How To Get Organized In Your Business

Are you living in a constant state of chaos within your business? If so don’t feel bad or ashamed about it. This isn’t something that is seen as a real priority until you become frustrated when you can’t find something. I am speaking from experience. It is usually when you are working on a deep-thinking project and you click on a folder that should have what you need in it but it doesn’t. The next step is to pound your fist on the table and make promises to yourself to get better organized and the cycle continues.

:)

Recently, I discovered a book by David Allen called Getting Things Done The Art of Stress-Free Productivity that changed my perspective on how to get better organized in my business and in my life. It boils down to these 3 things:

1. Get stuff off your mind and put it in a place that you will check back later.

2. Make a decision on what actions you will take on your stuff by thinking about the desired outcome and working backwards.

3. Keep regular reminders around that will help you to follow up on your action items

This list is simple but powerful. He provides more detailed information about each of these in his book. My goal today is to share a brief overview with you to get your mind prepared to move in this direction.

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How Solo Entrepreneurs Can Be More Productive In Their Business

Running a business is hard work especially if you are a solopreneur business owner. I fall into this category and I can tell you from personal experience that it can be challenging if you are not organized. My number one goal is to not forget things so I write down everything and put it on my Google Calendar, My Wall Calendar and I send myself text messages.

You have to do what works best for you

A little overboard you might be thinking BUT it works for me. It helps to manage my time better and get items on my list done. I am still a work in progress and I am always looking for new ways to manage my time better so I don’t feel overwhelmed. There are many ways to approach time management but at the foundation of everything surrounding it is a simple to-do list. I know this isn’t rocket science but how many people do you know that actually have a to-do list as a part of the daily management of their business AND is effective? Well if that person isn’t you then after reading the information below then you can be that business owner who gets things done and create more freedom in your business. Are you ready? Let’s go!

Planning: What makes a good to-do list?

According to Lifehack.com, “When you build an effective to-do list, the main goal of the list is to provide clarity and focus.” The best way is to have a place to write down thoughts as they come up in your day. Then set a time daily to look at your thoughts like at the end of your business day during your planning time for the day ahead. Once you have the thoughts down on paper then start organizing your thoughts into 2 separate lists: Daily To Do’s vs. Get it Done Soon.

How many items should you put on your list?

Think small. I know that creating a to-do list can quickly turn into an exercise in frustration and overwhelm so it is important that you pick a number of items that you want to get done each day and then cut yourself off. I was able to look at my notes from the previous month and saw that on average M-F I usually get about 3-4 main items done on my list each day. So I picked 4 to be my magic number for items to get done daily. There is an important thing to remember that things will pop up in your day but the goal is to make sure you still get your items on your list done by the end of your business day.

Prioritize your list In order of easy to difficult

After you decide on how many items you want to tackle daily then it’s important to prioritize them into difficult to easy. According to Business Insider.com, “When we are overwhelmed and busy, we just go with easier tasks, and the difficult tasks tend to pile up.  Harder tasks may be more annoying to tackle, but they are more important to make progress.” 

Tips and tools for managing your to-do list

• Make sure it is easy to find. Decide if you will write it on a calendar, use a meeting planner or an electronic tool like Evernote or Todoist.

• Deadlines (gotta have it)

• Have a plan for brain dumping of thoughts. You can use Evernote or a plain Google Doc for dumps but set up folders and keep them organized so you know where to find stuff.

• Give yourself a small reward for getting items accomplished on your list each week. The reward could be something as simple as making the weekend start sooner by wrapping up early on a Friday.

  Running a business as a one-woman/man show can be challenging at best. It is important that you have a system in place to create your to-do list and get items completed so that you can begin to create more freedom in your business to do the things you want to do.

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Tools You Can Use To Automate Things In Your Business

“Entrepreneurship can be a grisly, volatile mess of toxic ingredients on the verge of combustion, threatening to consume your health, relationships, and life” according to an article on Shopify.com.

This is true.

Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart and is certainly much more challenging than being an employee.

Period.

With that said, it is important that we look for ways to minimize the stress in our busy lives and this can be managed in part with using technology. Here are 3 tools you can use right now to automate things in your business.

Boomerang - We all love email right? Most likely the answer is no but using this app will make it a lot easier to manage your email communication. Boomerang is an email productivity app that allows you to create email messages and then schedule them to be sent in the future. I use this often and it helps to take things off my to-do list. Once I see an email in my inbox that needs a response I can create a response on the spot to have it sent at a time that makes it easier for me to ensure that my clients are taken care of within 24 hours Monday through Friday. This means there is less of a chance that communication will fall through the cracks. They offer a free version across a variety of platforms like Gmail, Outlook, IOS, and Mobile.

Freshbooks - We all like to get paid on time right? Well, Freshbooks makes it even easier to get that done via their recurring invoicing process. You can set up customers to put a card on file and at a specified interval they will be charged instantly and your invoice will be paid on the spot. it makes everything easier for you and your customer. If there is an issue with the payment method then Freshbooks will notify you and your customer so that communication surrounding invoicing is not lost. They have an offer to try it for free right now.

Hootsuite - Hootsuite is a social media scheduling tool that makes it easier to manage your online content. Do you ever get stressed out thinking about writing and scheduling posts to your social channels? Well, this software will help to alleviate that stress. You can try it free for 30 days to test it out.

The entrepreneurial life can get complicated fast. It is good to know that there are tools you can use to help manage your communication, social presence, and to get paid on time. What tools do you use to automate your business? Share in the comments below.

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How To Create More Peace In Your Business In 3 Simple Ways!

Are you easily distracted? Do you have a fear of missing out or F.O.M.O?

Well if so you are not alone.

According to an article on Stopad.io, A typical office worker cannot focus on a task at hand for more than 11 continuous minutes. The average student can’t focus on a given task for more than two minutes without becoming distracted. If you are a typical Internet user, your online screen focus lasts a mere 40 seconds on average. The worst part? No matter what task you are distracted from or what form the interruption takes, once distracted, your brain needs an average of 25 minutes to get back to the original task.

25 minutes!

Stop and give that last point some real thought.

There are so many causes of distraction such as technology, online advertising, meetings and the list can take on new levels for entrepreneurs.

So How Can You Decrease The Noise & Increase The Peace In Your Business?

First it helps to define what is the meaning of peace? According to Merriam-Webster, it means “A state of tranquility or quiet.” There are more definitions but this was the first one listed and it captures the meaning wonderfully. So what is the secret to getting some of this wonderful peace? It starts with creating a system to handle communication, and using time blocks to complete work.

1. Create A System To Handle Email Communication - Do you check your email first thing in the morning before you even get out of bed or have had your first cup of Joe? Or even worse do you respond to a business email over the weekend or after hours. That’s no good:) Try using Boomerang for Gmail or Gmelius and using the GTD methods to decide what approach you will take with managing your email communication. According to Medium,com, “the GTD methodology, allows you to think of every email you get as either something you need to take action on, track, or refer to later. Having only 3 possible types of actions simplifies processing email in bulk. Less is more.

2. Create A System To Handle Phone Calls From Clients or Vendors - Are you a one person show without a team to help you with taking calls and booking appointments? Well there is a way to make sure you don’t lose out on potential clients by playing phone tag. Try using services like Reliable Receptionist, Answering Innovations, Specialty Answering Service or more options here.

3. Using Time Blocks - There are a ton of methods and tools available to use for creating more space to work more productive. According to Ladders.com and time management expert Kevin Kruse, “Top performers organize their day through time blocks instead of to-do lists.” This is mind blowing! Schedule time to complete specific work tasks throughout your day. So for example, if you’re writing a blogpost for your website you could schedule 2 thirty minute blocks of time to write interrupted. The key is to make sure you shut off your phone and are in a place that is free from interruption. You can also use apps like Focus Booster, Rescue Time or any one of these apps. If you are looking for a little music to help you to stay focus try Focus At Will.

We live in a world filled with noise and distractions. It’s hard to remember a time when technology was not a part of our lives. As an entrepreneur it is crucial that we take time to practice self-care by using tools to create more peace in our businesses so that we can give our clients the very best we have to offer. What are your best tips for creating more peace in your business?

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Would You Like To Be More Productive and Make More Money?

As a solopreneur I understand first hand how not having things organized in your business can quickly leave you broke and frazzled. The answer for me is always going to be using technology to help me keep my business systems in order and my business humming along. If you would like some ideas on how you can keep your business running smoothly check out this article. The freedom that comes with being an entrepreneur is awesome BUT it can quickly run off the rails and make your life difficult if processes aren't put into place to keep everything in tip top shape.

What are some areas in your business that are making you pull your hair out? Share in the comments below.

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4 Reasons Why You Can't Get Anything Done In Your Business & How To Move Forward

Do you feel like this in your business?

OR

Do you feel like this in your business?

If you feel like the second photo then you are not alone.

According to a survey found on Small Biz Trends website, "72% of Small Business Owners Feel Overwhelmed".

There could be a variety of reasons why we as entrepreneurs could be feeling this way.

Reason Number One:  There aren't any processes in place in your business!

Do you have specific tasks that you do to engage with prospective clients and after they become your client? If so take a moment to write down those tasks and begin to create steps toward a workflow. This will help you to get a visual on what repetitive steps you are doing in your business and create a streamlined process for doing it. If you need tools to help you visualize everything try MindMeister and Evernote.

Reason Number Two: You have shiny object syndrome!

I am always getting excited about whatever new training tool or workshop that pops up and then when something else comes along I head for that. I know that I am not alone in chasing the latest and greatest "shiny object" but this acronym for focus has been helping me tremendously; follow one course until success equals F.O.C.U.S. 

John Lee Dumas says this all the time and as you guys know I am a huge fan of his. The reason I love this acronym is that it helps me to stay laser-focused what I am currently working on and avoid "shiny object syndrome". Staying focused and not allowing myself to drift off the deep end helps me to be more productive in my business. If there is something that looks cool and interesting to me I just use tools like Pocket, Evernote Web Clipper or Clipular to capture the information for future reviewing.

Reason Number Three: You are too focused on the big picture!

 As entrepreneurs we get so excited about our big picture goals; hitting a certain dollar revenue or creating awesome products to sell to our clients. But we don't get so excited about doing the small routine daily tasks to get there. 

The hardest thing it seems to do as an entrepreneur is to: 

SLOW DOWN and BREAK GOALS DOWN!

But it must be done in order to achieve those big-picture goals. My system is very simple. I break tasks into daily to-do lists of 3 items or less. I use a notepad that I can physically cross things off as they are completed.  If other things get done that are outside of my 3 things then that is gravy on the biscuit. It may sound boring but it can be very exhilarating to see things finally get crossed off your list because you were able to just get it done!

Reason Number Four: You don't Reward Yourself!

Do you treat yourself like a prisoner? Well, that's not going to motivate you to get through a boring task. But if you knew that at the end of an exhausting project you have whatever your favorite thing to do waiting for you then it could make working on tasks that much more fun. After I am done writing this post I will shut down and watch a movie with popcorn. 

What about you? Do you have things that are preventing you from accomplishing your business goals? Share in the comments below.

KEEP IT SUNNYSIDE UP!

It's Time For A Mid-Year Recap!

How are things going so far for you & your business in 2016?

I can't believe we are already in the month of October. Thanksgiving & Christmas are just around the corner. The year is starting to wind down.

Did you accomplish the goals that you set for your lifestyle business?

I have two practical tips you can use:

Schedule everything you want to accomplish daily including personal goals using a google calendar synced to all your mobile devices. Oh and one more tip:

PAY ATTENTION TO IT~

I say that from experience. I created all these wonderful alerts and agendas on my calendar but started to ignore them. I have self-corrected. :)

Are you on track to reach your goals? If so tell me all about it.

KEEP IT SUNNY! 

Are You A Successful Multi-Tasker?

I was talking recently to my grandmother who is 86 and realized that our lives are chaotic in comparison to how she grew up.  It is like night & day. As busy entrepreneurs it seems it has almost become a necessity to do multiple things all at once.

Ladies & gentlemen we have become modern day jugglers. (Cue the laugh track)

But I need you to stop for one second (because I know you are probably multi-tasking right now:) and ask yourself are you getting things done effectively? According to an article on LifeHacker.com by Ciara Conlon, "Some research has shown multitasking to reduce productivity by 40%."

I definitely agree with this.

As I was writing this blog post it took me extra long because I thought it was necessary to check updates on my phone and my email. Trust me nothing was a 911 emergency that couldn't have waited.  

NPR.org interviewed a professor of neuroscience at MIT Earl Miller, who said for the most part, "We simply can't focus on more than one thing at a time". He goes on to say, "What we can do, is shift our focus from one thing to the next with astonishing speed. Switching from task to task, you think you're actually paying attention to everything around you at the same time. But you're actually not".  In an article on Mashable.com, it states "that only 2% of people can multitask effectively". 

WOW!

So How Can You Become A Successful Multi-tasker?

The short answer is you can't. It's a sobering thought huh? The good news is that you can become more successful at getting tasks done. It is very simple: Focus. John Lee Dumas from Entrepreneur On Fire.com always says Follow One Course Until Success = Focus. If you want to learn more about his thoughts on this check out his blog post right here.

Final Thoughts

So I want to leave you with these thoughts:

• Mult-tasking is a lie

• Get focused

• Delegate what you don't need to do

• Stop worrying

• Start being successful because now you are getting more done by doing less

Let me know what you think & of course Keep It Sunny!

Do You Have Enough Time To Do Everything In Your Life?

Photo courtesy of BimXD/Freedigitalphotos.net

This post will take 1 minute to read

Are you just too busy? The answer is most likely an exasperated "YES".  You probably don't even have enough time to read what I am typing. :)  So thank you for taking time out to read this. I noticed on certain sites like Entrepreneur.com they tell you how long it will take you to read an article. I love this idea and it helps me to determine whether or not I will read it. I usually do. So I may start to use that for my future blog post but I digress.

Is Time Slipping Through Your Fingers?

The one thing you can do right now to gain more time in your life to do everything that you want to do is to prioritize items and put them on your calendar. So, I guess that is two things. If things don't land on your calendar, then most likely it will not get done. Have you heard of the phrase out of site, out of mind. Well, that is very true. I use Google Calendar to schedule everything in my life, business & personal. Then I sync it to my phone so I can get reminders of the appointments that I have on my calendar.

How do you prioritize and make more time in your day to do everything you want to do in your life??

Keep It Sunny!