Getting Organized For Success

I recently volunteered to lead an informal discussion group on a favourite topic of mine: “Getting Organized For Success”. The purpose of the group was to share ideas and pick up some new ones. The participants were small business owners from a wide range of businesses, both male and female. Although the group was so diverse, when it comes to organization, their challenges were very much the same!

It was interesting to learn that the most pressing organizational issues most small business owners have to deal with are: Clutter, Email Overwhelm and Time Management

Here are some of the ideas I shared with the group to deal with the above along with some of the solutions the group had to offer:

Clutter: the physical clutter i.e. stacks of paperwork, receipts; the home office becomes a dumping ground and papers for both business and household pile up. Over time the paperwork accumulates into unmanageable piles.

• The best way to avoid clutter is to have a system to manage the paperwork before it gets out of control.

• If you prefer to have everything neat yet close at hand, try a literature organizer. The cardboard models are sturdy and inexpensive. With 8, 24 or more letter size compartments labeled by category, each piece of paper that crosses your desk can be placed in its respective slot immediately.

• If you prefer your paperwork out of sight, use a filing cabinet with labeled hanging folders.

• Use an ‘in’ tray only for the items that need your attention right away.

Email Overwhelm: need I say more? Business owners cannot possibly respond to emails at the rate in which they come pouring in and managing email is too time consuming.

• Avoid attempting to respond each time you receive a new email. Schedule one or two times throughout your day that work best to dedicate to email management.

• Sort incoming mail by “From” or “Subject”. This will group emails alphabetically by sender or subject and is a great way to skim through emails quickly to identify what needs your attention now, what can be deleted right away and what can wait until later.

• Be proactive about managing your email. Take the time to set up ‘rules’ (Outlook has this feature). You can automate what should be done when an email comes in from a particular person i.e. move to ‘x’ folder. You can get very specific with this and assign sounds to alert you when you get an email containing certain key words or other rules you specify.

Time Management: juggling multiple calendars and multiple devices i.e. Blackberry, Outlook and Day-Timer; balancing personal and business commitments.

• To Do Lists do the trick for most of us. One member of our discussion group writes his lists for the next day at the end of every day and enjoys crossing tasks off his list. He even admitted to adding unscheduled tasks that he had just completed in order to get the satisfaction of crossing them off!

• I plan for my week ahead every Friday by blocking off chunks of time dedicated to various tasks.

• Remember to always schedule time to work on your business too. Allocate time for record keeping, managing emails, scheduling and creating your newsletter.

• I have all my business and personal appointments in one calendar and differentiate by using pen for business and pencil for personal.

• Remember if you use multiple calendars like your iPhone and Outlook, to keep them in sync.

Getting and staying organized is a continuous process but doesn’t have to be a burden. When you get to the point where you can maintain the systems you implement, you can better handle the day-to-day challenges and demands of operating a business while balancing other commitments such as family. Use these tips and suggestions to make your business the best it can be. Enjoy the journey to a successful business and life.

The 3 Rules Of Organization That Are Crucial To Small Business Owners

Are you unorganized and overwhelmed? Is your work area a disaster zone with papers strewn across your desk, no processes in place to complete daily tasks and excessive information coming at you both online and off?

The problem is that this state of physical and mental disorganization and overwhelm can spill over into your personal life too. This is especially true for home based business owners because our personal and business lives are so interconnected and it’s important that we are managing our time wisely.

But how did you get to this state of disorganization? It probably crept up on you as your business was growing and you started focusing more on the work at hand and less on managing your office.

How can you get from disorganized back to organized? The solution is simple if you follow these 3 rules and start streamlining your systems to manage the overwhelm:

Rule #1: Clear your desk. Before you jump into your work day, take 10 to 15 minutes to clear your desk and clear your mind saving you more than the time you invested. Make sure you have a procedure in place to keep your work area tidy and ensure paperwork is easy to access. Tools such as literature organizers to sort paperwork and containers for your writing utensils will make it easier to maintain your office space and manage your records.

Rule #2: Document your processes. Every time you do something for the first time it’s a good idea to make step by step notes. If you haven’t been doing this, start now. Again, it may take a little bit of extra time to document but you will have a reference to assist you with the task the next time and it will save you time in the long run. This is especially helpful if it is a task that you don’t repeat on a regular basis. And this information will be invaluable when your business has grown to the point that you decide to outsource or subcontract out work in the future. Make sure you document your notes within a Word document with separate headings for each topic or in a notebook or binder dedicated only to recording procedures. You don’t need more loose paper to manage.

Rule #3: Manage your information. Avoid information overload and stockpiling unneeded information. We collect so much information and it often isn’t organized in any specific way. There is so much useful information out there and some that we collect we don’t need to use right away. Start up one file to collect all this information. I have created a file I call “Tips and Tools” within my Outlook Tasks. It’s a simple table with the following headings where I can copy and paste all the info in point form that comes across my desk or inbox for easy reference when needed: “Company Name/Site Name/URL”, “Function” and “Details”. You can set up a similar system either in Word or within a notebook or binder. Now you have a handy reference and you can delete the emails or recycle the papers containing the original information. No more searching in various places as all the information is now in one place.

Initially it will take some time and energy to get from a state of disorganization to an orderly efficient system. Stick with this plan for several weeks and you will have control back. In a couple of months you will be reaping the rewards of greater productivity.

To Do Lists Are Not For Everyone – Creative Ways To Manage Your Time, Reduce Stress and Get More Done

If you don’t follow a schedule you may start your day by sitting down at your desk wondering what you will do today. You will not be productive and likely not accomplish anything important.

Let’s say you start with checking email and get sidetracked forgetting the world outside of your inbox exists. Then you go on Facebook to get in your social networking for the day and wind up on there for more than an hour. Then, panicked, you remember something important that needs to be done for a client. In the midst of that project another client calls and you’ve become sidetracked. It’s nearing the end of your work day and you do not have time to finish the project. You have personal commitments to attend to now, not to mention you’re starving and haven’t made time to break for lunch.

You can’t figure out how it is that you’ve been busy all day but haven’t gotten anything productive completed. You feel like there’s never enough time in the day.

Well, there will never be enough time if you continue like this. There will only ever be 24 hours. If the number of hours in a day are not going to change then you’re going to have to change your approach.

You may already be following a schedule, but if it’s not working for you then it’s time to re-examine it. Everyone is different and you have to choose the method that works well for you.

These are the main rules for scheduling that should remain consistent no matter which method you choose:

1. You must clear your head of your to do’s. Get this list of things into some type of workable format.

2. Use a ‘master’ so you are not recreating your schedule every time. Assign blocks of time to related tasks and include personal time.

3. Prepare your schedule ahead of time. End your day by creating your list for the next day.

4. Be realistic about the time it takes to do things.

5. Minimize interruptions. Schedule client calls like appointments.

The 3 main scheduling methods to choose from are audio, visual and electronic. You can find a variety of tools at office supply retailers and online to help you with scheduling:

Audio – using a hand held recorder, you can record and manage your to do’s as they come up. Record what needs to be done each day. This works well if you’re not a note taker, do not use day planners and if you are mobile and can carry your recorder with you. You can create categories to organize your lists further and set alarms with more complex devices.

Visual – your schedule can be as simple as a paper based to do list or checklist. For more visual appeal try writing your list on a whiteboard using different colours for categories. If you like calendars you can purchase a desktop calendar, a day planner that is compact and easy to carry or print your own Printable Calendar Templates A stack of 4×6″ lined index cards with your to do’s and details can be filed and sorted in priority order within a recipe card box or photo binder.

Electronic – any of the visual methods can be used electronically with a hand held unit like a PDA or Blackberry with applications to manage your to do lists and synchronizing capabilities with Outlook and Google. Here you can also maintain contact information, manage your calendar and appointments and set reminders. The features and capabilities are numerous and vary with each device. Outlook is a great tool if you’re home office based with features to manage your email of course, calendar, contacts, create tasks, notes and reminders and organize items into categories. When working with others on projects BaseCamp project management software is a great collaboration tool, tracking conversations all in one place, listing to do’s, deadlines, file sharing and time tracking.

Remember to balance your time with play and pick the method that best suits you and will keep it interesting. If you have found an effective way to schedule your time, please send me the scheduling tips that work well for you. Effective time management will keep stress to a minimum.

3 Simple Ways To Add Time To Your Day

As a small business owner there is usually one activity that you find you are spending (or wasting) too much time on. This activity is probably a necessary part of your business, however, it is preventing you from getting to the really important stuff.

What is your top time waster? What is it that you always seem to get stuck on for hours at a time? This is probably an easy question to answer and with a little work can be just as easy to resolve.

Here are 3 simple ways that will help you gain control over your biggest time wasters:

1. Use templates whenever possible. For important but often repetitive tasks like replying to email inquiries or submitting proposals, create and save templates that can be used over and over and modified when needed.

For Email Management: Do you get a number of similar email inquiries often? You can save templates with generic responses to frequently asked questions and modify your reply to suit each inquiry. Templates can be saved in your email ‘Draft’ folder and copied and pasted into a new reply. Or create a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page on your website. This may prevent you from receiving alot of the same inquiries in the first place or you can direct the inquiries to this page if the answer to their specific question is contained within the list.

For Proposals: You have probably thought about doing this but perhaps you are always in a rush to get that proposal out and haven’t had time to create templates for this purpose. Take an afternoon and pull up your most recent proposals. Group similar proposals together and create a template for each main category. Next time you need to put together a proposal, grab the related template and you’re off to the races. No more sorting through old emails or Word documents. Just pull up the appropriate template and modify where needed. The time you spent putting your templates together will be gained back many times. Remember to keep your templates up to date with pricing or policy changes.

2. Set a timer for anything you find you get wrapped up in. When you work from home away from outside distractions it is easy to get so involved in an activity that you lose all sense of time. Even knowing that the timer is ticking in the background keeps you more aware.

For Social Networking: You know you need to be ‘out there’ and social networking plays a big role, but it doesn’t have to be all consuming either. Limit yourself to 30 minutes once or twice a day. As an example, when used as a business tool, your daily Facebook activity should include a quick check in of notifications, requests, your inbox, activities of friends and status updates. Add comments to showcase your expertise. Be consistent. It’s too hard to try to catch up if you haven’t signed on for days or more.

For Research: There is so much information out there and when we are conducting research on a topic one thing leads to another and another. So before you even begin, narrow down your topic and focus so you only collect the most relevant information. Have an organized way of collecting and documenting the information and sources so you don’t have to visit a website more than once. Have a goal around how many pieces of information you need and once you’ve reached it, stop.

3. Be realistic, avoid perfectionism. I’ve said this before but it’s a favourite quote of mine and a good reminder – Aim for completion, not perfection.

With projects: Yes, we want to make sure ‘i’s are dotted and ‘t’s are crossed, however, I believe perfectionism is an impossible goal and when we aim for it, then a task can never be complete.

With procrastination: Is perfectionism your excuse to delay the start of a project until the time is ‘just right’ or you have all the information you need? Don’t let unreasonably high standards prevent you from realizing a goal.

Try one or two of the above suggestions and gain back control over your time. Yes, you can have more time in a day!

The Top 7 Reasons You Don’t Have Time For What’s Important

One of the most common challenges I hear from small business owners is that they do not have enough time to focus on what’s really important in their business. In order to solve this problem you first have to determine why this is a challenge. Once this is clear, you can look at strategies to help you manage the little things better and free up more time for what’s important.

What’s important is unique to each business and is usually related directly to the core business activity and why the business owner started the business in the first place. Personal satisfaction and achievement, pride in the job and a flexible lifestyle are generally valued higher than wealth creation.

Here are the top 7 reasons you don’t have time for what’s important:

1. You are spending too much time on “X” – Replace “X” with one of your top time wasters. What is it that you always seem to get stuck on for hours at a time? For important but often repetitive tasks like replying to email inquiries or submitting proposals, create and save templates that can be used over and over and modified when needed.

2. You don’t follow a schedule – If you start your day by sitting down at your desk wondering what you will do today, you will not be productive and likely not accomplish anything important. End your day by creating a to-do list for the next day. You will have focus and know what needs to be done.

3. You have too many clients/commitments – This seems like a good problem to have, however, it’s better to have fewer clients that get your full attention than more than you can handle. With too many commitments the quality of your work can suffer along with your good reputation.

4. You have trouble saying “no” – Make it a rule to never promise what you can’t deliver. This means sometimes having to say “no”. Your clients, family and friends will respect you for your honesty and will trust your word.

5. You are unorganized – Your work area is a disaster zone. Papers strewn across your desk, no set schedule and you’ve misplaced your day timer. Before you jump into your work day, take 15 minutes to clear your desk and clear your mind saving you more than the 15 minutes you invested.

6. You have bad habits – You know what you’re doing wrong and you know how to correct it but you’re stuck in the habit. I’m sure you’ve heard the quote by Tony Robbins, “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” Start by replacing one bad habit with a good habit.

7. You need help – You are doing everything ‘right’, the problem is that your business has grown to the point that you cannot continue to do it all and still maintain your high standards. You’ve heard about outsourcing and are ready to look into this further.

Identify what challenge has the highest impact on your time and then focus 100% of your effort on that one thing. To make the change successful, keep it simple and do not overwhelm yourself. A change will do you good!

Perception Is Everything When It Comes To Time Management

Why is it that when we have to complete something in record time we are able to, however, when we have one week to complete the same assignment, it takes us a full 7 days? I came across an article lately discussing time management with a reference to Parkinson’s Law and our perception of time. Parkinson’s Law is defined as follows: “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” Interesting concept.

Time constraints are motivators that work for me both personally and professionally. Think about it and you can probably come up with a couple of instances where you were under the gun and performed brilliantly. With deeper concentration you can attain the same results or better in a shorter period of time. Try it:

• Block out some non-interrupted time to work on something. You can identify your most important tasks of the day and pick one or begin work on a long term goal.
• Make the goal achievable but challenging and schedule it into your calendar.
• You may need to set a timer to help you focus.
• Turn off distractions such as email and phone. One interruption can mean up to 20 minutes to get back to what you were doing.
• Aim for completion of the goal, not perfection.

Note: Never struggle with anything for more than 15 minutes. Take a break and come back to it with a clear mind.

By focusing all your energy on achieving the task at hand, you increase your chances of completing it. Single-tasking means you will be more focused, make fewer errors and achieve better results.

Do you have a larger goal you need to achieve? Break up your goal into smaller portions. For example, think how much closer to completion you will be if you write 5 pages of your ebook every day. As Henry Ford once said: “Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.”

Make the time you spend working as effective as possible.