Do you ever get stuck?

Getting Unstuck

Have you ever found yourself in the middle of a whirlwind? What about finding yourself in the middle of a long dry spell where nothing seems to be happening?

I think it is two sides of the same coin.

Recently I was feeling a little stuck in my own business. I have this great plan, and can see it all mapped out. And yet, I wasn’t taking some of the action that was there to take, and in other areas I didn’t even know what actions to take.

We have all heard the quote about the definition of insanity: doing the same things over and over and expecting a different result. Well, that’s where I was.

Here’s just one example: I have been told to send out press releases about different things in my business and I haven’t done any of that. As a child I was told that I shouldn’t brag.

What do they have to do with each other? Well, if you have grown up believing that bragging isn’t good, then sending out press releases becomes impossible.

Have to send out press releases – that’s good for business. But the 5 year old thinks it is bragging – and that’s bad.

Such a trap! There is no way out of that one. Until…

Until I can recognize that I am not the 5 year old, and I am not bragging. The context is decisive! Once I saw that, really saw that, I was freed up to take the actions on my plan. Not only that, but there is a flood of new actions that weren’t there before.

Where are you being stopped by your 5 year old self?

Shameless plug: I am re-running my Productivity Basics teleclasses in August. There will be two session on developing a schedule that works, one session on planning, and one session on taking control of your email. Details are available at www.timetriage.com/events.asp.

In the meantime, have a great summer – but remember – you are calling the shots – not the 5 year old!

(c) 2010, Terry Monaghan

Want to use this article in your ezine or website?
You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it:
Consultant, coach, speaker, trainer and entrepreneur, Terry Monaghan, publishes Now What, a free weekly ezine for entrepreneurs and professionals who want to double their productivity, improve their performance, and have a life! If you’re ready to jump start your performance and your results, then get your free tips now at www.TimeTriage.com.

Back to the basics

Have you ever noticed that there are certain times of year that fly by? And other times just drag on forever? Summertime seems to be one of those times – alternately flying and dragging. Mostly flying though.

Have you already gotten summer brain? You know what I mean: it’s hot, it’s mid-July, everyone is on vacation (even those still at work), and it seems like there is no point doing anything because nothing is really going to get done until September.

I was thinking about some work I was doing with a client last year on planning. We were meeting in early June, and school was almost out for her kids. She wanted to create a great plan for the summer – one that allowed her to have a vacation as well as get all the work and other stuff done without being a stressed out maniac.

As we were talking, I started asking about what had to be done to get the kids ready for school in the Fall. At first, she was confused and didn’t even want to talk about that.

After all, school wasn’t even out for the summer yet, and I was asking her about the next school year!

But as we looked in more detail, it became clear that if she didn’t think and plan now for the end of the summer and the start of the school year, she would be that stressed out maniac sooner than she wanted to be.

In early June it can look like September is months away. And it is. But remember, summer flies by and September comes far sooner than we’d like.

By taking a little time right then, she was able to arrange the back to school medical checkups quickly. She also pulled together the rest of the paperwork the school always wants, and which always can’t be found in August.

So, when school let out the next week, she was able to take her summer long vacation with absolutely no concern about what had to be done when she returned. It was already planned, scheduled and would be waiting for her when the time came.

Planning. A schedule that works for you. These are two of the fundamentals I keep coming back to. They establish a foundation on which you can build your business, and your life. Without that foundation, you are building sandcastles. Beautiful to look at, and they can be quite elaborate and impressive. But not stable. Not lasting.

You can get a jump on everyone by taking a little time to refine your plans, to re-define your schedule, to look at how things are getting done.

When was the last time you inspected your foundation?

Shameless plug: I am re-running my Productivity Basics teleclasses in late July and early August. There will be two session on developing a schedule that works, one session on planning, and one session on taking control of your email. Details are available at EVENTS.

In the meantime, have a great summer – but remember – time flies!

(c) 2010, Terry Monaghan

Want to use this article in your ezine or website?
You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it:
Consultant, coach, speaker, trainer and entrepreneur, Terry Monaghan, publishes Now What, a free weekly ezine for entrepreneurs and professionals who want to double their productivity, improve their performance, and have a life! If you’re ready to jump start your performance and your results, then get your free tips now at www.TimeTriage.com.

Delegating (or, I need more clients!)

If I had a nickel for every time I heard someone say “I know I need to delegate some of this stuff, but I can’t afford to do it right now. I need more clients first.” – I would be a very rich woman.

Look, I get it. Cash flow is tight. Every cent is going back into the business. Credit is so tight you are even putting in your own money to keep going from time to time. Taking on an extra expense makes no sense.

But let’s really look at it. You are working your heart out in your business. You spend your days networking, working with clients, developing relationships, getting your job done.

And you are spending your nights and weekends doing your bookkeeping, keeping your papers filed, sending out invoices, typing cards into the database, creating your newsletter, sending thank you notes, making phone calls, and on and on and on.

And if you are not spending your nights and weekends that way, you are worrying about all that stuff needing to get done, and feeling guilty and overwhelmed, and thinking you are a hopeless case because you are so far behind on that.

If you remember to have lunch it is only because you scheduled a lunch meeting. You have given up on having a full night’s sleep. And you can barely remember what a day off feels like – it has been so long.

And you are convinced everyone else is doing it better.

You are already working at or over capacity. And yet, you think that “if only I could get some more clients – then I would be able to get some help.”

When, exactly, are you going to work with those new clients? You have no time!

You think you need to increase your capacity for serving your clients before you increase your structures. But, you have no additional capacity. And you will have no additional capacity until you revise your structures!

One hour of work by a good virtual assistant, or bookkeeper, or intern will usually give you back 5 hours of your own time. (Both the time it takes to get the task done and done well, plus the time you spend worrying about it.)

I remember when I hired my first part time assistant. I was really worried about being able to afford her. I initially committed to 10 hours per month of her time, and I put that amount of money aside. My deal with myself was if I didn’t generate at least enough work to cover her time, I would not continue.

I don’t know about you, but paying someone $25, $50, even $100 an hour (for an expert) in order to have 5 to 10 more hours in my day or week is well worth the effort. Every single time I have expanded my underlying structures my business has increased exponentially!

Right now, for every dollar I pay a virtual assistant or other team member, I am making back about 20 times that in increased business. So now, when I really want to increase my capacity for new business I look at what else can I delegate?

Works every single time.

(c) Terry Monaghan 2010

What do you think you can’t do?

At a workshop last week, a participant challenged something I said with “Yes, but, with budget cuts the work still has to get done! How on earth am I supposed to get it all done?” And, there was a lot of agreement in the room for what he was saying. (Full disclosure – this was at one of my favorite parts of the exercise – where I expect people to begin challenging my assertions!)

He was challenging an assertion I had made that he (and everyone else in the room) had total control over where he put his time and effort. And, that the best place to put that time and effort was into the fulfillment of his goals (whatever they may be).

Yes, but – this paperwork has to be done. Yes, but – this other thing has to be done. Yes, but – how am I supposed to get all of this done? Yes, but – I have a family, another job, a mother-in-law, groceries to buy, a house to clean, bills to pay, filing to do, calls to make, appointments to keep…

You get the picture?

Then, another person said “maybe we need to start spelling TIME as TEAM!”

Brilliant! Exactly!

Why on earth would you want to do it all yourself?

And don’t tell me you can’t afford to build a team! There are resources you can’t even see when you are thinking that way.

Start asking yourself “How can I …?” and see what happens…

Defending your methods

It is curious to me how often, when I am working with a business person to impact their productivity, they will spend time defending their way of doing things. It is curious on two basic levels:

First, their methods are not under attack – so no defense is necessary.

Second, we are working together to create a breakthrough in their productivity – their capacity to fulfill on their vision, mission, and goals. There is nothing wrong with their methods. However, they are not getting where they want to go. Or, they are spending far too much time on other things which are getting in the way of what they want to accomplish.

Since time is one of our most precious commodities – why spend time on things that get in the way? What if you could just spend your time on the things that are the BEST use of your time and talents?