| Dear Helen:
At this time the struggle with my business is how to organize my time so I have larger blocks of time to work. I have so many distractions: husband, son, mom, training, household responsibilities, meals, telephone calls, e-mails, client meetings, networking, and personal care. I find myself in the office very late at night when the family wants me to be with them or early in the morning when I should be organizing my day. Thank you for your support! |
Dear Entrepreneur:
Welcome to the world of a being business owner!
I wish I could wave my magic wand and grant you extra hours in your 24 hour day!
Many clients I have worked with, myself included, had the same issue. It comes down to organizing your time. Sounds so simple and hard to accomplish.
What could we do differently? Many years ago I took a Franklin Covey training on organizing your time. Since taking the training, I have been using the same simple tools successfully, on a daily basis:
- After getting out of bed in the morning with a cup of coffee, write down every activity you want to accomplish during the day.
- Analyze the list and determine which activities require your focus during the day. Limit the activities to those that you can accomplish in only 8 hours. Remember you are not Superman/Superwoman and cannot accomplish things in record time.
- On a calendar block time out for your family and personal time. Make a commitment to yourself that you will never deviate from this blocked out timeframe. By keeping this commitment you are honoring yourself and family.
- Schedule the activities that require your focus in the time slots remaining.
- Leave unfilled timeframes for unexpected situations.
- Remember to schedule breaks during the day to eat, go for a short walk or close your eyes for 10 minutes. After a break you feel energized and in the long run are more productive.
This exercise should only take you between 20 to 30 minutes.
Follow this plan for a week and see if you feel more organized. Please be gentle with yourself if you revert back to your old habits. The important thing is to STOP and start following your planned schedule. Remember it takes 21 days for a habit to become routine.
Special Request:
Love Yourself Community Members please post ideas for organizing your day in the Love Yourself – It Matters! Blog. Virginia please put a link to the blog. Together we will create different suggested schedules that will help us all.
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“The main thing that keeps an objective out of reach is your assumption that you cannot reach it. You’re able to do precisely what you expect to be able to do.”
~Ralph Marston
Funny Story for your Love Yourself Community.
I was walking to the gym this morning with my 10yr old son. I was feeling overwhelmed with all the things I had to do today. I was feeling very anxious, cranky and short tempered. I was doing everything to keep my feelings contained and not take it out on my son. Who by the way was cluelessly walking in the parking lot swinging his new Yoyo with not a care in the world. So I said out loud I feel….and I roared (like a tiger) he looked at me and said I feel like meow. I said to him hmmm meow like a cat and he said yup; so I started to meow hoping it would take over my tiger feelings. Would you believe it worked!
Hi Mindi and Jeffrey:
Thank you for sharing the story with the Love Yourself -It Matters! Community.
I could just picture you meowing like a cat.
Jeffrey certainly has great ideas.