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Time Management

Tell Me What You CAN Do!

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A few years ago, I was listening to a client complain, “I don’t have time to do this, I don’t have time to do that… “.

We’d been having this conversation for months, and in frustration I burst out, “I’m not interested in what you can’t do, tell me what you CAN do!”

Not the most elegant delivery, I’m admit, but my point hit home. From that outburst, my client profoundly shifted the way she managed her business and her life. We identified the inner voice that silently kept her stuck in paralyzing inaction.

Can anyone relate? So what are you focusing on – the problem or the solution?

Now before I am accused of being one of those annoying “just think positive and bury your head in the sand if anything negative comes your way” types, let me clarify. I’m not talking about being happy-happy all the time, I’m talking about learning to direct your thinking so that you are in alignment with what you want out of life.

Now that I’ve given my disclaimer…

The biggest complaint I hear these days has to do with a lack of time, so I’m including one example of how to replace paralyzing thinking with a perspective that is more in line with your goals.

Current Perspective: I’m busy from 8 to 9, 10 to 11:30 and 2:30 to 5

By focusing on the busy time, you’re giving yourself messages that you are busy, there is not enough time, and you’ll get nothing accomplished. This subconscious belief directs your actions and becomes self-fulfilling. You’re likely to get nothing accomplished. With this perspective, you’re convincing yourself that you have no time at all.

Simple Alternative: I have time available from 9 to 10, and 11:30 to 2:30

Now you’re giving yourself the opportunity to see the time that was completely invisible to you before. Without rearranging a single appointment, suddenly four hours just opened up!

This perspective shift can be used on any belief based in “can’t”, “don’t have” and “not enough”. Try it on money issues, doubt about your own abilities or any perceived lack of resources. If you get stuck, email me. I’ll do what I can to help you turn those paralyzing phrases into motivating mantras!

Distractions and Solutions

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On a recent poll on Facebook, I asked for business owners to share the biggest distractions they face each day. I’m including the top three here, along with a few tips for minimizing the impact of the distractions.

WARNING: All of these tips will require you to change. Distractions are a part of life, and trying to eliminate them is impossible – you’ve got to manage yourself around the distractions.

WARNING #2: These tips are basics, and you are likely to think, “Well I already know that!” You may know it, but are you DOING it? Don’t let the “I know” syndrome lead you away from a deceptively simple tip that could be just the solution you’re looking for!

#3 Top Distraction: Email

I was surprised this wasn’t #1, actually! So how do you deal with the pinging and flashing that pulls you away from your priorities?

  • Turn off all notifications. This means all sounds, visual alerts, icon appearing – everything.
  • Turn off automatic send and receive. This means you receive email when YOU decide.
  • Put checking your email in your schedule like an appointment. I check at 10:30am and 3pm. No one sends me emergency emails, so even a response time of 24 hours is appropriate in my business.

Basically, you must reframe how you think about email. It is a communication tool, NOT a priority manager.

#2 Top Distraction: Daily Operations

And I’ll lump in another category, “busy work”. The best thing to do to deal with the pull of daily operations is to have superior priority and time management. I could teach an entire class on this, but will limit myself to just a few tips.

  • Plan your day the night before. If you go into work and then start planning your day, you may not get it planned until noon. And then, seriously, what’s the point? When you go into your office clear about your priorities and others make demands of your time, you’ll be able to easily discern where that new demand fits into your plan.
  • Close the door. If you’re in an office, this is a literal suggestion. If you work from home, then it means turning off the phones, internet and email so that you can work on that priority list. With focus, you will complete the list in much less time than you expect, and you will deal with the rest of your day (and the people in it) much more cheerfully!

#1 Top Distraction: The Internet

With pop up notifications, social media, chat, and icons showing us how many “friends” we have waiting, is it a surprise that we are distracted by the internet? The internet is a distraction machine, and because we can’t expect it to change, we must change.

  • Don’t leave social media running while you’re working on projects that require concentration.
    Change your home page from one with flashy articles that will distract you to something simple like Google.

The bottom line? Determine your priorities, and make sure your environment doesn’t cut in line in front of them!

Virtual Assistants Can Help with Caterpillars!

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THANK YOU to Jeanette Barnes of Old Fashioned Office for contributing this article! Visit her site at www.OldFashionedOffice.com.

Are Caterpillars Interfering with Your Online Business?

I truly feel lucky to live in the country and best of all, run my online business from the comfort of my home office. I get to look out the window and marvel at the trees, flowers, birds and other wildlife. It sure helps to relieve the stresses of the day.

But, living in the country can also have a downside. I don’t know if it was the exceptionally cold winter we had, but Mother Nature has been playing some tricks around here. I love all types of birds, but there is this one goofy cardinal that has decided he wants to attack the rear view mirrors on my car. I finally decided to put bags over the mirrors and he stopped. But, then I noticed he was on the ground jumping up and down attacking my chrome hubcaps!

Probably the weirdest thing that has happened is a swarm of caterpillars – and I mean swarm! They were coming out at night and literally covering my porch. As soon as I opened the door, they would come slithering into the house. This went on for about 2 weeks and I had no idea how to get rid of them.

After they disappeared, I noticed a big cocoon in one of the bushes. Not too much later, there were scads of beautiful, small butterflies all over the place. I’d never seen anything like this. Those icky caterpillars grew up and gave me a sight to enjoy!

What does this story about caterpillars have to do with business? As an online entrepreneur, you’ve probably discovered there are a million and one things you need to do to keep your business running – things like keeping and acquiring new customers, product launches, social media updates, wading through all your emails, preparing for your upcoming teleseminar, etc.

All these tasks are just like the caterpillars that were swarming on my porch. They’re tedious, time consuming and just plain not fun. Plus, they keep you from doing what you do best.

There is a solution – partner with a Virtual Assistant. If you haven’t heard this term before, a Virtual Assistant is highly skilled in the tools, techniques and procedures needed to run an online business. They partner with you to take the day to day tasks off your plate and turn them into butterflies – so you can sit back and enjoy your online business, gain more freedom, and increase your bottom line.