"Plant seeds. Lots of them," with Alexis Haselberger
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Alexis Haselberger is a time management and productivity coach who helps people do more and stress less through coaching, workshops, and online courses. Her pragmatic, yet fun, approach helps people easily integrate practical, realistic strategies into their lives so that they can do more of what they want and less of what they don't. Alexis has taught thousands of individuals to take control of their time and her clients include Google, Lyft, Workday, Capital One, Upwork, and more. She can be found at
Can you tell our readers about your background?
I spent the first 15 years of my career running HR and business operations in early-stage start-ups in the Bay Area. In a start-up environment, there is always so much more to do than people to do it. People work hard, they work long hours, and they burn out.
My super-power was always the ability to get A LOT done, and done well, with minimal effort and stress. I had a boss that used to tell people that I could do in 20 hours what most could do in 60 hours. Over time, people started recognizing these skills and starting to come to me for help with streamlining processes, creating systems, prioritizing their work, and general time management. When the last start-up I worked for went out of business (as more than 90% of start-ups do), I decided that the most impactful thing I’d been doing was helping others with time management, productivity, and stress reduction. And luckily, that was also the aspect of my career that was the most fulfilling for me.
At that point, I decided to open my own time management and productivity coaching and consulting business so that I could help others kill it at work, and have fulfilling personal lives as well. I haven’t looked back. Turns out, there are a lot of folks really struggling in this department so there was a strong product-market fit.
What inspired you to start your business?
Aside from the fact that I knew I had a skill set that could really improve the quality of other people’s lives, the real reason that took me from idea to reality was the increasing sense that I just didn’t want to work towards other people’s goals anymore. I wanted to get up every day and work towards my own goals. I wanted to know that what I was doing, every hour of every day, was my choice and for my own purposes.
Don’t get me wrong, I worked for great companies and awesome people, doing stuff that I thought was worthwhile. But it wasn’t mine. And over time, that’s what really inspired me to actually get started on my own thing.
Where is your business based?
I’m based in San Francisco, but my business was mostly virtual before COVID and is totally virtual now.
How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?
The very first thing I did was buy a domain name and get a basic website set up with Squarespace. It took just a few hours and it helped me to feel like “ok, I’m legitimate” even though I really had nothing yet. No clients, no product. But I wanted to have something to point to when talking about my new business.
Next, I set up the basics. I got a business license (which San Francisco requires), I set up a business bank account and I registered for an EIN.
Then, I started telling people in my life that I had opened up a business, while I started figuring out my first product, which would eventually become a time management and productivity coaching program. To create the product, I started by just writing down everything I knew about time management, productivity, management, communication, etc. These writings turned into a “Best Practices Library”, which in turn became the base for the coaching program.
What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?
The tactic that I have used that has been the most beneficial for raising awareness has been for me to get in front of other people’s audiences. If you don’t have your own audience, you need to capitalize on the pre-build audiences of others. For me, that meant being a guest on podcasts, getting quoted in articles (using HARO to find leads), speaking at conferences, and partnering to do webinars.
The other thing I did that is just so simple but I don’t think that many people actually do is that when I first got started, I emailed every single person that I knew and told them what I was up to and who my ideal clients were. And I mean everyone. I emailed people I hadn’t spoken to since high school, the insurance agent of a company I worked at 10 years ago, coworkers from 4 jobs ago, my husband’s friends, my parent’s friends...everyone. It was uncomfortable, for sure, but it also got me my first few clients, which in turn led to other clients.
What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
One of the biggest challenges for me has been to learn how to market myself and my business without feeling sleazy. I’ve taken a number of approaches to this. First, I just put myself in uncomfortable situations, over and over again, until they felt comfortable. I’d go to a conference and pitch myself to every single vendor (hey, they were captive audiences!). I used a social networking app called Shapr to learn how to talk about my business with a huge range of people. I took a copywriting class that helped me feel more confident in writing sales copy. Essentially, I decided that in order to grow, I just had to get out of my comfort zone and start practicing the stuff that didn’t come naturally. I’m still on the learning curve, but my business is definitely growing, so something must be working!
How do you stay focused?
I have a few different practices for staying focused.
First, I use a task/project management app to track every single thing I need to do in my business, as well as delegated items. I have a daily, weekly, and quarterly planning process to ensure that I stay focused on my top priorities. If it’s not in the app, I don’t do it. In that way, I steer clear of shiny object syndrome.
Every quarter, I review the backlog of ideas in my task app, and I choose a few things to focus on for the quarter. I add these goals into a quarter-long calendar appointment that appears at the top of my calendar so that I am constantly reminded of my focus. And then I add related tasks and projects for these goals into my task app so that I can properly prioritize the work to make these things happen.
On a more granular level, I keep all notifications (email, Slack, etc.) turned off and I keep my phone on silent. I don’t let the incoming distract me from my focus for the day. I’m still very responsive to others, as that’s crucial for my business, but I do it by batch processing my communications a few times a day instead of answering things as they come in.
How do you differentiate your business from the competition?
A big difference between my business and a lot of other productivity-related businesses is that I focus on meeting people where they are and fostering an environment for self-knowledge so that people can build skills and processes around who they are already instead of trying to fit themselves into a box. For instance, I’ll never tell a night owl to “just get up earlier before your kids wake up”. Could they do it? Maybe, for a short time. But that’s not going to be a habit that sticks, because it doesn’t fit who they are.
I also espouse a pragmatic, reality-based philosophy around time management and productivity. We assess where we are, and we move on from there.
My goal is to help people use their time intentionally, according to their own goals and values. It’s not to get them to use a specific tool or follow a specific schedule. I’m helping people build sustainable practices in their own lives, that fit who they are and that doesn’t make them feel bad about themselves for not being able to “get it right”.
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?
The most effective marketing strategy for me has been to simply ask my clients for referrals. When you do the kind of very personal work that I do, those personal connections are gold. Social proof is really key in my market.
Also, my blog has been a great marketing strategy for me. I produce weekly content that is truly actionable and takes less than 5 minutes to read. This allows me to provide real value to people on a regular basis, and stay top of mind by showing up in people’s inboxes each week.
What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?
Plant seeds. Lots of them. What I’ve learned is that you just have no idea where that next client will come from. You don’t know what seeds will grow. But if you plant a lot of seeds, your opportunities are greater than if you plant fewer. What do I mean by planting seeds? Talking to people about what you do, meeting new people, offering to help others, making mutually beneficial intros, etc. Aim to give more than you get.
What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?
The app that I recommend most frequently to my clients is TickTick. It’s a simple, yet incredibly powerful, task management app. You can think of it as an external brain. The reason I love TickTick so much is that it’s super easy to use, which means there’s a very low barrier for entry. No one needs to read a manual to start using it. Also, if you want it to do more, it can. It’s got a habit tracker, it syncs with your calendar, it has a Pomodoro timer, etc. But the features aren’t in your face, so if you don’t need them, you can start simply. Also, the free version is quite robust and it syncs seamlessly between web and mobile. It just a really good task app.
What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?
My favorite business tool, hands down, is Calendly. Calendly is a scheduling app that syncs directly with my calendar and it probably saves me 5 hours a week in terms of just the back and forth of scheduling meetings and appointments. I also love that I can set up different meeting types with different amounts of buffer, for different purposes.
Who is your business role model? Why?
I always have a hard time answering questions about role models. Because I’ve never sought to emulate anyone else, I have a hard time identifying with this question. So, I’ll say this: I admire strong women who’ve built businesses around something that matters to them, and who’ve done it without compromising on their own values.
How do you balance work and life?
2 words: strong boundaries. I work pretty normal hours, usually from about 8 or 9, to around 5 or 6, Monday through Friday. When I’m working, I’m 100% focused. I don’t get distracted, I don’t check Instagram and I don’t take personal calls. But when I’m not working, I’m not working. I don’t check email, or do any work, on nights or weekends. Nights and weekends are for family and me. I’m what you’d call a “hard segmenter” and this compartmentalization is what helps me maintain balance.
What’s your favorite way to decompress?
On the regular, I read and I run. I’m in 2 book clubs and I've been averaging about 1 book a week right now. Reading (often with a cocktail in hand, to be clear) allows me a little daily escape into a different world. I like fiction and non-fiction pretty equally. I also run almost every day; it’s my transition between work and home. I finish up work, go for a run, and then come back and make dinner.
When I REALLY need to relax, I love to travel. I have never, in 20 years of working, checking email during a vacation. So when I’m on vacation that’s a chance for me to truly decompress and not think about work at all for a couple of weeks at a time.
What do you have planned for the next six months?
In the next 6 months, I’m planning to launch my group coaching program, Take Control of Your Time; I only open it up twice a year. I’m also hard at work on a brand new online course for working parents about how to kill it at work and be present at home. I’m really excited about this product, which will be my third online course, because working parents are really struggling right now during COVID, with kids at home while trying to work from home. And it’s a self-paced course that people can do at home, in the time they’ve got.
How can our readers connect with you?
● Website: https://www.alexishaselberger.com/
● Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh9iAkCALqr3FsKfYOqjb3Q
● Insta: @do.more.stress.less
● FB: @domorestressless
● FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/domorestressless/