Mary Cravets

One Time Management Tip

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Create and prioritize your to-do list the night before. Doesn’t seem like a big deal, does it? So why does this make a difference?

  1. Overnight, your mind works out creative solutions to your tasks while you sleep.
  2. You wake up calmer and clearer, with a sense of purpose for your day from the moment you wake up.
  3. The majority of people are most focused before noon. Rather than wasting this peak mental time on building your task list, you spend it completing those top priority items.

That’s it! This one change in your routine reduces stress, increases efficiency and improves your attitude on a daily basis.

Confession Time

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I found a new solution to stress – confession. The particular stress I experienced this week was made up of equal parts frenzy, pretending everything was ok, and confusion.

You see, I have this project I’m working on, and if it doesn’t go well,  I won’t be able to fulfill obligations I made to some colleagues. A terrible feeling.

So I’ve been running around like a crazy person saying “It’s ok! No worries!” When in fact, things were not really ok, and I was really worried.

What did I do? I confessed. I laid out the situation to my colleagues, and let them know that I would understand if they wanted to bow out of their commitment.

In an instant, 95% of my stress was gone. Of course, it got me thinking… what happened, exactly?

I think my stress was caused by getting further and further out of alignment with my integrity. By simply telling the truth, I snapped back into alignment. Right away, new ideas flowed in and I felt my energy return.

What was the most important element of this confession process? When I acknowledged the problem, and confessed it to myself.

Here are some ways to know when it might be time to ‘fess up:

  • When you’re telling yourself “I’m doing everything I can!” Are you really? Or are you perhaps keeping yourself overly busy to avoid doing the things that scare you?
  • When you keep doing things that don’t work. Doing more of what doesn’t work, doesn’t make it work. Confess, give it up, and new ideas are given the opportunity to flow in.
  • When you’re saying “I know. I know. I know.” – but you really don’t know. Try saying, “I don’t know. I need help.” Or “I need to learn.” There is SO much power in this confession!

How do you know when a confession has worked? From the instant sense of ease and humility you get. Like you don’t have to pretend anymore, and it becomes easy to move forward.

Do Less Meaningless Work

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Date of original publication: July 8, 2010

“Doing less meaningless work, so that you can focus on things of greater personal importance, is NOT laziness. This is hard for most people to accept, because our culture tends to reward personal sacrifice instead of personal productivity.”

–  Timothy Ferriss, author of The Four Hour Workweek

I’ll admit it, I’m brainwashed. Even though I’m an entrepreneur, I have this clinging notion that I need to be at a desk for 8 hours a day. My husband (a real estate agent) and I both struggle with creating the discipline to stop working 8 hours a day when we don’t have 8 hours of work – meaningful work – to do.

Recently, The World Cup helped our learning curve.

Adam is a soccer fan. With the games being held in South Africa, the only games he could watch were first thing in the morning and around noon. His routine was to get up, get ready for work, watch a game, and then zip to the office. There, he spent his morning focused and efficient, knowing he needed to have certain things done so he could knock off for a 2-3 hour lunch break. What was left to do after the game was often minimal, and he occasionally came home early.

I thought, “Like Adam, I always get things done in the least amount of time possible when I have something I am REALLY looking forward to.”

The sad state of things is that I haven’t created much in my life that I look forward to enough to motivate me to wrap up my workday.

And to me that IS sad. I’m supposedly creating a life of entrepreneurial freedom, but most days I poke around in front of the computer, dithering away time, often hours beyond my productive work time.

This was a powerful lesson for me, and I made a commitment to make a change. Right away I put yoga, gym time and recreational classes into my calendar.

My commitment was immediately tested. Right on the heels of learning this lesson, a whirlwind of work swept through my office. My days are now packed with 8+ hours per day of productive work. Fitting in the fun stuff feels strangely difficult, but I have to keep in mind that creating new habits – fun or not – is always uncomfortable.

Even as I’m writing this article, my heart is pounding, because in 28 minutes, I have someone coming over to teach me a little about cooking – and it will take all afternoon. The dishes aren’t done. The chicken isn’t defrosted. My desk is a mess.

But I can’t afford NOT to do things differently. I can’t put it off until next year, or even next week. You see, I know several smart, driven business people whose health is suffering in extreme ways, in part because of their constant focus on work. I have to seriously ask myself, “Is that the quality of life I want? I can either have it or avoid it, the choice is mine, but I must choose now.”

So…I’m off to cook.

It is Not the Critic Who Counts…

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“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”  – Theodore Roosevelt

How to Get Committed

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I’ll admit it, I got a bit grumpy this week. I was fretting over a big project that will keep me on the road a lot over the next week, plus the demands of seeing my regular clients, writing blogs, creating a new program, etc. I started to get paralyzed by it all, when a new thought popped into my head…

“How committed am I to feeling this way?”

Hm… hadn’t thought of it that way before. Strangely, the question made me smile. Who intentionally commits to something like a lousy attitude? The heavy stress that was starting to take over was instantly lifted, although I’m not exactly sure why.

Maybe a little humor simply helped me refocus on what I wanted to accomplish, rather dwelling on the obstacles.

Maybe the question reminded me of the things I AM committed to – loving my family, serving others, enjoying life. Powerful things that, when compared with how I was feeling, made the idea of committing to a bad attitude seem ludicrous.

Maybe it’s because I moved from the “I am stress” perspective, to the “I have stress.” Things that you ARE, can’t be easily removed. Things that you HAVE, can be gotten rid of with a simple decision.

Whatever the reason, the shift was significant and immediate. It was like getting a deep breath of fresh air after being in a stuffy, smoke-filled room. Aaahhh… that’s better!

Great Greetings, Batman!

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Believe it or not, you can make a huge shift in your business by simply changing your voicemail greeting. Think about it – your outgoing voicemail greeting is often the first impression you make on prospective clients. What does yours say about you?

Here is a typical voicemail greeting:

“Hi, thanks for calling the Bat Cave. We’re either fighting crime or away from our desks right now, but your call is very important to us, so please leave a message and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.”

Although there is nothing inherently wrong with this greeting, it is just vague, and makes a neutral impression on callers. Now let’s break it down from the perspective of a caller:

“Hi, thanks for calling the Bat Cave.” (oh good, I’ve got the right number)

“We’re either fighting crime or away from our desks right now,” (all I know is you’re not answering your phone, and I don’t really care what you’re doing.)

“but your call is very important to us,” (hmm…is it really?)

“so please leave a message and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.” (what time “as soon as possible” is exactly? I need to know when I can expect a response.)

Callers really aren’t interested in what you’re doing if you’re not answering your phone. They want a pleasant voice, a brief greeting and, most of all, they want to know when you will get back to them. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when creating a professional voicemail greeting:

  1. Give your name and company name
  2. Ask for information you need to move the communication along. For example, “I’m available for appointments on Tuesday and Thursday between 1 and 4pm. Leave two dates and times that will work for you and I’ll call back to confirm.”
  3. Avoid making your voicemail an extensive commercial for your business. Example: “Whether you need help with your evil arch enemy, bank robbers, nasty villains, or pesky bad guys in general, Batman and Robin can help. Due to our rapid transportation options, we gladly accept clients from all over North America. With a strong grasp on technology and a commitment to being your partner in all aspects of crime fighting, Batman and Robin can be a key component in keeping your city streets safe….” (you get the picture)
  4. Let people know when they can expect a response
  5. Let people know how they will get a response from you (email, text, phone)

And by the way, it doesn’t matter if you commit to respond by phone within 24 hours, or with an email within 72 hours. Just let callers know what to expect, and then follow through.

Here is an example of a good voicemail greeting:

“Hi, you’ve reached Batman. My office hours are Monday through Friday, 9am to 4pm. Please leave a message and I’ll return your call within one business day. For more immediate assistance, or for answers to brief questions, send a text to the same number you just dialed. Thanks for calling.”

When callers hear this greeting, they get the impression of an organized and professional business, and that their time is valued and respected.

I recently worked with a seamstress in Sedona to streamline her business practices. At my suggestion, she changed her voicemail greeting. The feedback from her clients was that they felt more confident in her business after hearing her voicemail greeting. She increased her credibility with her clients by simply refining her voicemail greeting!

If you’d like some specific suggestions for your own voicemail, feel free to give me a call. I’ll get back to you within one business day.