How Financial Advisors can Optimize their Calendar to Maximize Revenue and Freedom with Brad Johnson

This week, I’m flying solo—no guest, just me on the mic. But I’m tackling a topic that could make or break your business: optimizing your calendar for maximum revenue and freedom.

I'll share real-world stories and frameworks that have helped countless financial advisors like you transition from solo players to true business owners. By the end of this episode, you’ll know exactly how to systematize your calendar, maximize your revenue-producing hours and protect your personal life.

If you’ve ever felt like your calendar is running you instead of the other way around, this episode is a must-listen.

My Key Takeaways:

The?Structure of Your Calendar Determines Your Success

• I believe a structured calendar helps keep the focus on revenue-producing activities during peak hours. This ensures you’re using your time efficiently and maximizing your business’s income potential.
• Scheduling buffer times between meetings helps you stay on track and prevents a cascading effect of running late throughout the day. This strategy also gives you time to reflect and prepare for the next client interaction.

“You don’t want to build a business that when you go on vacation, so does your revenue. That’s a bad business model. It’s always going to be dependent on you.”??– Brad Johnson

Batching Appointments for Better Focus and Flow

• I’m a big advocate for dedicating specific days to revenue-generating tasks, like client meetings. This allows you to stay in a “flow state,” maximizing productivity and reducing the mental fatigue of switching between tasks.
• A calendar with scattered appointments causes inefficiencies and disrupts your flow. I recommend grouping similar tasks together and batching appointments to maintain productivity throughout the week.

“If you start with this as the ideal calendar... you’re maximizing revenue to the firm.”??– Brad Johnson

Set Boundaries to Protect Your Personal Life?

• To me, it is so important to maintain clear boundaries between work and personal life. Setting limits on work hours—like no weekend calls—helps protect family time and prevents burnout.
• If you set the expectation early that you won’t be available after hours, clients will respect that. This approach not only benefits your personal life but can also enhance your clients’ respect for your time.

“The goal is to build a business that serves your life, not one that becomes your life.”??– Brad Johnson

Are you a financial advisor who feels stuck, needs help, or simply wants to have a conversation with Brad?

• Text “Coaching” to (785) 800-3235 to apply for a 30 minute Zoom coaching session

Please note, text message and data rates may apply, you can opt-out of receiving text messages at any time by replying STOP to any message you receive.

More on Doing Business and Doing Life.

In this week’s episode, I share a calendar hack that stems from a decade-old conversation.

A client introduced me to Dan Sullivan’s focus, buffer and free-day concept from Strategic Coach. After hundreds of conversations with financial advisors and some trial and error, I’ve refined this idea to help advisors achieve “flow state” during revenue-producing days. It really boils down to days dedicated to working ON the business vs IN the business. (oh yeah and completely unplugging and being completely OFF the business!)

Check out this?YouTube video?on the research behind flow state. When scaling a financial services firm, reaching flow state is essential. Without a repeatable calendar system to maximize sales productivity, scaling becomes much harder. Think of it like Covey’s 7 Habits—putting the “big rocks” on your calendar first to prioritize revenue.

Systematizing your business is key to unlocking scalability. Just look at how McDonald’s franchised fast food with tight systems. As a financial advisor, ask yourself: why would a fast-food chain have better systems for selling burgers than most advisors do for managing millions of dollars? This is where the real opportunity lies—by tightening up your time management, you can unlock your calendar’s full potential.

Hope today’s episode helps you serve your clients better and unlock untapped potential in your firm!