure out why my Pinterest tag isn’t working. Guess what? Even reaching out to the guy who handles all of that for me takes forever. I put mental blocks around it. I avoid it. I put off opening his emails. Even though I know he’s going to fix it. I just don’t enjoy doing it and it’s not in my wheelhouse. The whole thing takes more time than necessary.

SO, needless to say, once you’ve identified the activities you love doing most in your business, do whatever you can to protect your schedule so you have time to focus on those things. When designers tell me “Oh, I can source a room in no time” or “I can walk into a house and instantly see the completed room” or “Construction is easy for me,” those are often the things I tell them they should lean into doing more often.

11 | Have a Plan

I shared a quote in The Weekly Install a while back that was along the lines of, “Lack of time or motivation isn’t the productivity killer. Lack of DIRECTION is.”

If you don’t have a clear plan for where your business is going, you’ll fill your days and weeks working inside of your business as a taskmaster, not working ON your business or the foundational elements that will support you when you are operating at 5, 10, or 20x your current volume.

When you don't have a plan, it's easy to fall into the trap of checking emails, scrolling through social media, and getting sucked into tasks that aren't essential.

But when you know where you’re going, it will make the decision-making process much easier (does this align with the company’s goals?) and will give clarity to what you should be working on each day/week/month.

When I’m planning for my business, I like to look at the annual goals first, and I create goals for several different aspects of my company (not just financial goals!!). I cover more goal-setting specifics in our Asana Workshop for Interior Designers.

Then, from there, I break that down into quarterly goals (what is necessary to hit those annual goals in each area).

Then, I break each quarter down into monthly goals and projects. What needs to get done each month if I’m going to hit the quarterly goals to stay on track to hit my annual goals?

Each month, when I’m looking at our availability for new clients and what’s actually possible, those goals are instrumental in prioritizing the projects my team and I need to work on each month.

In today's fast-paced world, being an interior designer can often feel like a never-ending cycle of work, hustle, and burnout. But it doesn't have to be that way. By implementing the strategies outlined in this post, you can optimize your schedule and free up time to focus on the activities that are the most profitable for your company.

As author Alan Lakein said,