Tag: Business Building

Posted on

Stop Doing Everything and Hire Help

Being a business owner or entrepreneur doesn’t mean you must do all the work to see results or need to stay busy all the time. Having these kinds of high expectations keeps you and your business back from seeing the success it deserves. Low self-esteem and energy are not healthy for business or your overall health and mental clarity.

 

Here are five tips designed to help you let go of control and hire more help so you can better manage your time to lead a more productive business:

 

Highlight Your Weak Points and Other Stress Areas

The best place to start is the business areas that you are not too comfortable doing or lack enough education to do well. Accounting and customer service are by far the most common areas people outsource. Accounting takes years to understand, and customer service can often be tedious and stressful.

 

Develop A Clear and Direct Job Description

To gain actual value from having employees or contractors, you need to find the right person for the job. Create a clear and direct job description listing all your expectations and requirements for the job. Don’t skip on the little things or hold back on anything. In fact, always share the points of the job that you find the most challenging right away. The point is to be sure that those who try to apply for the job are the best for the position.

 

Utilize A Virtual Assistant

Let your virtual assistant take over the tedious and time-consuming tasks, including customer service or scheduling and setting up important meetings and other similar and repeatable tasks.

 

Hire Expert Freelancers

Hire freelancers that specialize in specific areas such as social media marketing or content creation. Expert freelancers can better set up your social media pages, add campaigns, and more to increase your engagement to maximize results and profits better. This is because they have the dedicated time and resources to become an expert in their field. When you can focus on one subject, you can master the processes and techniques to get it done faster.

 

Use Smart Phone Applications to Find Hires

There are so many different applications and companies designed for hiring help for many other business areas in a matter of seconds. Some popular choices include:

 

  • TaskRabbit – Find any repair person from your fingertips the same day. From moving trucks to cleaning services, contact deliveries, and more. TaskRabbit allows you to create tasks, send messages and pictures to a certified tasker easily and professionally.
  • Fancy Hands – The most popular US-based service to find your next virtual assistant all on the same day.
  • Fiverr – On this platform, you can find just about any freelancer or service required for business and more, starting at just five dollars a project.

8 Things You Should Outsource in Your Business

You don’t need to do everything to be successful. Use these tips and tools and get more help today.

Posted on

It’s Not the Deadlines; It’s Your Lack of Discipline

Deadlines are not the problem, nor are other people and the long list of excuses you have made for yourself. It’s your lack of discipline and willpower. Discipline is about regulating or training your brain to do what is right even if you don’t feel like it or want to.

 

It’s about taking responsibility to overcome your weaknesses and to fight off temptations. It’s about acting and going forward to achieve your goals and aspirations. Without it, you’ll let your procrastination ruin and run your life forever.

 

To better your self-discipline, try these five ideas:

 

Change Your Perspective and Mindset

Instead of saying “I should do this,” say “I must do this” and then provide a solid and apparent reason. We do things for pleasure, and we avoid pain. Don’t allow for excuses, and it won’t always feel right, nor will the stars be aligned perfectly every day.

 

Fight Off Distractions and Temptations

Set up your environment to avoid temptations, don’t have junk food in the house, and avoid the junk food aisles at stores.

 

Reward Yourself and Take A Break

Forgive yourself, take days off and build a healthy reward system for your goals and to-do lists. Good results don’t happen consistently if you are constantly running on empty or jumping from deadline to deadline with no opportunity to reward yourself and be proud of your accomplishments.

 

Define Your Consequences

If you don’t make your deadline or never realize your dreams and aspirations, what are the consequences? Record them and put them somewhere you are reminded of to give you the push you need to keep going.

 

If you don’t have any consequences, make them, and find an accountability partner to provide the punishment. Most deadlines are purposeful but hardly motiving due to the lack of consequences. Especially if you are sitting around waiting for the world to make you successful.

 

Commit to Self-Awareness and Reflect

Perform a self-evaluation routinely to dissect your weaknesses and strengths inside and out. List any resources or things you believe have contributed to your growth or current problems. Then voice them aloud to yourself and recognized your truths. The more you do this, the better you can understand where to practice and better develop your skills.

 

Remember, the path to improving your self-discipline won’t happen overnight. It’s a gradual process combined with the proper steps consistently each day to do better. Practice will make it easier, and one day you won’t even have to try anymore.

Perseverance Requires Persistence

Posted on

Organization Is A Daily Requirement

Did you know that around 91% of employees have reported that they believe they could be more productive if only their work and jobs organized better? It’s obvious, without organization, you may as well throw your business plan and daily to-do lists out the window. Even outside of business, your personal life thrives more on organization. It helps you achieve consistency and focus and provides the flexibility you need to be successful and in control of your life and business.

Be More Proactive and Less Reactive to Achieve Higher Success

From organizing your to-do lists, your office, or other workspaces, setting up the right business structure for your company, maximizing the best routes from your house to the grocery store, and other tasks and back. The organization makes it easier to handle many tasks throughout your day to be more productive and waste less time fumbling between functions or other objects in your way. In other words, if you want to achieve more goals easily and as stress-free as possible, you need to adopt the right organizational habits.

 

The following are a few tips to help you be more organized in life and business:

 

Create the Right Habits and Repeatable Routines

Being organized is about finding the routines and habits that keep the momentum going. Keep the process simple, and don’t overthink it. Stick to your schedule and commitments, don’t hit snooze, and find systems that make sense for the activities you are doing that are easy to accomplish.

 

Understand Your Priorities and Efforts

Organization takes effort and consistent action to be successful. Be mindful of your priorities and what is expected of you daily to ensure you adopt the right habits for you and your business.

 

Establish A Healthy Work-Life Balance

Set boundaries, expectations, and limits for work and your personal life to ensure they don’t overlap and run smoothly together. If you know your expectations for your personal life may interfere, you can better plan for challenges that lay ahead. However, if you commit to finding the right work-life balance for your personality and business, you will have fewer challenges to overcome and will more easily stay on your path.

 

Declutter and Categorize

Keep distractions out of the workplace, and don’t allow other items to come into that space. Develop dedicated areas for physical and digital things and always put them back before leaving for the day. For example, if you always forget your passwords, then make a dedicated password folder.

 

As you can see, all it takes is one repeatable movement with consistent action and the commitment to stay on track each day to be organized. The hardest part is getting started, but you will gain the momentum and drive to thrive once you get going.

Posted on

Kick Distractions or Else

If you enjoy personal and professional growth and genuinely want to live the life you imagine for yourself, then you must take responsibility and kick those distractions keeping you down. Distractions come in many different forms and come with their own set of consequences too.

 

Sensory or External Distractions

These include environmental and digital distractions such as your cell phone, browsing the web or social media websites, and your workspace, including those around you. While you may enjoy working at the coffee shop, constant interactions and noises are likely hurting your quality and time management.

 

Emotional or Internal Distractions

These are the distractions that your brain is telling you as you are working. These thoughts are self-sabotaging and can easily guide you in the wrong direction if you listen to them. Controlling your emotions is possible and will help you in life in many ways. Try studying stoicism to help you if you need extra assistance with this.

 

Personal Distractions

This is the category that you need to be the most mindful and honest about. No one but you truly know what is keeping you away from working at your best. It would be best to take accountability and ownership of your actions and things around you to be successful. If you wait around for others to solve the problem for you, you might as well throw your goal list in the trash.

 

The following are six tips designed to kick distractions so you can stay focused and on path: 

 

Set Clear Boundaries and Limitations

Fully understand what you are capable of and your limitations for each work requirement or personal goal.

 

Be Mindful and Realistic About Your Surroundings

In other words, create a workspace optimal for the tasks you plan to do and be realistic about your personality and what you can handle. For example, if you know, you will get too chatty with your clients, keep your meetings short, follow a list of bullet points to keep you on track, and only do them over Zoom or the internet.

 

Simplify and Automate Your Processes

Use technology and other resources to automate processes that don’t need your complete focus and attention or ones you know will only distract you in the long run. Utilize tools, cell phone applications, or Google Chrome extensions such as StayFocused that allow you to set time limits or block websites for a certain period of time — giving you the control and confidence you need to stay focused.

 

Be Honest and Stop Self-Sabotage

Stop negative thoughts before they control your actions. Most internal distractions are false and a result of low self-confidence, lack of knowledge, and experience. Experiment more, try more things, and gain as much knowledge as possible so you can learn yourself inside and out and gain back control of your life.

Multitasking Is A Lie

In the end, to kick distractions successfully, you must practice self-control and discipline. If you don’t, your business and personal goals will suffer.

Posted on

“Power Office” Your Workspace

As you already know by now, organization is one key ingredient to increased productivity. Every step of business planning and implementing requires it. Good organization skills lead to better time management, consistency, and focus on getting work done on time, and more.

 

One of the most important areas to organize and get right first is your work environment or office. You need to power office your space or set it up to work for you to lead you to success.

 

What Is A Power Office and Why Is It So Valuable?

A power office is the work environment you create to do your work but explicitly optimized for success. A power office is organized to match work processes and the tasks required to achieve your goals. It inspires confidence and gives you a distraction-free area to highly concentrate and focus on your work.

 

Here’s what you need to set up your own power office successfully to achieve productivity:

 

Analyze What’s Not Working First

When you get to work, what causes the most frustration and anxiety? Do you have paper and knickknacks all over the place? Is there furniture or extra things causing more distraction than good? Before you change your space, go to work first and be more mindful of your emotions and surroundings to get a better sense of the space you need to work optimally.

 

Always Keep in Mind Your Work Objectives

When creating your workspace, keep in mind your main objectives or tasks. If you are on the phone a lot, for example, be sure the phone is right where you need it, or your cell phone charger is there to keep you on track.

 

Adjust the Layout, Setup, and Location

Find the right location and layout that work for your professional and personal needs. If you know you like freedom while you work, don’t use the smallest or most affordable location you can find in your home or elsewhere. It will only do the opposite and stall your work.

 

Declutter and Designate

Let go of all the stuff that you don’t need. In other words, trim the fat and put it somewhere else. If it doesn’t pertain to work or provide any kind of motivation and inspiration to get you to work, it doesn’t belong there.

 

Make It Personal but Simplified

Add things of value you know will inspire you or make you happy but don’t add too many things. You already decluttered the workspace. You don’t want to add it all back. Be mindful of each item you add.

 

Test and Adjust

Test the space and keep in mind when working on the things that are causing frustration and work to adjust those areas. Over time, your needs and business will change, which means your work environment should too.

 

Don’t let your work environment be the reason you can’t get your work done. It will only require a few minor adjustments to make your surroundings work hard for you.

 

Home Office Automation Tips

Posted on

How to Create Repeatable Workflows for Better Time Management

Setting up the right workflows and process are essential to proper time management and the success of your business. When you create repeatable workflows, you can better improve the quality of your work and stay consistent, saving you more time and energy in the long run. They establish proper communication habits and increase your confidence as you more easily glide through your day and accomplish more goals.

 

Establishing proper workflows allows you to more easily highlight the areas that need to be improved or eliminated—in return, saving you time to be more creative and innovative within your industry and business. In other words, repeatable workflows allow you to optimize the way you conduct business so you can more smoothly accomplish your goals without delay or frustration.

 

The following are five tips to creating repeatable workflows that improve your productivity:

 

Understand Your Full Needs and Requirements

When it comes to creating a successful workflow, you can’t miss any details. Block out time to really focus on this and list your full needs and requirements for the objectives you want to accomplish. Start with the most important areas of your business first, then work your way down not to overwhelm yourself.

 

Keep It Simple and Standardize

One of the many faults of any workflow is that it is too bulky and tries to be innovative in places it’s not needed. Trim down any unnecessary fat that causes delays and confusion and find better ways to streamline the process. Start with the tried-and-true methods first, then adapt later when you have made a consistent effort first.

 

Physically Map It Out with A Flowchart

Write down one major task required for your business in the center of a document or physical piece of paper, then draw a circle around it. For example, new customer set up or product purchase.

 

Then draw arrows out that direct you to each required step of the process, including the resources needed and who will complete the project, just like a mind map for brainstorming but with a specific direction and set of instructions. The idea is to create a visual and scannable chart so you can more easily see where you need to adjust, streamline, or add more information.

 

Document and Analyze

Add controls and benchmarks so you can measure and analyze the success of your workflow. Something certain in life is change. Businesses need to adjust at a moment’s notice to stay successful. The state of constant change highlights the importance of blocking out time to evaluate your processes, business plan, and long-term goals.

Project Management Tools to Try

The path to success requires consistent and continued action, and repeatable workflows allow you the freedom and ability to do just that.

 

 

 

Posted on

Be More Proactive and Less Reactive to Achieve Higher Success

Reactive people go about life unprepared and unplanned. To put it simply reactive people, wait around until things happen and then decide to do something or not. They have unclear goals and intentions for what they want and often use their feelings and conditions as excuses to not get work done and are often driven by their feelings and emotions.

 

For example, they commonly use excuses like “I can’t run today because it’s raining” or “I can’t do this thing until this happens.” They are more likely to blame others and hardly take full accountability for their actions or lack of effort. They also tend to build their lives around other people’s emotions, making them feel more dependent and reliant on others.

 

Proactive people are the direct opposite. They are and strive to be organized as much as possible and always take accountability and ownership. They always see failure as an opportunity to learn and do better. Their behaviors and actions are a conscious choice as a direct result of their values or morals.

 

They use other people as inspiration but compare it to their values before they react and hardly feel dependent on others. They are confident and believe they have what it takes to get it done, and they never wait for success to come; they make it come to them. They act and never avoid it or make excuses. With these attributes, it’s obvious to see why being more proactive leads to more success.

 

Here are a few ways to be more proactive and less reactive in life:

 

Always Look for Ways to Improve

Research shows that those who look for things to do at work rather than wait for instructions from higher-ups are more likely to get promoted. Don’t wait around for change to happen or for the stars to align perfectly to go after your goals finally.

 

Act and understand that it is your responsibility and only yours to get going. Find more ways to educate yourself and never skip opportunities that allow you to improve or invest in training.

 

Understand Your Values, Morals, and Goals

Have weekly self-evaluations and highlight what you believe in and hope to strive for. Use these morals to guide your day and to control your emotions to stay on the right path.

 

Strive and Welcome Change

Anticipate problems and never expect things to stay the same. Change and stepping out of your comfort zones are crucial to personal and professional growth. Long-term success relies on your ability to adapt and change as needs change. Otherwise, you’ll only be left behind.

 

Ultimately being proactive is about acting and finding what you need to do to get the things you want done. Don’t let your emotions or lack of action take away your chance of success. Use these tips instead to be more proactive with your life and accomplish more of your dreams.

How to Find Your Most Productive Hours

 

Posted on

Multitasking Is A Lie

I know that I’m a killjoy. Sorry, but stop saying you’re a multitasker as if you’re proud of it.  Multitasking is really a big lie. You are only broadcasting your lack of understanding of how productivity works. While it may be harsh to hear, scientifically, it is the truth.

 

Your brain cannot multitask the way you think and uses more time and resources to do so. This is because your mind is forced to take the time to switch in-between tasks and to refocus and concentrate, which takes time that could have been used more beneficially.

 

Unfortunately, many organizations and companies have adopted this widely misunderstood and popular term to find the workers or employees that are willing to overwork themselves and do tasks that usually require two or more people—ultimately saving them money. However, productivity is undoubtedly lacking, and there are many more reasons to stop this bad habit.

How to Use the Right Tools and Technology for Your Business

Here are four common reasons why multitasking is actually bad for business:

 

Promotes More Mistakes and Poor Choices

When you multitask, you are not providing your brain the time it needs to filter out irrelevant information. Which, in turn, creates shoddy quality work, more mistakes, and possible injuries that directly harm your productivity and reputation or trustworthiness as a business.

 

Promotes Anxiety and Poor Health

Studies prove that the more you do it, the more harm you are causing to your brain and memory loss. One of the most common reasons for multitasking is a lack of efficiently setting time limits, causing you to speed and increasing anxiety to get it all done. Often the process of going back and forth can be overwhelming as you try to relearn information too. Everyone knows that being in a constant state of anxiety will only cause more harm than good.

 

Inhibits Innovation and Creativity

Multitasking kills your ability to fully concentrate and focus, blocking your ability to be creative. Innovation and creativity are vital to a successful business as, obviously, if everyone had the same business idea, no one or only a select few can make money.

 

You Can’t Enjoy the Process

Just because it is business and requires work doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be enjoying it. Sure, there will be tasks or tedious things that are not enjoyable all the time, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do something to change it and make it more enjoyable for you. The more you personalize your business, the happier and more passionate you will be about it. Since perception is reality, if you feel more successful, you are more successful. When you are so glad and love something, you won’t want to let it go.

 

As you can see, multitasking is only harming you and your productivity. Instead, break down your work into similar categories and only work each task alone. As you continue to do this, you will see just how much better your work gets and how much more free time you really have in the end.

 

Posted on

Treat Yourself and Take A Day Off

Skipping breaks and other self-care needs neglects your business just as much as it, does you. As a business owner, it’s important to pay attention to your health, physically and mentally, before it negatively impacts your success.

 

The following are crucial reasons why you should never skip breaks or feel guilty about self-care:

 

  • To De-stress And Optimize Health – To promote mental clarity and happiness to make the right choices and decisions for your business. Poor self-care leads to depression, cardiovascular disease, and many other health problems that can ultimately change the trajectory of your life you don’t want to go down.
  • For Gratitude and Generosity – Mental clarity provides you a moment to be thankful for the things around you that inspires happiness.
  • To Inspire Creativity and Innovation – Studies show a link between alone time and increased creativity.
  • To Maintain Energy and Focus – Ultimately improving your performance, communication, and engagement.
  • You Deserve It – Lastly, and probably one of the most important reasons to take a day off and treat yourself is because you deserve and are worth it.

 

Here are a few tips to help you more easily take breaks and treat yourself even with a busy schedule:

 

Schedule Them in And Be Strict

Add short breaks, vacation, and essential appointments for self-care to your schedule and clear a spot for them first. Then don’t permit yourself to skip them.

 

Just as they say that you should always pay yourself first, including adding in time off and other vital needs right away before you allow yourself to schedule over it, remember, your health should be a top priority; otherwise, your business won’t be one either.

 

Commit to It and Take A Day Off

Practice self-discipline and do absolutely no work during your day off to reap the fullest benefits. Don’t use this time for chores or planning your next business moves. Rest and commit to activities make you happy.

 

Release Guilt and Be More Selfish

There is absolutely nothing wrong with being more selfish in life when protecting your mental and physical health. Stop feeling guilty for your purchases or days where you do absolutely nothing and recognize their benefits.

 

Establish Proper Time Management Habits

Simply put, the more time you have, the easier it is to take a day off. Find the right habits that allow you to get ahead or maximize your productivity in the shortest amount of time possible. A 90-day action plan and working in block schedules are great ideas and areas to start.

Stop neglecting your health and using the excuse that “I just don’t have time.” The only thing that statement is saying is that you don’t value yourself or your business enough to make time.

5 Rituals to Boost Your Energy and Productivity

 

Posted on

Managing Your Energy Is A Must

Fatigue leads to poor choices, potential injuries, and more problems that will only waste your time and deplete your skills. For maximum productivity, you need persistent consistency, which requires you to manage your energy. Burnout will destroy all the work you put in along the way. To better manage your energy, you must add it to your plan, ensuring that the habits you build work for you, not against you.

 

Here are four ways to help you better manage your stress so you can be more productive in life:

 

Adopt the Right Diet and Exercise Routine

No one likes to hear it, but it’s crucial and one of the most valuable tips to managing and harboring energy. If you don’t adopt the proper diet and exercise routine, it won’t matter how many other habits or practices you adopt. If you are unhealthy and your body needs crucial vitamins, you must listen to your body.

 

Being a professional athlete or adopting the next fad diet isn’t required for success here. You need to find the proper balance that works for you and your schedule. This requires honesty and mindfulness to be done successfully. Providing your body the right food and resources it needs go far. If you’re serious, you’ll research ways to use up all the extra energy you have instead.

How Sleep Impacts Your Productivity

Stop Being Busy All The time

Believe it or not, the most productive people have free schedules. They are not always busy because they understand that it’s more about the quality of their work and how it impacts their ultimate goal that leads to productivity. The goal is to do less, with less but achieve more or maximum success.

 

Being busy drains your energy and prevents you from performing at your best, and makes you forget your life goals as you work to get through each day. When you give yourself a more realistic schedule, you can better use your energy to master your skills and achieve goals more efficiently with ultimate focus and precision.

 

Stop Trying to Make Everyone Happy

Unfortunately, you won’t, can’t, and shouldn’t please everyone. This high expectation will only overwhelm you and lead to poor communication and engagement among your audience. You would have to juggle a million different personalities to please them all successfully. In everything you do for your business, all focus should be on your target audience — only. Your target audience is unlikely to be everyone and is something you should narrow down right away if you haven’t already.

 

Don’t Dwell on What You Can’t Control

Stop negativity in its tracks and only focus on the things you can control. It’s a draining and exhausting never-ending rabbit hole otherwise. You can’t make everyone buy your products, but you can control the quality of work and put the best product out there to change their minds, hopefully.

 

As you can see, with a bit of change of perspective and adopting the right habits, you can manage your energy efficiently. Maintaining your energy is essential so you can consistently use it to focus on what truly matters for you and your business needs.