OK, the New Year has begun and the new work week starts now!
You should have your plan of action set by TONIGHT for this upcoming week, this month and year. There is no time to waste.
I’ve come up with something to help you get more organized. Must-Do Success Steps for the New Year! (Part 1 & Part 2)
And don’t forget ….treat your online marketing efforts just like a real business not a hobby.
Clear the Mind
Take a deep breath, or 10 and let it out slowly….
Clear your mind of all past and current distractions. Bringing old distractions into the new year will only bog you down. Sometimes our brain feels tied in knots. We have so many thoughts going on that we don’t know what to think or do first. This is very common especially with the New Year in place and we tend to get excited with our new thoughts and goals we want to accomplish.
Write out your thoughts! Did you know that writing actually clears the mind? Famous productivity expert David Allen, author of Get It Done, recommend getting your to-dos out of your brain and onto paper. I can attest that this method works! When I’m feeling overwhelmed, I have found one of the greatest ways to relax my brain and feel more organized is to sit down and write out everything I have to do that’s got my head spinning. Whether those are big projects, little five-minute tasks, or anything, it all goes down on paper as my brain is churning out the words. When I can actually see my thoughts on paper, I can start sorting and prioritizing If you get a journal and write a few pages each day, it can actually de-clutter your mind.
But ,if you have no time to sit and write several pages, no worries. Keep a journal close by and whenever you have a few minutes simply start scribbling away whatever it is on your mind. Nobody has to ever read it. It doesn’t need to make sense. It would simply be boggled, time-consuming thoughts that need to come out. Try it! I dare you. J
Breathe! Take 10 deep breaths throughout the day. Breathe in slowly though your nose, hold it for a few seconds and then let it out very slowly, getting slower with each breath. Our brains function a whole lot better with a good supply of oxygen flowing through it so don’t forget to do your breath exercises several times per day. This is a relaxation technique which will calm your thoughts and your body down which is always beneficial.
Plan Backwards. But I dare you to! Apparently, there is actually a technique called “Planning backwards” that could help with a boggled mind. When you have a task at hand you want to complete, simply start with your set date of completion and move backwards. Figure out what “to-dos” need to happen to complete the job, then the next set of things that need to be done before that and so on until you get to the beginning. This sounds interesting I know! I haven’t actually tried this yet J
Talk out your task. Sometimes talking about your tasks at hand allows you to “figure things out a bit” which then allows you to clear your mind with the feeling of peace and accomplishment. I know if I’ve got a task to complete, I love to share it with a family member. They will join in my discussion and sometimes I get some pointers from them. Talking out my task always makes me feel more clear minded so then I’m ready to tackle it with a sense of more confidence.
Setting Priorities
If the basics of reading and writing are learning your ABCs, the basics of work-at-home success is setting your priorities. If you don’t have a set of priorities by which to guide your business, your day, and your week, you are at the mercy of circumstance. Happenstance is for people who play the lottery; not for entrepreneurs.
You sit down at the computer to begin work on your to-do list, and the emails start coming in. Instead of having a way to rate the importance and urgency of each request and item on your list, you just respond to whatever is front and center – which is usually whatever email or phone call has come in most recently. Then the end of the day comes, and you still have as many items on your to-do list as you started with. The stress starts to mount as your business goals recede farther and farther into the distance.
So what’s the solution? Setting priorities. When you have a list of goals and priorities, you have a map for your future.
My advice is either to set weekly, monthly and yearly goals or to set one or two business objectives for each quarter of the year. You may choose to launch a new product the first quarter of the year, revamp your website during the second quarter, create marketing materials for the third quarter, and develop an outsourcing strategy for the fourth quarter.
The following is my favorite process for breaking down a large objective into daily, weekly, and monthly priorities:
- Start with your quarterly objective.
- Ask yourself, what would have to happen this month to achieve this objective?
- What would have to happen this week?
- What would have to happen today?
Once you have defined what needs to happen each day, week, month, and quarter, put those items on your calendar and to-do list with a big star next to them. Now you know what has to be completed every day before you start answering phone calls or emails. No matter what the rest of the day brings, you know you have completed the things that will most move your business forward.
This small routine will help reduce your stress because you’ll no longer lie in bed, wondering what the heck you accomplished that day. Instead, you will have taken concrete steps towards achieving your most important goals. (P.S. This works great with personal goals, too!).
Now that you have your priorities set for each day, week, month, and quarter, how will you know if all that work will fit into your schedule? Let’s take a look at how you can manage those fleeting 24 hours we all have to work within.
Manage Time Effectively
Setting your priorities and sticking to them is a great step towards reducing your stress, but it won’t help much if you don’t have time to finish all the other menial tasks that are involved in running an at-home business. Items like billing, filing, ordering ink for your printer, and a million other little things that pile up over time still need to be done.
Let’s look at several methods to help you keep better track of where your time goes, and keep on top of your schedule:
Minimize interruptions.
Turn off your email alert noise, put your phone ringer on mute, and clear your desktop before you jump into a task that requires concentration. Fewer interruptions and distractions allow you to get in that concentrating “sweet spot” where you’re humming along and working at a pleasant clip. That means you’ll get your work done faster and be less stressed. Constant interruptions ultimately result in needing to re-prioritize your day, over and over and over again. You can see how the stress you feel just keeps escalating without minimizing the interruptions each day.
Break down large projects.
Big projects – website overhauls, writing reports, planning marketing campaigns, creating a newsletter – can be overwhelming. When faced with a large project, break it up into tasks you can complete in one sitting, preferably in under 20 minutes. That way, instead of looking for a free afternoon to tackle the project all at once (which you’ll never get!), you just need to squeeze in 20 minutes here and there until the project is completed. I don’t know anyone who can’t find 20 minutes, but ask an entrepreneur to block out 8 hours for a project, and you’ll receive in turn a stunned glare.
Take advantage of “lost” time.
Our days are full of five minute breaks between activities. We call these “dead” time. You may be sitting in car-line at your child’s school, or in line at the pharmacy, or even waiting for a pot of water to boil. There you are, simply waiting for something to happen. Keep a notebook with a running list of tasks that can be completed in 5 minutes or less. Schedule an appointment, call a friend to set up a lunch date, clean out your voice mail, file your nails – anything that you know you need to do but don’t get around to doing.
Now when you have “dead” time, glance down at your notebook with the list of 5 minute tasks and start at the top. Work your way down the list every time you find yourself with a few free minutes. You’ll be amazed at how much you accomplish when you’re ready to go!
The power of time management can have you thinking you can do it all now! You are Superwoman! You are Superman! But, before you go leaping those tall buildings, stop and take a deep breath. There are still things beyond our control. Yes, we can do a lot, but we can’t do it all. Life sometimes gets in the way, even of the most on-task entrepreneur.
Just Say No!
After being a work-at-home entrepreneur for over several years, I can attest that the toughest item on this list for me, personally, is learning to say no to potential clients or customers. When you work for yourself – especially in the early days – you’re not always sure where that next paycheck is coming from. And even when the customer roster is full this month, you can’t be positive the same will be true next month or the month after, so you tend to take on more work than you can comfortably perform. After all, isn’t a few nights of burning the midnight oil well worth the benefit of having a little more padding in the bank account?
The problem is, working too much to stay ahead causes us stress and job burnout – and it also makes spouses and families a tad angry! So we just exchange one stress point (finances) for another (overwork and family pressure). There is a solution, although you’re not going to like it. Set a limit and stick to it.
I know, I know, this is easier said than done. But I can honestly say that I’ve never had a customer or client disappear into thin air when I told him or her they had to wait a few weeks or months to work with me. In fact, it often shows that you’re in demand and that you can pick and choose who you work with, and when. And that’s a valuable trait, particularly when you want to command top rates for your expertise.
Think about the busiest restaurant you know of: the Hard Rock Cafe, the Cheesecake Factory, Wolfgang Puck’s flagship restaurant, etc. The advance reservations notice these establishments require actually increases their mystique and reputation. Making your customers and clients wait can do the same for you!
Decide how many products you’re going to release, how many interviews you’re going to do, how many coaching clients you’re going to work with, how many articles you’ll write, or how many hours you’re going to work per week, and then stop. That’s it – no more.
One of the best ways to keep your work commitments at a tolerable level is to make a commitment to your family. You can start with committing to attending every softball game, every Scout meeting, and every recital. You can promise dinner each evening, or read out of a chapter book every night to your children. This will make you accountable to your own scheduled work day. You may feel a momentary pang of regret or anxiety when you tell a potential client “no” or “wait.” I’m willing to bet it will soon fade when you realize how much less stressed you are on a day-to-day basis, and how much happier your home life is!
You’ve set boundaries for your commitment to your clients. You’ll say the words “no” or “wait” to a client when the time constraints of a new assignment don’t fit within your agenda. You have now become the boss of your time. Does your family know that?
There you are sitting at your desk in your home office, available to everyone – kids, spouse, neighbors, friends – at a moments notice. You wanted to work at home so you COULD be available to your family, but what are the limits?
If a friend calls to go out to lunch or to help them with a task they need done, don’t just say yes and then stress about it all day because you are not getting your own work done. That was one of my biggest challenges. With aging parents and friends that have a lot of spare time, I’m sometimes expected to “hang” with them at any time they need or want my company. When I decided to say “no” I am unavailable, but gave them a time or day that I was available, my stress level decreased and I stayed on a work schedule which, of course, helped my business grow.
Conclusion
For now you have a good to-do list to concentrate on. Remember, your business is not your hobby. You want to be successful this year and you deserve it IF you implement the proper “must-do’s” to get and stay on track.
Stay tuned for Must-Do Success Steps for the New Year! Part 2
“The Secret to Getting It Done… is to Act Now”
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