It's Monday morning - 8AM.
The kids are at school.
The house is quiet.
I have 3 hours before I need to pick my daughter up from Kindergarten.
I am sitting down at my keyboard with a fresh cup of coffee in one hand and my to-do-list in the other.
I spent 30 minutes last night writing down all of the things I need to do this week.
I have a list of all the avenues I can take to expand my business.
I have my plan of action! I have all the tools I need! I am ready to go! But, you know, I should start a load of laundry before I get on the phone.
The hamper looked rather full this morning.
There, that's done.
Oh, my coffee is a little cold.
I think I'll go out to the kitchen and warm it up.
Oh no, my son left his dishes on the counter this morning.
I'll put those in the dishwasher while my coffee is warming up.
What?!? No one emptied the dishwasher! I had better take care of that! Buzz! Time to switch the laundry! Ring, ring! Hi, Mom.
Yes I did hear it was raining there today.
What happened to the flowers? Well ...
Oh look at the time! I better go pick up my daughter from Kindergarten! Does this sound like your "work day"? I would start each day with the best intentions only to get side-tracked along the way.
My business wasn't where I wanted it to be and I couldn't understand it.
I had time marked off on my calendar to work my business but nothing was getting done.
I was a Project Manager in my previous life so organization runs in my blood.
A wise owl then passed along this piece of wisdom: You can work your business part-time or full-time but not in your spare time! Wow! That really hit home to me! When I look back over the past week, that is exactly what I did! I tried to work my business in my spare time.
So if you are in the same boat, here are some steps that helped me focus on the tasks at hand: 1.
Sit down with your calendar and mark off the time each day that you can work your business.
I bought a planner at the Dollar Store and wrote down all the commitments I could think of: school, volunteering, doctor's appointments, everything.
I then took a highlighter and identified blocks of time that I could commit to working my business.
I targeted time when both kids were in school but some days my working time was after they went to bed.
2.
Keep a to-do list.
When your "work time" starts, you don't want to waste time deciding what to do.
I have a list of items that I need to do daily (like post ads) and a list of items that change (like who to call, what to mail out).
Try to make your to-do list specific.
Instead of listing "contact fundraisers", list "call 5 PTA groups about fundraising and list the groups".
3.
Take Action! Don't spend too much time in the brainstorm mode.
This is hard and some of you will think I am crazy because we need to brainstorm new ideas to build our business.
When I first started out, I was so excited! My mind was churning with people to call, possible fundraisers, who would like to do a home party, what retail stores can I approach.
I read all of the files on the available yahoo groups to see what others were doing.
The problem was that I was spending most of my time brainstorming and not enough time acting.
One day when my brain was on the verge of dumping everything out my ears, I sat down with a notebook and dumped everything on paper instead.
Now I keep that idea book and spend time adding to it.
I also try to spend more time in action.
4.
Determine what work you can do with your kids around.
I try to get my phone calls and computer work done while the kids aren't around.
When we sit down at the table to work on homework or crafts, I use the time to prepare mailers, samples, brochures, etc.
I am amazed at the number of things that my kids like to do to help out! At 7 and 6 years, they love putting labels on brochures or stamps on mailers! (Side note: make sure they understand the difference between stamps and stickers! I have lost a few stamps that way!).
5.
Let the housework go! Hard lesson for me to learn but the laundry, dishwasher and cleaning can all wait a few hours.
In fact, I have found that my kids like to help sweep the floor, dust and fold laundry so why not make it fun when they are around (we will see how long that lasts!).
6.
Use that answering machine! I found that answering one call from my Mother can chew up an hour of precious work time (sorry, Mom)! If you don't have Caller ID and can't screen your calls, try letting the caller know that you are working now and you will call back later.
Now that I have gained more focus on my business, I am seeing pleasant changes.
My business is growing and I feel like I am getting much more accomplished in the time allotted.
There are other benefits I am seeing.
During my less focused days, I found that I spent lots of family time worrying about the business items that did not get done that day.
Now, I feel more comfortable about the time that I am with my children because I am more focused on them as well.
The other benefit? I can win 1 out of every 5 Nintendo games!
The kids are at school.
The house is quiet.
I have 3 hours before I need to pick my daughter up from Kindergarten.
I am sitting down at my keyboard with a fresh cup of coffee in one hand and my to-do-list in the other.
I spent 30 minutes last night writing down all of the things I need to do this week.
I have a list of all the avenues I can take to expand my business.
I have my plan of action! I have all the tools I need! I am ready to go! But, you know, I should start a load of laundry before I get on the phone.
The hamper looked rather full this morning.
There, that's done.
Oh, my coffee is a little cold.
I think I'll go out to the kitchen and warm it up.
Oh no, my son left his dishes on the counter this morning.
I'll put those in the dishwasher while my coffee is warming up.
What?!? No one emptied the dishwasher! I had better take care of that! Buzz! Time to switch the laundry! Ring, ring! Hi, Mom.
Yes I did hear it was raining there today.
What happened to the flowers? Well ...
Oh look at the time! I better go pick up my daughter from Kindergarten! Does this sound like your "work day"? I would start each day with the best intentions only to get side-tracked along the way.
My business wasn't where I wanted it to be and I couldn't understand it.
I had time marked off on my calendar to work my business but nothing was getting done.
I was a Project Manager in my previous life so organization runs in my blood.
A wise owl then passed along this piece of wisdom: You can work your business part-time or full-time but not in your spare time! Wow! That really hit home to me! When I look back over the past week, that is exactly what I did! I tried to work my business in my spare time.
So if you are in the same boat, here are some steps that helped me focus on the tasks at hand: 1.
Sit down with your calendar and mark off the time each day that you can work your business.
I bought a planner at the Dollar Store and wrote down all the commitments I could think of: school, volunteering, doctor's appointments, everything.
I then took a highlighter and identified blocks of time that I could commit to working my business.
I targeted time when both kids were in school but some days my working time was after they went to bed.
2.
Keep a to-do list.
When your "work time" starts, you don't want to waste time deciding what to do.
I have a list of items that I need to do daily (like post ads) and a list of items that change (like who to call, what to mail out).
Try to make your to-do list specific.
Instead of listing "contact fundraisers", list "call 5 PTA groups about fundraising and list the groups".
3.
Take Action! Don't spend too much time in the brainstorm mode.
This is hard and some of you will think I am crazy because we need to brainstorm new ideas to build our business.
When I first started out, I was so excited! My mind was churning with people to call, possible fundraisers, who would like to do a home party, what retail stores can I approach.
I read all of the files on the available yahoo groups to see what others were doing.
The problem was that I was spending most of my time brainstorming and not enough time acting.
One day when my brain was on the verge of dumping everything out my ears, I sat down with a notebook and dumped everything on paper instead.
Now I keep that idea book and spend time adding to it.
I also try to spend more time in action.
4.
Determine what work you can do with your kids around.
I try to get my phone calls and computer work done while the kids aren't around.
When we sit down at the table to work on homework or crafts, I use the time to prepare mailers, samples, brochures, etc.
I am amazed at the number of things that my kids like to do to help out! At 7 and 6 years, they love putting labels on brochures or stamps on mailers! (Side note: make sure they understand the difference between stamps and stickers! I have lost a few stamps that way!).
5.
Let the housework go! Hard lesson for me to learn but the laundry, dishwasher and cleaning can all wait a few hours.
In fact, I have found that my kids like to help sweep the floor, dust and fold laundry so why not make it fun when they are around (we will see how long that lasts!).
6.
Use that answering machine! I found that answering one call from my Mother can chew up an hour of precious work time (sorry, Mom)! If you don't have Caller ID and can't screen your calls, try letting the caller know that you are working now and you will call back later.
Now that I have gained more focus on my business, I am seeing pleasant changes.
My business is growing and I feel like I am getting much more accomplished in the time allotted.
There are other benefits I am seeing.
During my less focused days, I found that I spent lots of family time worrying about the business items that did not get done that day.
Now, I feel more comfortable about the time that I am with my children because I am more focused on them as well.
The other benefit? I can win 1 out of every 5 Nintendo games!
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