Welcome to Part 1 of planning your business success
Define success
In order to succeed, you must define success. Success could be defined as something which gives you happiness and satisfaction, but is that all? A phrase I love which I heard recently is that the key point in finding success is when you find your today is better than your yesterday.
But what does success mean to you? If you cannot define what success means to you, then you will never know if you have achieved it or not.
So many people think that success only consists of having money or power but this is not the case. Success will vary from one person to another. For one person it may mean material wealth and therefore they define their success by achieving a sum of money in the bank, or by owning material items such as a luxury home or top of the range car. To someone else, success may be time freedom. They will consider themselves to be successful when they are able to have time to do the things they love and with the people they love when they want. And to another, it may be by gaining a significant achievement such as winning a business award or completing a race in a particular time. It could be as simple as working in a job you love.
Take time to really think about what success means to you so you will know when you have achieved your dream.
Be specific
Now you know what success means to you, make it specific. You need to specific about what you are aiming for or it will all become a bit woolly around the edges and you will never be quite sure if you are on the right track to attaining it or not.
If you have decided that you will have achieved success by being debt free with ample disposable income, be clear on exactly what figure this income is that you will have. If you want that top of the range car, what make, colour, and engine size will it have? If you want to increase sales in your business, be exact as to by how much of an increase you want. Is it by 50% or 100%? Or is it a specific amount of sales income that you are looking to achieve?
Saying you want to live in a nice house is just a loose dream compared to saying you want to live in a four bedroom detached house, with quarter-acre garden, garage, home office, gym and sea views in North Devon. The more detailed and specific you can be about what it is that you want to achieve, the better.
Get down to the nitty-gritty of what you really want. Cross the t’s and dot the I’s. If you get stuck research online and in magazines for inspiration to help you build that perfect vision.
It is far too easy when running your own business and trying to do everything yourself to find yourself feeling overwhelmed and crushed by the mountain of tasks demanding your attention. The accounts need updating, bills need paying, the marketing needs doing, quotes need chasing, meetings need to be booked and all of this before you even start on the core of producing your product or providing your service.
All too often small business owners find themselves working 15 hours a day, neglecting their family and eventually reaching burnout through sheer exhaustion.
But it doesn’t have to be like that. Once you accept that your to-do list will never be fully completed you can start to plan and prioritise the big things and let the small things go. You need to understand that time management is not about getting everything done. It is about figuring out how to get more of the right things done with the time you have.
So here are some tips:
Plan Your Day/Week/Month
If you’re going to be productive, you must create some sort of structure to your working day, week and month. Block specific times out in your diary for dealing with those tasks that keep getting pushed down the list but are too important to ignore completely. Block off the first Monday morning of every month to reconcile the accounts. Use the last Friday afternoon of each month to analyse your marketing and plan what you are going to do for the next month. Block out two hours midweek each week to follow up past contacts or quotes.
Treat these times blocks with the importance they deserve. Do not let other things push them out the way. You can plan this either in a paper diary or schedule on your online calendar, so you get a reminder. This will put you in a feeling of control and stop you worrying you are going to miss something.
Create lists
When structuring your day, week or month, create a list of things that need to be done.
A daily list should have no more than three key items that need to be achieved. This does not mean you have to stop working when these three items are completed but it will help ensure the top priority items get completed first. And you can choose a fun task from your monthly list when you have completed your daily tasks which will help keep you motivated.
Once you have completed your daily list, have a look at your weekly list and pick something else from there that needs completing. Do the same with your monthly list. If a particular task seems too huge, break it down into smaller chunks as mentioned before and create a number of subtasks to get it completed.
At the end of each day, prepare your list for the next day. If nothing urgent and important with an impending deadline shouts out at you, one trick I use is to put a red dot against each item on my weekly list as the days move forward. If I get to seven dots, I either put that item as a priority for the next day or make the decision the item is not really that important and delete it. You can always move it to an ongoing list if you wish and then put another colour dot against it for each week that goes by and use the same principle.
By sorting out your next working day the evening prior, it will help you to relax and sleep better by knowing your next day is all planned out.
Set out your working hours
When you run your own business, there may creep in the temptation to start a little earlier in the day or finish later. Whatever hours you want to work is up to you but set up a routine of working hours that suits you and your business.
Treat it like a business and start and finish at the same time each day. Ensure you take a lunch break for at least 20 minutes and get some fresh air in this time if you can. I promise you will be more productive by taking this short break than if you work through thinking you haven’t got time to stop.
By having set working hours you can focus more clearly on what needs to be completed by when rather than thinking you can do it later and ending up working into the late hours of the night.
Have the right tools
You need tools to keep track of what you must do. Trying to keep everything sorted in your head will result in failure and lead to massive stress.
Calendars As mentioned above, by putting tasks into an online calendar which will send you a reminder when it is due, you remove the stress of trying to have to remember it.
Emails If you have more than one email account, synchronise them into one place so that you don’t have to keep logging in and out of different accounts.
Project Management Software Use task management software to organise your documents and keep a track of tasks pending and completed and how a project is progressing.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)If you only have a few clients, a simple spreadsheet may do but have a look at a simple CRM system such as Capsule. These help organise your clients, hold all their notes, emails and documents in one place and set your follow up tasks.
Accountancy software Hate balancing the figures at the end of the month? Always get in a muddle? Try software solutions such as FreeAgent and Freshbooks that look after your invoicing and expenses and balance your figures with your online bank account. There is a small monthly cost for many software solutions, but these could be well worth the expense (approx. £19.99 pcm for FreeAgent) if it saves you hours of time and stress. It will take time to get your head around some of these systems, but start slowly and simply and you will soon end up wondering how you ever coped without them. And many systems integrate with each other, so you always have access to all your information in one place.
Baby Steps
Big tasks can seem so overwhelming that you just don’t know where to start. Think of the adage ‘How do you eat an elephant?’ The answer, one mouthful at a time. And it is the same with your work. Break it down into bite-size chunks or baby steps.
If you have a task that you think is going to take you hours to complete and think you just don’t have the time, set an alarm for just 15 minutes and make a start on it. You may just surprise yourself with how much you get done when the pressure is off to complete the task all in one go.
Focus on one task at a time
Multi-tasking is not always the best way of being productive and is when mistakes tend to happen. It can be far better to focus on one task at a time and get that over and done with. Turn off any distractions for important tasks such as your phone and close those social media tabs! Set your time and get going. It is far more therapeutic to see whole tasks being crossed off a list than just doing bits here and there with nothing ever getting fully done.
Outsource what you hate
Have a look at those tasks that are building up the red dots and still sitting on your list. Is there a pattern or any similarity between them? Mine is always the financial tasks. I love being creative and being with my clients. I hate sitting down number crunching and cross-referencing. So, go get someone else to do it for you. Someone with a passion for numbers can get my books up to date in a couple of hours where it would take me days to truly get to grips with it. Outsourcing things you hate may cost you a small amount of money, but this will make up for itself in getting those things done to free up your time doing what you love and making sales.
Prepare for emergencies.
Life rarely goes smoothly and the unexpected happens to put us off track when we least need it. You feel like you have everything under control and then your dog gets taken ill and must be rushed to the vet. You have a load of documents to print-ready for a workshop and your printer decides to stop working. The school phone because your child has been involved in an incident and you need to go and talk to their teacher.
So, have a contingency plan up your sleeve. Prepare for the ‘what if’s’. Just having an emergency plan in place will give you so much peace of mind. Try to keep a few hours free in your diary each week to plan for the unexpected. This will give you a few precious hours to help get yourself back on track with your tasks. And if you don’t need to use this time for an unexpected event, use it to either do a task you enjoy or even to take a couple of hours for yourself to relax and recharge.
Try these time management tips and see if you start to work more effectively.
Here are my top 10 tips to make 2018 your best year yet
Be the best
Be the best version of yourself that you can be. Whatever you are doing give it your absolute best.
Dream big
Dream big and step outside your comfort zone to achieve your goals.
Prioritise
Focus on your priorities. Choose these wisely and focus on them above everything else.
Focus
Choose activities that will take you closer to your goals. Focus on money making activities not scattergun time wasters.
Eat that frog
Eat that frog! Whatever is important; do it first. Create a morning routine to get the important things done first before you turn on your phone or computer.
Visualise
Spend time every day visualising your dreams and goals. Have a vision board. Take a picture of this and keep in your purse. Keep looking at it. It’s powerful stuff!
Question yourself
Ask yourself daily “What can I do to make a positive difference today?” Then go do it.
Keep learning
Keep learning from the best. Read daily, listen to podcasts, follow those who have been there and done it. Spend 30 minutes each day soaking up positivity and focus from these people.
Look after yourself
Take time to relax all by yourself. Eat healthily. Exercise regularly. Get enough sleep. A healthy body and healthy mind will drive your forward more than anything else.
Make memories
Make memories, not money. Spend time with family and friends. Give them your undivided time. Life is short, and no amount of money will make up for missed moments.
At various times in our life, we find that there is so little time and so much to do that our minds get so full of to-do lists that seem to never end. This inevitably ends up with us getting trapped and unable to move forward as we do not even know where to start.
Try some of the ideas below to help empty your mind of these never-ending swirling thoughts and to be able to move forward with a clear vision.
Replace Negative Self Talk With Positive Self Talk.
Be kind to yourself. Negative thoughts are those that stop us from doing what we really want to do. This negative self-talk tells us that we have failed and are so disorganized that we can’t go ahead and do things. It tells us that we don’t know enough, are not good enough and don’t have the skill or talent to make our small business a success.
Unless you really commit long term, you will never know what your ability or capacity is. Take some time to be kind to yourself and think about how you can do it rather than how you can’t. Write down a list of all the strengths and skills you already have that will help you achieve your tasks. Eliminate “I can’t” from your vocabulary. You can always learn a new skill set but you must change a mindset in order to succeed.
Clear up incomplete tasks.
Have you ever felt overwhelmed by how much there is to do? Do you have all types of to do lists? Have you done a walk-through inspection of your home office? As you look around your office space, you may notice things that have been left unfinished. Make a list and take time to conquer each of these incompletes. Replace, fix, or toss items that are damaged. Buy items that will enhance your environment and your productivity. Get rid of the old items that are cluttering up your location. Better yet donate them to your local charity. It will be someone else’s treasure. If you have not used it in a year, do you really think you’re still going to use it? Pack it up in a box and if you do not use it in six months, give it away! The item is not serving you well and you’ll be amazed at how much lighter you feel.
Write down your to-do list.
Don’t rely on your memory to remember everything that you need to do or accomplish. Some of those tasks may be daily and monthly, or even yearly. Buy yourself a diary in which to jot down all those things you need to get done. As you write down what it is you need to accomplish each day, you will have a clearer picture and focus on the things that you need to get done. You may break them down into different tasks and delegate them.
Determine your priorities.
When you decide what your priorities are in your business you can better channel your energy to accomplish those priorities. As you take care of your priorities, the rest of your life tends to move with ease because you are focusing on what really matters to you. You may find that a lot of those things that were clogging up your mind were really not important after all and can be scrubbed off your list.
Work on your biggest action items first.
When you have a deadline to finish a big project, it can be a bit overwhelming. Some projects seem larger than others. We can often talk ourselves out of what we need to do by changing the subject or choosing to do an easier task first. We tend to put these important tasks to the side and even procrastinate when approaching that task. However, when you start with the biggest task item first the other tasks seem to be that much easier. By doing the hardest or most difficult task first, you will be more motivated to continue with the rest of your list.
Cut down on the number of webinars and TV shows you watch.
Think about the webinars and recordings that you watch. What purpose are they serving you? Are they merely entertainment or educational? How do they benefit you? By cutting down your viewing time a half an hour each day, you are gaining more time to do other things that will be more fruitful in moving your business forward. It is no use keep on watching to learn new things if you never actually put them into practice.
Check your e-mail only twice per day.
Email is a time waster; we can get drawn into emails that do not help us obtain our goals. Allocate certain times of day to check your email, perhaps you need to let people know that you will check your e-mail at specific times during the day. This allows others to know that you are busy and they will have a better sense of when to expect a reply from you. Unsubscribe from mailing lists that you have joined over the years.
Clear and prepare your desk for the next day.
This process can take about 15 to 20 minutes on average. Throw out anything that you think you do not need. Use the one-touch paper method. When you touch paper, you need to decide if you are going to file it, deal with it, or dispose of it. Paper clutter can overtake our lives.
Take a break from what you’re working on.
There are times when you need to get away from the computer and your desk in order to clear your mind so you can look at your project again with fresh eyes. When we have been working steadily, we can lose sight of our vision of the end result. Sometimes, if we spend time away from a project and then later go back to it, we can think more clearly and generate many new ideas. The best way to clear your mind is to sit in silence and write down whatever thoughts come to your mind. Write down the crazy and extreme thoughts, these are the ones that can lead to creative thinking. You will be amazed at the results; some of your ideas could be groundbreaking.
Stress reducers.
Stress reducers like exercise, meditation, and prayer are fabulous ways to de-clutter your mind. Exercise not only rejuvenates us and keeps the blood flowing; it also helps our body to get in the best shape ever. Meditation is wonderful for clearing the mind. Prayer gives us hope for future and beliefs and we can achieve.
Declutter your mind daily. Each time you declutter your mind you make room for new ideas and opportunities. You will feel calm, cool, and collected and ready to take on the challenges and opportunities that come your way.
Do you ever have days when you have so much to do that you simply don’t know where to start?
That feeling of paralysis creeps in and you feel like crying. It’s all so simply overwhelming. Two hours later of shuffling bits of paper from one place to the other, re-writing to-do lists and five cups of coffee and still nothing has been achieved.
Sound familiar?
A while ago I came up with an idea that has helped me enormously when I have been faced with this predicament.
Write all your things to do on these cards or notes or even small pieces of paper. Now stack these up in order of priority. Remember to think about looming deadlines and which tasks are going to make you money when prioritizing them. Now take the top item and do it without looking at any of the other items underneath. DO NOT stop until you have completed that top item, then you can move on to the next.
If you have a particular item that is going to take hours (or days!), break this down into smaller chunks. Say you have to write a programme or finish a study module. Write down all the components of this. If you are studying it could be something like
Read chapter one
Complete actions on chapter one
Submit answers on Chapter one
Give each of these items a card of its own.
If writing a programme it could be
Plan subject matter
Map out headings
Source information
Source images
Plan module 1
And so on and so on
Again, give each item a card of its own. This way you can intersperse large tasks with smaller ones to break up the monotony.
It’s all about taking control and not letting yourself get overwhelmed. Once you have a plan, no matter how simple, you will feel more in control and know that you can manage what you have to do.
If you like this idea and find it useful, let me know in the comments below.
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