Making Time in ‘08

(Revised from March 17, 2007 post)

Okay - so there are only 24 hours in a day, right? So how do you “make” more time? It’s not as hard as you think.

With just three simple steps, you can create the time you need to do stuff that keeps getting put on the back burner.

A) Take one week and track your time. No cheating - make a log that counts every second, from the moment you wake up to the moment your exhausted head hits the pillow ( I did not say this was going to be painless, did I?)

B) Take a hard look at all the time you wasted ( like the 30 minutes you blew surfing the net for travel deals when you should have been working on a project, returning phone calls, etc.). See how much of your time is dealing with e/mail … sorting, tossing, answering, etc. I bet right now you let yourself get involved with email at least 10 times a day, if not more … Effective time management can rescue you from this trap.

C) Take command of your life! Yup, Stage Three is the best, because you get to create the work-flow chart that meshes with your personality, your job and your responsibilties. And that very simply means you must allocate those precious seconds, minutes, quarter hours, mornings, etc. in a very deliberate, methodical manner. Keep in mind three things you must do each day - review tasks, sort by priority, allocate defined time to attend to each task. By embracing this self-produced time allocation system you will actually be able to take control, work more effectively and keep organized!

A well-organized schedule for at least 3 days a week should be something that includes:

1. Lunch time away from your desk, even if it’s a half an hour
2. Short breaks, one mid-morning and one in the late afternoon
3. Defined times to return and make phone calls
4. Prescheduled times to check, sort and toss emails
5. Calls or emails to follow-up on new networking leads

In between this new regimen, make sure you plan at least one full hour where you can work without interruptions. The last two days can be earmarked for catch up work, intensive sales calls, uninterrupted project time, special networking events or client meetings as needed.

It will take 21 work days to get this whole new approach integrated into your daily routine, so that you are comfortable with it. Studies have proven that this is the minimum amount of time it takes to firmly establish a new regimen. It may seem nonsensical, even annoying, but you will be fighting yourself as you move through this adjustment period. Do not turn back! This new system will work better than the daily frantic pace you have most probably gotten used to.

Know that each day will throw you an assortment of curve balls. But if you actively start to manage your time, you can create a customized system that allows for more effective & more productive workdays, which is never a bad thing!

Old Habits Die Hard

Greetings!

As you can see it’s been awhile since I’ve added some thoughts here. Blogging was supposed to be a new activity that I would post to on a fairly regular basis … Yeah. Well, I had good intentions … which brings me to my topic.

The fact is, we are creatures of habit and changing a pattern of behavior is much easier said than done. We do lots of stuff by rote, without stopping for a second to think about anything. Take your morning routine, the place you stop in to get your coffee (or tea), and (for the ladies) how you apply your makeup. Putting on makeup, what’s the big deal, you say?? Trust me on this, it was ridiculous how long it took me to reverse my morning regimen once I got a new prescription . . .

My point - changing a rote pattern takes determination and concentration, and moments when we have to literally stop what we are doing and think about what the next step is before we make it. The process of implementing even the most simplest change (like the order of stuff that needs to be done when putting on makeup) is mildly annoying at the least and downright exasperating to the point of chucking the “better” way of doing things …

So - is it any wonder that we balk at changing systems, vendors, operations,or employees that are not cutting the mustard etc., in our businesses??

What a headache, right??

Fact is, change is necessary and for the most part lots of new thought processes, systems, vendors - whatever - can help our businesses run better and make our lives less stressful in the long term.

Once you make a plan of action, cut yourself a break in the implementation process. I intend on posting at least 3 times a week from now on, but that means I have to break my pattern of frittering away time (under the guise of doing research, keeping up-to-date with trends and resources; which I am, in fact, doing for very good reasons.) Realistically though it’s gonna take me about 3 weeks to go from the stop- and-start of breaking old habits, to creating new ones.

Bottom line: In order to accommodate the various new initiatives I’ve put on my 2006 to-do list (like blogging, writing my book, and podcasting) there are going to be a some bumps and glitches along the way, for about 21 days, before things start to go smoothly. If I don’t start now another month will go by and … Well, you get the picture. I’ll still be doing what I always did!

Wishing you the best of luck of on your re-patterning challenges!
Pattie

Keeping Ahead of the Game!

It’s just too crazy - all that we expect to accomplish in the course of the day! Take today for example. I had high hopes of putting together the first draft of an article that is due this week, to write up and send out my monthly Write-Solutions e-zine (without any errors!!), visit a client, make a few phone calls, stop off at the post office, and answer my emails.

To start off the day, I had all intentions of investigating whether or not I needed to take care of a refund for someone. In betwixt everything else, I also had planned on doing some research for 2 different clients.

And this was to be a “slow” day.

The phone rang as I entered my office, the fax machine started rumbling, and here it is 6 hours later, and most of my to-do’s are still waiting to be attended to. I DID manage to get my e-zine out … with only one mistake (DARN!) Instead of listing the Feb. 6 TeleSeminar’s title as “Achieve Your Perfect Life: Ditch your Unhappiness by Creating the Job of Your Dreams” my message flew across the net telling people that they could ditch their “happiness” - SIGH! Sometimes that cut ‘n paste thingy is a menace …

Seems many people are caught up in this trap! I don’t know about you, but I really want to try to have more realistic expectations of what I can get done, and still leave enough time to attend to those unexpected issues that constantly crop up and dash all my good intentions.

Any thoughts you’d care to share?? I’d love to hear how you are dealing with this. But for right now, I’m back to shuffling through my records, going online to check on that possible refund, making more phone calls, answering e/mails …………

Cheers!
Pattie

Kickin’ the New Year off Right!

Okay - so I, like most people, made some resolutions that haven’t quite kicked in yet! Here’s a sneak preview of my Top Ten goals for ‘06, in no particular order:

1. Get organized! (those paperwork piles are history!!)

2. Produce more TeleSeminars with a variety of experts

3. Get on radio and TV - a lot.

4. Write every day

5. Get my first book published

6. Reach out to other experts and develop unique, joint programming for corporate, non-profit and entrepreneurial sectors

7. Get my Business Success articles in more online venues

8. Produce at least 2 Entrepreneurial events at 2 colleges in the Northeast, with more national sponsors

9. Expand my feature writing from regional to national publications

10. Excercise more, and lose 20 pounds

Okay , so let’s face the facts. It’s the 11th and I’ve yet to get up earlier to exercise. My piles are multiplying as I write this, and I have NOT managed to write everyday. I am not abandoning my quest though, so want to share some great strategies that others have shared with me, as well as tips I give to my clients, that I need to implement myself!

First - Since life is so busy and it’s easy to get waylaid, I am gonna print out my Top Ten list and post it right near my computer screen. No way to wriggle out of it, if it’s in my face, right??

Next, I’m going to schedule my time to accommodate the various objectives I’ve set for myself. Now just looking over my list is enough to make anyone want to hyperventilate, but the secret here, according to Ellen Parlapiano, co- author of ” Mompreneurs(R): A Mother’s Step-by-Step Guide to Work-at-Home Success,” is thinking small. At first, I thought that was crazy! I have BIG goals, so that must mean I have to do it all, RIGHT NOW ( can you tell I’m a Type “A”??)

Anyway, it did not take me too long to discover how wise Ellen’s advice was. When you think small, things are not so overwhelming. As a group, these are YEAR LONG goals, and I will be able to accomplish them all ( and keep my sanity), by chipping away at them a little at a time.

I also thought about some feedback I got from a couple of my professional organizer contacts. Their advice will work for you too! All it takes is careful, coordinated planning. As Gayle M. Gruenberg, from Let’s Get Organized says, “live by your calendar, in pencil!” That means blocking out a bit of time here and there, in between my mentoring calls, my meetings, speaking engagements, and other work. The “in pencil” part makes it easier to be flexible, so there’s no excuse for not fitting in what I need to, to suit my own unique plan and ever-evolving schedule.

This is the key for me, cause otherwise the hours fly by and at the end of the day, well, I’m always wonderng what happened!?!?

Would love to hear feedback on how you deal with your time challenges, or any other entrepreneurial issues, as I hope this blog can become a forum that provides easy tips and solutions we can all benefit from!

Wishing you Success,
Pattie
President, Write-Communications
Founder, WomenCentric(TM) LLC