What do you do when you wake up and don’t have any energy to tackle that ‘to-do’ list?

First, think about why it’s so hard to get moving.  Are these tasks or items that are your least favourite things to do?  Or are they things that you’re putting off for some other reason?

As humans we tend to move away from pain, towards pleasure…

We all have days that we would rather sit on the back porch in the sun with a magazine and cup of hot coffee (or similar) at our side.  But the reality of our life is that the bills still keep coming in, clients need our assistance, prospective clients need to be found, and we have to take action to create a nest egg for our future.  So the choice is: do nothing and sit on the porch, or get into action and make some money.

Obviously, doing nothing WON’T pay the bills!  So how do you push past those internal barriers of resistance to the activities that you really don’t like doing?

An Action Plan to Create Money

First:

• Identify what it is that you like doing and what you don’t.
• Identify what you’re good at and what you’re not.
• Identify the things that actually bring money into your business, and the things that don’t (for example they’re just admin tasks).

Then:

Consider how long it takes you to complete the things you’re not good at and don’t like doing, and what that time is worth in $ terms.  Is it worth outsourcing?  Someone else might be able to do it far quicker, and you can make better use of your time too.

When you’re in ‘work hours’ – always do the things that bring you money FIRST.  Leave the non-revenue stuff for the times when it’s not suitable to be sourcing clients or doing marketing.

And finally, remember your goals… look at any Goals list that you wrote on January 1st. Bigger goals are always much easier to get motivated for, so keep your Big Hairy Audicious Goal in mind as you set to work on those smaller tasks.

We all have motivation slumps – but if you re-examine your daily tasks, you’ll be able to manage them so much better.

Many people think that because they work efficiently that they always utilise their time wisely.  But is this really the case?

Efficient means you can get a lot done in a small amount of time… yet proper time management for the benefit of the business’s bottom line is another thing!

Today I met with a successful business coach who has a few different income streams.  He was talking about how he’d spent all morning on his copy for a new landing page he’s created to promote an upcoming event.  However the time he spent ‘locked away’ writing was in business hours, when he could have been making money calling and meeting with businesses!

One of his business services requires him to meet personally with his clients fairly regularly, and he isn’t able to do that during the middle of the day – when they are busy with the lunchtime retail trade.  He failed to see that this time in the middle of the day could be spent making money on another income stream, OR on those activities that need to be done AFTER all the client interaction has been done.  So I pointed this out to him – and he was very grateful for the tip.

Sometimes we’re too close to our own work that we can’t see how to improve it!

The important thing is to have a clearly identified plan of all the business activities to be done – and when those activities should be done in your workday. You will find that following a written schedule allows you to get the most amount of revenue in the door.

So think about all the things you spent time on in the last three business days and ask yourself:  were you making the best use of your time for your bottom line?

Tip:  Use your computer’s widgets to set up a sticky note reminder for yourself: “Am I Getting Paid for This?”

We are all masters of our own specialty… whether a builder, painter, accountant, real-estate agent, developer, coach, or manager – we’ve all got our area of expertise. But when is it time to let go of control?

Comfort Zones
We are very comfortable in our core talent, and there are also other things that come naturally to us in our daily work. Some people love administration and organising their desk! Others are suited to bookwork and managing accounts. Some people are naturally great communicators. We’re all different.

Yet as business owners we all have this common need to wear a lot of different hats to manage our business. These hats represent different functions and activities (e.g. sales, accounting, management, customer relations). Since most of us have invested a lot of ourselves in our business initially, it stands to reason that we want to ensure that everything goes smoothly under ‘our control’.

A typical small business owner naturally wants to control everything – because the business is their creation and investment. Yet, outsourcing or delegation is the first step to leveraging your time and being able to work ON your business instead of IN your business.

Getting help from someone else is often difficult and uncomfortable. The pain and fear of outsourcing is often expressed as doubt. A client of mine recently said, “I know I need to do it – I just get nervous that they won’t do a good job so I end up reviewing everything they’ve done”. Sound familiar?

How Do I Let Go?
There’s a process of letting go that will make it easier for you. My advice is – do it in baby steps. Outsource a small function first, one that doesn’t require a lot of time and energy and that you can check on in the early stages to ensure it’s being done correctly. Once you’re comfortable that they’re doing it well – then let them do it alone.

Choose your next hat and again keep it a small task. Do the same thing for the first outsourcing task. Give yourself time and don’t think that it’s going to happen overnight. Simply trust that it will be for your benefit, since you deserve to have your time back for yourself!

In all of this, remember that it’s important to find help from people who have proven experience and come with good, solid credentials. Use your wisdom and instinct in choosing outside service providers, and you will be far better off.

Outsourcing is going to be a strength for you and your business: so don’t be afraid to venture out from your comfort zone.

I know, you don’t really want to outsource your whole life, just the tedious and difficult bits, right? I’ve been re-reading Tim Ferris’s book, “The Four-Hour Work Week”. Compared to the average small business owner’s week of 45 to 80 hours – just FOUR does seem fanciful, even ridiculous. It all comes down to how to make more money with less time in the business, freeing you up to do a variety of things you enjoy. (The book has been updated/expanded in December 2009).

When following the steps outlined in Ferris’s Dreamline worksheet, the cost for those things that we put off every year (a great holiday, a car upgrade, a gardener, etc) are typically not that much in total monthly income — remembering that figure is on top of the usual household costs. In fact, some of my “costs” also could provide an income, if using a low-cost virtual assistant. (Part of the outsourcer’s work could be billed to clients, or at least free me up to do more billable projects.) Tim Ferris blog – Ideal Lifestyle Costing has all the necessary calculators to work out costs of your own ideal lifestyle.

Also, qualified remote support staff can be outsourced for as little as US$300 per month (around $2 an hour) and they can do a variety of things like follow up calls, invoice creation/reminders, link building for your SEO, etc… all those things that eek away your daylight hours. Because they are working specifically for you on the projects you need, there won’t be any staff time wastage or double-instructing. See www.remotestaff.com.au for ongoing administrative tasks, or ask about the specialists at Infusionoz.com.au for higher level tasks like web design, e-marketing, CRM implementation, and content writing (also offering good value/prompt attention services and located in Australia).

Of course, remote outsourcing goes hand-in-hand with automated technology and streamlined systems. Great systems means higher productivity. Higher productivity for the average small business owner might mean more billable hours, with less stress and chaos in their lives. For a Mumpreneur it might mean more time to spend with family because her income doesn’t drop with periods away from the business.

So many business people are still stuck in the paradigm of exchanging time for money – what is my hourly rate, how many hours can I bill?

But when we see our business as a marketable entity – with products (passive income), Intellectual Property to record and protect, and a brand to promote – we start to see it as an Asset. We may even have a saleable asset, if someone else could take over the systems and product sales down the track and continue the revenue streams. Does that sound worthwhile?

I used to work long hours each and every day in the corporate world. After long hours in the office, I picked up my daughter from after school care and crawled through all the traffic to home. Then, under stress, I used to pull out the laptop again and keep working.  Was I mad?  Probably.  But I thought at the time that it was the only way I could ‘get ahead’.

Since being in business for myself I’ve learnt how important it is to have good time management skills and prioritise everything, both business and personal. I’ve learnt that switching off the work by dinnertime each day is paramount to my sanity, health and happiness! So regardless of what’s going on, I don’t work at night… the work will always be there in the morning.

The Paradigm of Busy-ness
Have you noticed that everyone in your network is too busy? “I just don’t have time to relax” you hear people say, or “I wish I had more time in the day”.

It’s easy to just blame lack of time… but time ticks by regardless of our excuses. It’s more important to focus on whether you are doing what’s really important to you and your family… and for the growth and success of your business.

Ask yourself, “how do I want to spend my time today?”

Ask yourself, “is there anything that I’m spending much time on which could actually be done by someone else far cheaper or far easier? (e.g. cleaning the house, raking the leaves, filing, bookkeeping, SEO, typing letters – anything at all). This “letting go” process frees you up to spend more time on your core activity (your talent) and your relationships.

And lastly, ask “what business systems can I use to streamline & automate my regular tasks?” (e.g. software tools, macros, email autoresponders)

No more Excuses! Jack Canfield, with Mark Victor Hansen, found the time to do 5 actions towards promoting their books every workday for at least two years (e.g. call 5 radio stations for interviews), leading to the most successful personal development book series ever – 200 titles and 112 million copies in print in over 40 languages. Jack also found time to write a quality 500-page book, “The Success Principles” in 2005. Within these 64 principles is the foundation for anyone’s success.

If you want success and sanity, will you make the time for important things?

What frog? You know, the biggest ugliest task on your desk… the one you keep putting off. Do it first and your day will become much easier.

As a business owner or self-employed freelancer, the growth and success of your business rests on your ability to plan and achieve the most important tasks first.

In his book, “Eat That Frog: 21 Ways to Stop Procrastination”, Brian Tracy recommends writing out your bigger goals monthly, and then every night before work write your task list for the next day. It doesn’t matter whether it’s in a diary, computer-based organiser or PDA, as long as you write it down in the one place.

Apparently, people who take 10-12 minutes to plan their day free up to two hours in wasted time ‘muddling around’ and getting distracted. How much time do you currently spend looking for files, looking at marketing email, or surfing the web – the world’s most distracting medium?

The division of priorities Mr Tracy suggests goes like this:

A task: Very important task, if you fail to do this you will be in trouble. Prioritise these if there are more than one.

B task: Slightly important tasks, with mild consequences. Never do a B task if there is an A task to do.

C task: Nice to do, but no consequences if you don’t do it. E.g. telephoning a friend.

D task: Something you could delegate to someone else. So free yourself up.

E task: Something you can eliminate, perhaps a habit you don’t need to have that just wastes time or energy.

Write up a list of tasks that you regularly do. Then place an a,b,c,d,e in front of your everyday tasks on the list.

If you are still thinking “all too hard”, remember that those who complete important tasks get a payoff… a burst of energy, enthusiasm and self-esteem. This ‘endorphin rush’ is also followed by a boost of confidence.

When you keep on conquering your most critical tasks (ones that you signed up for), the good feelings grow and results arrive. So you may even “get addicted” to the positive habit of starting and finishing important jobs. Wouldn’t that be something?

I’ve just got back from a 10-day trip to Melbourne where I visited family and friends.  These trips are supposed to be holidays, however we all know that when there’s family involved, it’s often not so much a holiday!  I’m pretty lucky in that my family are great, it’s just that I never get to spend enough time with them because of other obligations.  Among all the family catch-ups I was navigating work and some business meetings as well.  Not an easy feat!

In fact, after my trip I felt rather exhausted and relieved that I was home.  I almost needed a holiday to get over my holiday!  On the plane coming home I started to reflect on my trip and what I’d gained from it.  I always like to do this, because I strive to get something new or valuable from my experiences.  As I was scanning through the last 10 days, I realised I had packed in so much that I didn’t get the chance to relax. My brain didn’t get a break!

Yet every time I can get away from home, the office, my clients and responsibilities – I feel refreshed and ideas flow to me naturally.  So I’m looking forward to Easter so that I can stop, unwind, recharge and create some space between me and my work.

When you get the chance to relax at Easter – switch off the computer, mobile device, and just recharge the batteries. It will do yourself – and likely your business – the world of good.

Every business owner I speak to has the problem of wearing multiple hats, chasing their tail and doing many things at once.  Is there an answer to this problem?  I think each business type is different but they all have common issues to deal with.

Because there are so many options, and so much information at our fingertips, many business owners get really frustrated and time poor. So what are some simple steps to get out of the mire and into productivity and growth mode?

Reminding ourselves to “Eat that Frog” and do just the most important things first in our day is the first step (recommended book: Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy).

Once you have your task list prioritised and under control, the next step is delegation of some tasks.  Sometimes you can outsource administrative/marketing tasks to someone who is either paid a lot less than you or else is much better at it, freeing up your time to focus on your core talent.

Next, you can set up a system to deal with repeated or follow-up tasks. You need a way to not only capture interested people’s details, but also build trust and respect. Say for example your system captures email addresses and emails a seven part course to interested prospects. It also tracks their interests and follows up with recommended products/services. They are invited to events you have put into the email service – and have a way of responding that is easy, like booking/paying through your own portal. This is all possible from within Infusionsoft.

What you are trying to achieve with these sytems is automation, to take less of your time and to increase the results from marketing activities. Infusionsoft is a powerful tool that enables business owners to leverage their time, grow their leads, and increase revenue and profits.