Self Employed Success

Jackie asks, “How can I control the time monster? I have so much to do in my business, I never seem to have enough time to get it all done.”

Watch this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjhn-0q-oYQ

Got a question for me about growing your business? Ask your questions here:

http://www.AskKarynAnything.com

New videos will be posted each Tuesday.

Time-management pundits are always harping on how we waste time reading emails first thing in the morning. I think they’re full of manure.

First of all, a 2007 study found that 41% of people go online first thing in the morning, many of those reading email before they even eat breakfast. A more recent study I read said it was increasing to closer to 65% of people going online first thing each morning. Is it just addiction – or is there a good reason for it?

As a small business owner, I have a HUGE reason for reading email first thing in the morning: my customers matter to me more than anything. Most of my clients and students communicate with me via email, so taking care of their needs first thing in the morning is simply good customer service.

Why do the time management folks act like email is evil? Because we don’t segregate “important” email from “read this when you get a chance” email. There’s nothing inherently wrong with reading email first, just like there’s nothing wrong with writing your blog post first each morning or doing yoga first thing. But you have to pick your priorities and you have to focus on the task at hand.

• For instance, I do not use my personal email address when signing up for ezines and email newsletters. That way, my personal Inbox doesn’t get crowded with non-essentials and stops a lot of spam from ever reaching me. If something is in my personal Inbox, it’s because it’s important, like an email from a client, student or my assistant. (A colleague told me that she has 2,500 new emails each morning. My question to her is: WHY do you allow so many emails get into your personal Inbox? They can’t possibly all be of the same importance level.)
• Another reason I read email first is that it’s the only real quiet time I have during my working hours. Typically the phone doesn’t start ringing until 9AM and using the pre-phone time to read email allows me to focus.
• I’ve delegated much of my email reading to my assistant who handles any routine customer service problems from people who have bought my ebooks or audio programs, or students who have lost their login ID.
• I quickly scan my new emails and only answer those ones that are most important.
• Finally, I read email first because it’s when I’m the freshest and smartest. Do you really want to be writing emails when your brain is fuzzy?

If email is an important part of communicating with your customers then go ahead and read it first thing. Just pay strict attention to whether you’re keeping focused on the Communicating With Customers task or veering off to read articles, news, jokes, quotations, or watching YouTube videos of Surprised Kitty instead of doing your work. Set a time limit, say 30 minutes, and get through the most important emails first.

In this episode of Ask Karyn Anything, Andrea asks “How do you get so much done? How do you manage your To Do list?”

Got a question for me about growing your business? Ask your questions here:

http://www.AskKarynAnything.com

New videos will be posted each Tuesday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uGRA7lBpjo

Have you ever known what you needed to do to create the life and business of your dreams, but somehow you just never got around to doing what needed to be done?

After many failed diet attempts, I realized that I wasn’t going to lose weight unless I took a look at why I wanted to be slimmer. I wrote a “decision tree” of two things:  all the reasons I wanted to lose weight, and all the reasons I didn’t want to lose weight. The results were startling…

Reasons To Go On a Diet and Lose Weight

• Less stress on heart, lungs
• Less stress on joints, decrease risk of getting Osteoarthritis
• Less stress on kidneys, intestines, stomach
• Lower risk of heart attack
• Lower risk of stroke
• Lower risk of cancer
• Look, feel better
• Fit into clothing comfortably
• Able to walk, hike, exercise without struggle
• Feel sexier, more confident
• Less foot, knee, hip pain
• Can go to the beach and enjoy myself without feeling like a cow
• Can find and buy better quality clothing; to feel good while trying on clothing
• Improved concentration, memory, balance
• More energy
• Aids in the production of antibodies
• To properly utilize fats, carbohydrates and proteins in my diet
• To relieve irritability
• Prevent excessive deposits of fat in the liver
• Less back pain
• To have space between my stomach and the tray on the airplane.
• To be able to wear shorts in the summer
• Reduce blood pressure
• To be able to buy underwear at Victoria’s Secret
• So I can cross my legs
• To feel strong and fit

Reasons to NOT Go On a Diet

• I don’t want to

I know…you’re saying the second list is too short. No, it’s not. No matter what excuse or limiting belief I wrote on the second list, I ended up crossing it out and returning to “I don’t want to do it.”

Harsh? Perhaps, a little. But I firmly believe if you want something badly enough, you will move Heaven and Earth to get it. You will clear your limiting beliefs. You will cast aside your reasons why you can’t do it, or can’t be it, or can’t have it. You will face your fears,  face your personality quirks, and move forward anyway.

People are constantly asking me how I get so much done in my business, how I created such a successful business. The answer is simple: I wanted it strongly enough. Still do. Every day.

Want some inspiration along these lines? Read Berton Braley’s poem, Success. It’s the poem that Les Brown recites in nearly every one of his speeches.

As my grandma used to say, “Actions speak louder than words.” Saying you want something isn’t as powerful as taking action towards that goal.

So, what are your reasons for wanting a thriving, profitable business, and what are your reasons for NOT wanting it? I’d be interested to see if your second list is similar to mine.

P.S. I started Weight Watchers in January and have lost 16 pounds in 14 weeks. Guess I wanted to after all.

Are you getting everything done on your To Do list?

No?

Join the crowd.

More and more self-employed entrepreneurs are complaining that email, phone calls and their beeping and buzzing BlackBerry are constantly causing interruptions, increasing stress and reducing productivity.

These constant interruptions are costing you productivity — and ultimately income.

In my blog post Choose One Project, I talk about the myth of multitasking. Talking on the phone and answering emails at the same time decreases your overall productivity. So does answering emails while you’re trying to focus on an important project or task. It causes twice the number of errors when you multitask or allow interruptions to your task.

By allowing all these interruptions, you are losing TWO hours a day of productive time.

The Solution

Many large corporations like Intel, IBM, and Deloitte & Touche are instituting something called Quiet Time: a block of time in which you cannot send or read emails, and may not make or receive phone calls (unless they are related to the specific project you’re working on).

I started to do this last year:

• Core Productivity times are 9AM – 2:30 PM. All client calls and project work are done during these hours.
• Every Friday was “class design and book writing day.” No client or prospect appointments, no emails from 9:00 – 2:30, no phone calls at all.
• Emails are handled twice a day – 8:00 and 2:30.
• Each day, return phone calls are handled after 2:30 PM (which is great because of the time zone differences between East and West coast).
• When I really, really needed to work on a project in a deeply focused way, I’d bring my laptop to the lake, park or library, taking my work to a quiet environment without possible distractions.

My Results

In a 12-month period, I designed and launched THREE new classes (including a 9-week class which was a whopper to design), wrote one new ebook, designed two new websites, and overall had a much happier and more satisfied lifestyle and work environment. Awesome!

Lest you think that you will be less productive in getting through your emails and phone calls if you institute Quiet Time in your business, think again. Having fixed times each day for email and phone calls increases your productivity, actually reducing the amount of time you spend on emails and phone calls. (I found I could get through 30-40 emails in a solid, planned hour, which would have taken me two hours if I had answered them in a scattered fashion throughout the day.)

If you are frustrated because you’re not accomplishing your projects and tasks, you need to schedule Quiet Time into each day. You will be happier and feel more fulfilled by your work if you do.