Are you investing in your time or just spending it?

Outsourcing, Time management0 comments

I came across a quote the other day from Stephen Covey, the author of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It said “The key is in not spending time, but in investing it”.

It got me thinking about how much we actually invest in our time and how much we just spend it. There is a difference.

We can easily give ourselves a big long ‘to do’ list and then happily spend time being busy while we work our way through it. However, being busy doesn’t mean that we’re being effective. That ‘to do’ list may just contain tasks that we like doing but are not really taking us anywhere. So we are busy but we’re busy on the wrong things.

Obviously if you’re running your own business, you could think of this literally by multiplying your hourly rate with the amount of time you spend on non-fee earning projects. This is certainly a good exercise if you’re thinking of outsourcing as it shows you how much some tasks are costing you by doing them yourself.

Investing in your time though is not just about money. It’s also about using the time you have more effectively so you’re focused on doing the right things. These are things that will help you and your business to grow, and which will move you towards your goals and what you want to achieve in life. This can be anything from learning a new skill to getting your business to a level where it can run without you.

So take a look at your ‘to do’ list and see if the tasks on it are important or not. For each task, ask yourself the question: “Would it make any difference to my goals whether I did this task or not?”. If the answer is no, then delete it or at least put it as a low priority.

By investing more of your time rather than just spending it, you will feel less stressed and more fulfilled as you find yourself achieving quicker results in your business and personal life.
 

If you want to get more tips on how to manage your time and work effectively in your business, then download a copy of our guide “How to organise your workload so there’s more time for you“. This guide is packed full of time management tips as well as 10 online tools to help you work more productively. Click on the link to download the guide >> How to organise your workload
 

Get More Done With a Do It Day!

Time management0 comments

One of the main things that can very often stress you out is having tasks on your to do list that you never get round to doing.  This can be a pile of paperwork that needs sorting out, an overflowing email inbox, or perhaps getting information together to send out a monthly  newsletter to your contacts.  Whatever it is, these are things that you’ve been thinking of doing for a  while but have been putting off because other priorities take over, or they’re not really things that you like doing.

Well one way to get motivated in getting more done is to have a “Do It Day”.  This is where you spend one day focusing on completing these kind of actions on your to do list.

It’s a good idea to plan your Do It Day though so that you use it effectively to get your tasks done.

• Focus on no more than 5-10 tasks otherwise you won’t be able to get it all done in one day.
• Assess how much time each task will take and allocate your time accordingly.  Use a timer when working on the project as this focuses your mind on completing it.
• Group similar tasks together, such as making phone calls, as this will help you to work more effectively rather than jumping from one task to another.
• Create an action plan for the day with timings and deadlines and share it with someone else.  By publicly saying that you’re going to do something, then you are more likely to get it done.
• Give yourself a reward at the end of the day, whether that’s a glass of wine or meeting friends.  This will help to keep you motivated especially if you find your enthusiasm flagging.

By getting rid of these tasks off your action list, you’ll have a real sense of achievement and feel more motivated about tackling the rest of your projects. So schedule a Do It Day in your diary now and get more done!
 

If you want to get more tips on how to manage your time and work effectively in your business, then download a copy of our guide “How to organise your workload so there’s more time for you“. This guide is packed full of time management tips as well as 10 online tools to help you work more productively. Click on the link to download the guide >> How to organise your workload
 

Having a Vision for Your Business

Time management0 comments

It’s great having an action plan for your business with goals and deadlines for each project, but how often do we stick to it?  Very often we get all ambitious about what we’re going to achieve and have one of those “I’ll change the world moments”.  Then a few weeks down the line, we have lost that enthusiasm and find ourselves sidetracked on to other projects.

So how can we stay aligned and focused on our important goals?

Well one way that I’ve found is to start off by having a vision for your business and then set goals and tasks around it.

For example I set my vision for this year as “stepping into the spotlight”, ie to raise my profile and reach a wider audience.

Once I’d got this vision, I set goals around it such as to do more public speaking, run workshops, webinars etc.  Then I set out the tasks and steps that I needed to take to reach these goals, eg explore speaking opportunities, write content for workshop/webinar etc.

By doing this, not only do you stay focused on your important projects, you also keep in mind the bigger picture of where you want to go and why you’re taking these actions. And because you have this clarity about where you’re going, it makes it easier to say no to other projects you get asked to be involved in which aren’t aligned with your own goals.

I would recommend that you only have 1-2 overall big ideas for the year and then set 5-6 key goals for each of them.  This stops you getting overwhelmed with a long to do list.

Once you know what you’re aiming for, you can create this as a vision board, mind map or just write it out as a to do list – whatever resonates with you.  Then put it up somewhere you can see it every day to remind you of where you want to be and what you need to do to get there.  Having a vision for your business also helps to keep you motivated if you’re ever feeling stuck on a project or feel that you’re not moving as fast as you would like.

Do you have a vision for your business? If so, let us know in the comment box below!
 

3 Ways to Keep Motivated

How to, Organisation, Time management4 comments

One of my aims this year is to be more clear and focused about what I want to achieve in my business.  It’s very easy to start the year off with great ideas and plans and then by the time February comes, find that the energy starts to drain away.

Let’s face it, there are some days or weeks when you just don’t feel as energised as others. And if you’re like me and running a business on your own then keeping the motivation going can sometimes be a struggle.

So I’ve found that there are three things that are helping me to keep motivated and focused on what I need to do to move my business forward.

Set deadlines. The first one is having deadlines.  This is important when you’re setting out your plan as having specific deadlines will give you something to work towards.  So before starting a project, think of the end result that you want to achieve and when you want to achieve it; and then break the project down into small steps, each with its own deadline.  This prevents you from becoming overwhelmed by a big project.  Also, don’t be afraid to set stretch targets for yourself but don’t make them so unachievable that you feel overwhelmed before you even start!

Limit your time.  Setting specific limits on my time has also helped to keep me focused on projects.  So if I’m writing a blog like this or spending time on social media, then I’ll set the timer on my phone for say 25 minutes.  When the alarm goes off, I stop what I’m doing for a few minutes and then either go back to the task or on to something else.  It stops you getting bogged down in one particular project and also prevents you wasting time on things like Twitter and Facebook.

Make yourself accountable.  It’s very easy to have a long to do list, but there will always be tasks on it that you put off because they feel like too much hard work.  With me, it’s sending out my monthly newsletter – some months I just can’t think what to put in it so I wait for inspiration.  And that can take a long time coming!  So making yourself accountable by sharing your goals and deadlines with someone else.  Most of us don’t like to lose face so if we’ve said that we’re going to do something then we’re more likely to do it.

So these are just 3 quick tips to help you stay focused and motivated with your goals and plans.  If you’ve got any other suggestions, then please drop them in the comment box below.
 

If you want to get more tips on how to manage your time and work effectively in your business, then download a copy of our guide “How to organise your workload so there’s more time for you“. This guide is packed full of time management tips as well as 10 online tools to help you work more productively. Click on the link to download the guide >> How to organise your workload
 

How to Manage Your Calendar in Outlook

How to, Time management, videos0 comments

If you’re like me then you probably spend the best part of the week trying to keep on top of both your business and personal appointments.

Well, this blog will show you how you can manage your  calendar in Outlook so that you can keep on top of your schedule and see clearly what commitments you have coming up each week.  By setting up multiple calendars and categorising appointments, you can plan ahead and take any necessary action before your meetings.

So here is what you need to do to set up and manage calendars and appointments in Outlook.

• To create a new calendar in Outlook, first of all make sure that you are in your calendar and then click on the New drop down button on the toolbar at the top and select Calendar from the drop down menu.

• Give the calendar a name and then click OK.  You will now see the calendar appear in the pane on the left hand side.

• To display any calendars that you’ve created, just click on the checkbox next to each calendar name and it will appear in a separate tab next to the main calendar.  To hide/expand open calendars, click on the arrow next to the calendar name at the top of the tab.  To hide calendars completely, just click on the check box again in the sidebar.

By creating multiple calendars, you can keep track of your business and personal appointments in the same place while keeping them separate at the same time.

• A great way to organise appointments in your diary is to add a category to them.  Select the appointment in your calendar, and then click on the Categorize button in the toolbar and select the category you want to assign to that meeting.   You can create and edit categories by selecting the All Categories option in the drop down menu.

• When you’ve assigned a category to a meeting, it will change to the same colour as the category so you can see what type of meeting it is, eg client, personal or for action.

• You can also add categories to appointments as you create them by opening up the New Appointment dialog box and then clicking on the Categorize drop down button in the toolbar.

By using categories to organise your appointments, you can easily see what type of meetings you have in your diary each day.  For example, you can highlight important client meetings or if you need to take action before the meeting.

So follow these steps to manage your calendar in Outlook and you will never miss a personal or business appointment and arrive at your meetings fully prepared.