Time Management
Sunday, March 16, 2008, by Leigh Anne
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“The things that make you feel, think, laugh”
Today is Part Three of our Finding Focus series.
The last few weeks I have shared ideas on how to find focus in your life and homebased business when you only have a few minutes with the Fifteen Minute Focus or how to get focused when you have a whole day with the concept of the Catch Up Day.
But what about the in between? You have more than a few minutes but not quite a whole day. Try the Power Hour!
The Power Hour is a technique I learned years ago from Sue Rusch, a former top leader with Pampered Chef.
The Power Hour is a catch up technique you can use, like the Fifteen Minute Focus when you are feeling overwhelmed and constantly behind. This technique has helped me to gather that splattered energy and refocus my attention - to focus on what really matters.
Here is how it works - you beg, borrow or steal one hour during the day to devote entirely and totally to your business or some other project you are trying to accomplish.
If you have young children at home, hire a sitter, trade with a neighbor, negotiate with your husband or stay up an hour later or get up an hour earlier than everyone else (this is what I find works best for me).
During this Power Hour you work as hard as you can on that one thing that has been eating at you - those customer care calls you can’t seem to get done (don’t do this one late at night or early in the morning :), the closet that needs organizing, or that exercise routine that keeps getting neglected - whatever it is that has been nagging at you.
A Power Hour is dedicated to one task or a couple of smaller ones. If you are using this concept to help you get more focused with your business be sure to stay focused on business building activities!
We need to realize we can not do everything - at least not all at the same time. You need a clear sense of the activities that are worthy of your time and those that will contribute little to your goals and mission.
Confucius said, “The man who chases 2 rabbits catches neither.”
Having the self-discipline to focus on our best activities - ones that create results that are desired can be challenging.
Focusing on the worthy is the golden key to time management, finding focus, balance and life fulfillment.
Here are tips that helped me during my Power Hour:
- Just like with the Fifteen Minute Focus - use a timer.
- Decide on what your reward will be at the end of your Power Hour - maybe a cup of tea, a movie with your husband or a hot bath before bed or maybe even some chocolate!
- Do not answer the phone during your Power Hour.
- Shut the door to the room where you are working if possible and remember what I tell my children - don’t bother me unless there is blood or you’re not breathing!
In the book “Don’t Worry, Make Money“ Richard Carlson recommends “experimenting with the one-hour solution.” Spending one hour each and every day, doing what is the critical inch of your business. The critical inch being the key parts of our business (not simply busy work), income producing activities.
Just this week, I used the technique to help me get caught up on an Internet course I had enrolled in. I had gotten very behind (15 weeks behind to tell the truth!). I set aside a Power Hour each day and set a goal to accomplish two lessons a day and now I am almost caught up!
So what is the one thing that has been nagging at you, causing you to feel splattered and unfocused? Find time for one Power Hour this week and work on that project. Give it a try and let me know by leaving a comment below how it works for you!
Happy Power Hour!
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Categories: Home Based Business, Inspire, Motivation, Time Management
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Sunday, March 9, 2008, by Leigh Anne
“The things that make you feel, think, laugh”
Last week I introduced you to my new blog post category - “Nest” with a fun idea of planting your own Easter grass.
Today I introduce my second new category - “Inspire”. On Monday’s I will be sharing ideas and tips that have inspired me and that hopefully will inspire you. The majority of them will have something to do with balancing a job/business or just life with a family but you never know what may inspire me during the week!
Before I share this week’s idea I want to explain why I chose the above picture to represent my “Inspire” posts.
One of my favorite things to do is to sit in my kitchen or my office and watch the hummingbirds out in my garden. They are amazing little birds.
Did you know that not only can they fly vertical and horizontal but they are also the only bird who can fly backwards. They are able to hover midair as their wings flap 15-80 times a second! They amaze me.
So I chose a picture of a hummingbird in the garden - it inspires me and I hope that my “Inspire” posts will inspire you!
You may remember that last week I shared with you a disorder I suffer from - A.A.A.A.D.D. -
Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.
Today I will share a strategy I use when I am really having a hard time focusing.
A Catch Up Day is a great idea when you are really feeling overwhelmed with all those unfinished projects and having a hard time staying focused long enough to complete any of them. But sometimes a Catch Up Day is just not in the picture, so here is another strategy you can use to help you focus on a project that needs to get done!
The 15 Minute Focus
When you don’t have a whole day to devote to those unfinished projects use the 15 Minute Focus. I found that I can accomplish just about anything in 15 minute increments.
I have cleaned and organized my garage, weeded the garden, gotten caught up on my scrapbooks, sewn a quilt and organized every room in my house by using this technique!
I have learned that you can suffer through anything for 15 minutes (and longer if a new baby is the result of your efforts!)
So what job have you been putting off and dreading? Is it cleaning the garage, getting those photos into an album or something else?
The trick that really makes this technique work though is that you only do it for 15 minutes. I use a kitchen timer to make sure I don’t work for more than 15 minutes. It is important that you don’t think “Hey I’m on a roll, I’ll just keep going.”
The problem with that is that next time you need a 15 minute focus you will say to yourself, “I can’t do this because I don’t have 30 -45 minutes.” Only work for 15 minutes at a time - NO MORE!
You’ll be amazed at how much you can accomplish in 15 minutes of FOCUSED time. Allow no distractions, no phone calls, etc. Set a timer!
Tell your family that they are not allowed to talk to you - lock yourself in the room if you have too. I tell my kids “Unless there is blood or you are not breathing - LEAVE ME ALONE!
(Those of you with younger children will want to make sure another responsible adult is supervising the children!)
So give it a try and let me know how it goes. Let me know what you are able to accomplish during your 15 Minute Focus.
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Categories: Goals, Home Based Business, Inspire, Motivation, Organizational Tips, Time Management
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Wednesday, January 16, 2008, by Leigh Anne
O.K. so I know - I usually share a recipe on Wednesdays but today, instead, I’m going to share some tax advice! Like many of you, bookkeeping and taxes are two of my LEAST favorite things in the world but a necessity with a homebased business.
Recipes are much more fun I know, but yesterday I participated in a conference call sponsored by the Barefoot Executive featuring Deduction Diva, Vicki Collins. Vicki is a CPA that specializes in working with homebased business, especially direct sales. Be sure and check out her website.
On the call Vicki shared her Tax To Do List for 2008. She had a lot of good ideas and tips. Here’s her list -
1. If you have inventory and didn’t do a count on December 31st - do it now!
2. Get an official odometer reading. If you are ever audited, IRS may ask to see proof of your odometer reading at the beginning and end of the year. If you haven’t had any repair work or oil changes in the past month, you will need to find a way to get a reading. If you don’t need any work done, you can always go to an oil change/repair workshop and request an estimate. They should put the odometer reading on the estimate.
3. Finish up 2007 filing and bookkeeping.
4. Review and complete your 2007 mileage log. It will never be easier to finish than right now. If you haven’t started your 2007 log, it’s o.k. - you can still do it now. Just look at your planner and receipts and use those to calculate your miles. 2007’s mileage rate is 48.5 cents per mile.
5. Set up your 2008 files. Think about your categories of expenses. By getting your files together now, it will be much easier to file your receipts throughout the year.
6. If you don’t have a separate checking account and credit card for your business, go ahead and establish them now. It’s always easier to do your record-keeping when you don’t have to go through and separate out personal and business expenses.
7. Make or review your business plan. This is great documentation of your intent to make a profit. It also helps you stay on track during the year.
8. Make appointments with yourself either weekly or monthly to do your bookkeeping. It is so much easier to do your paperwork and bookkeeping regularly. You’ll also be less likely to forget to include income and expenses.
9. If you pay estimated tax, your final estimate for 2007 is due January 15th (yesterday!)
10. Vow to learn as much as you can to help yourself keep more money in your pocket through legal tax deductions and strategies.
Note from Leigh Anne: I learned the hard way the importance of keeping on top of your bookkeeping. After a couple of years of neglecting it and having to spend hours and hours going through receipts, paperwork, tearing my hair out, etc. to get it ready for taxes I now schedule 30 minutes the first of each month to take care of things - it is so much easier!!
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Categories: Home Based Business, Organizational Tips, Time Management
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Wednesday, December 12, 2007, by Leigh Anne
Have you ever felt like you just weren’t getting everything done? Do you have too many projects that won’t fit into your weekly/daily schedule? Too many loose ends - not enough time! I feel that way quite often - especially with a homebased business when there are so many other distractions during your day. Those “waiting to be done” piles/lists just keep getting higher and longer. Those piles/lists can include things like getting that customer newsletter out, making needed phone calls, bookkeeping, bill paying and even things like sewing on a button, a pile of ironing and this time of year things like getting those Christmas cards out and finishing up your gift shopping etc.
Whenever I get feeling this way - a bit panicked by all the things I haven’t finished, I declare a Catch Up Day! It is a great time management technique. The Catch Up Day is basically a whole day (or if you have to - half a day) of “white space” on your calendar. The need for a Catch Up Day happens to all of us - even the most disciplined and most organized. When you are feeling that “panicked feeling” select a day from your upcoming week/month that you leave totally white - I actually draw a big X through the day I select on my calendar - and then try your hardest to schedule NOTHING for that day(except things that you need to get done). I know, I know, this can be a challenge so that’s why if you have to - a half a day is better than nothing!
Well, I was having that “panicked” feeling last week so I decided it was time for a Catch Up Day -so I had one yesterday! To make the best use of your Catch Up Day spend some time the night before preparing. Make a list of all the things you want to accomplish - even sewing on that button or filing those papers. The next day you will be ready to go - now for those of you with small children at home this may require a babysitter but I promise you it will be worth it! Find a friend and trade babysitting for each other’s Catch Up Days!
Once you designate your Catch Up Day DO NOT be tempted to allow other people to fill up that white space for you, only you are allowed to choose what you will do that day.
I use my Catch Up Days for both personal and business things - doesn’t matter what it is - if it is something that has been bugging you, hanging around for ever, put it on the list! Even going out to lunch with a friend you haven’t seen in months qualifies! The important thing is you choose how to use that time - don’t allow others to fill in that white space for you.
I thought I’d share with you what I did on my Catch Up Day. My least favorite holiday activities are sending out Christmas cards and stocking stuffers. I always leave these two things to the last minute and it ends up causing me all kinds of stress! So this year I decided I wasn’t going to do that - so I included them in my Catch Up Day list.
1. Purchased holiday paper and labels for Christmas cards and wrote family letter(the cards had actually been ordered and printed before Thanksgiving). Began addressing envelopes (didn’t finish)
2. Went to Target for stocking stuffers and all the fast food restaurants for gift cards for the stockings. Made sure I had “equal” amounts for each child - very important!
3. Placed a product order and delivered product to two people.
4. Bought a black “Marks a Lot” marker so Tessa could color her point shoes black for the holiday ballet. I had to go to THREE stores to find a “Marks a Lot” - it couldn’t be a Sharpie, that would be too easy. Every store had Sharpies!
5. Returned overdue books to the library - oops! I love supporting our libraries with my overdue fines.
6. Called the oral surgeon to schedule a time for Tessa to have her wisdom teeth out -I have needed to do that for several months!
7. Posted the photos from the school play on the website so other parents could see them (the play was a month ago!)
8. Purchased my last two Christmas gifts. Yeah!
9. Stood in line at the post office to mail off the last of the “long distance” gifts!
10. Did some research for my trip to Alabama this weekend - what is there to do in Mobile, Alabama? I discovered - not much! Jim’s company Christmas party is this weekend and they are flying me back for it. At least I can now say I’ve been to Alabama. Anyone from Alabama have some ideas for us???
So if life/business is feeling a little out of control and you have too many things on your to do list that aren’t getting done - schedule a Catch Up Day. You will be amazed how great you feel the next day!
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Categories: Direct Sales, Family, Home Based Business, Team Talk, Time Management
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Wednesday, September 26, 2007, by Leigh Anne
As a continuation to my “What’s For Dinner” post, today I want to share with you a few of the various methods I have used over the years to help make sure we enjoy “Family Dinner Time” - at least some of the time!
1. Once a Month Cooking - Once a month I would get together with a friend, in one of our kitchens, and together we prepared enough meals (about 20-25) for each of our families. We developed a list of recipes that our families liked and that froze well. (avoid things with sour cream) We each bought our own ingredients and worked together to prepare all the meals – it was an exhausting long day (we always had pizza for dinner that night) but at the end of the day I had a freezer stocked full of meals my family liked for the rest of the month! We froze most everything in large Ziploc baggies. I did this for several years until my friend moved away.
2. Dinner Group – After reading about the idea in a magazine I asked 3 of my friends who had families about the same size and age as mine if they would be interested in forming a Dinner Group. Each of us took one night of the week (Mon.- Thurs.) and prepared dinner for all 4 families. Each of those evenings a home made, hot meal would be delivered to my door. In order to make this type of group work you need to have families about the same size (no fair if one person has one child and the other has 10!), and similar tastes in food. One a month we would meet together to go over recipes, review ones we liked, didn’t like and go over new possibilities. This was also a fun social opportunity for us too. The only downside to the dinner group is that once in a while you get a really bad meal. Now I have to say in the 2 years or so we did this we only had one bad meal – but it was BAD. My children will never eat meatloaf again – meatloaf is not suppose to be gray - but that night it was and even my husband, who eats just about anything, wouldn’t eat it. So – don’t ever serve any of my family meatloaf!
3. Dream Dinners, Dinners Ready, Cooking Accomplished etc. A couple of years ago I discovered Dream Dinners like many of you and have tried various other meal prep places. Each month my neighbor and I would go together and in about an hour, working together and fast (you know me) we were able to walk out of there with 12 meals each, ready to be put in the freezer. This was more expensive than my Once A Month Cooking concept but a lot less work! This worked well for us for a while until my family decided they missed my cooking. I think this is a perfect idea for those who don’t like to cook or just have NO time to cook– you can give your family a good “home cooked” meal with a small investment of time each month. I still like to keep a few of these meals in the freezer for those “emergency” nights when cooking a meal from scratch just isn’t going to happen.
I will share my current Meal Plan on Friday!
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Categories: Family, Team Talk, Time Management
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