Read Never Get a ”Real„ Job Online
Authors: Scott Gerber
Making time for fitness is also important. I promise that you will be much more productive if you take better care of yourself. If you can’t afford a gym membership or to purchase equipment, create simple workout routines that you can do in your bedroom.
Do yourself a favor: Don’t make excuses.
You always have time to take care of yourself. I used to be the laziest person in the world when it came to exercise—something I paid for with a lack of productivity caused by spells of exhaustion and fatigue. Stay physically and mentally strong so you can put in the time your start-up requires. Eat right, get sufficient rest, and exercise regularly.
Before you plan a single personal activity, put the proper safeguards and protocols in place to protect your business. Be sure that your standard or amended hours of operation are easily available to inquiring customers. Keep clients notified of changes to your schedule. Always be sure to offer convenient rescheduling options to clients, should you need to cancel on them. Consider implementing an emergency contact plan in case customers need immediate attention.
Then, once you’ve established your safeguards, unplug completely. The world will not crumble if you turn off your phone or take a short break from e-mail and texts—so long as you’ve taken the proper precautions and notified the right people. Make time for friends, family, personal hobbies, and activities. Only check in on your business during short, timed intervals. You’ll become a happier, more effective, well-rounded business owner when you give yourself time to enjoy your life.
Create a “boredom backup plan.”
As I mentioned earlier in the chapter, there is
always
something to do. Fight back unproductiveness by having a boredom backup plan: A series of action items you have stored in your back pocket that are ready to be executed anytime you’re about to opt to watch mindless television shows or play video games on your couch. Having this plan in place will help you stay on top of your game during slow periods.
Adjust your backup plan regularly and strive to improve productivity. Remove outdated activities or any that don’t generate positive results for your business. Make sure that any new tasks you add are always productive. Some people may need to spend time doing product R&D; others may need to develop new products. Don’t let downtime become “you” time; otherwise you’ll find yourself with much more time than you ever wanted.
Twelve Productivity Boosters to Help Save You Time and to Help Get You Organized
1.
RescueTime.com
enables you to focus your Internet usage and boost productivity by automatically tracking and analyzing your time. This site provides analytic and reporting tools and also lets you temporarily block your usage of distracting Web sites, thereby keeping your attention where it needs to be: on generating revenue! Cost: Free to $9 per month.2.
Evernote.com
is the equivalent of digital Post-its on steroids. No matter if you’re using a smart phone or your computer, you can save all of your notes, ideas, videos, photos, and Web bookmarks in one place. Cost: Free to $5 per month.3.
Shoeboxed.com
takes all of your business cards, receipts, and other important documents, organizes your data, and stores everything in an online database. Send these documents via e-mail, snail mail, or from your mobile device. The data can be exported to a number of different address book applications and tax preparation services. Cost: Free to $49.95 per month.4.
Box.net
is a Web-based storage service that offers a secure online storage space to share, access, and manage all of their files and content. Cost: Free to $29.95 per month.5.
Setster.com
makes appointment-setting easy. The company’s widget embeds on your Web site, enabling customers to book and prepay for appointments online 24/7—without your needing to be involved in the process. Cost: Free to $29.95 per month.6.
Proposable.com
lets you create rich media proposals online. Its most notable feature is the ability to see when leads open your documents, as well as the specific sections they are reading in real time. Cost: Free trial to $29 per month.7.
FreshBooks.com
lets you create quick and easy professionally branded invoices. It also provides effective bookkeeping and reporting tools that make tax season easier to manage. Cost: Free to $29.95 per month.8.
RightSignature.com
speeds up the document-signing process by offering your clients and vendors the ability to sign contracts online. Cost: Free trial to $49 per month.9.
BasecampHQ.com
is a project-management tool that lets you oversee multiple projects with ease by utilizing file sharing and centralizing feedback online. Cost: Free to $49 per month.10.
Docstoc.com
is an online marketplace with templates for every kind of document you will ever need—from legal contracts to business forms to presentations. Cost: Varies.11.
Google Apps
includes Gmail for business, Google Docs, Google Calendar, and other productivity applications that can be accessed no matter what Internet-connected device you’re using. Cost: Free to $50 per user per year.12.
Plum Choice
(
www.PlumChoice.com
) can handle your technical issues—whether you have a Mac or PC—in a fast and expedient manner by tapping into your computer remotely and troubleshooting your issues until they are resolved. Cost: Varies.
Get organized
. There will always be plenty to worry about—hunting for a ringing telephone that’s hidden under a mountain of paperwork or searching multiple devices and hard drives to locate files shouldn’t be on the list. Don’t drown in clutter. Keep all of your tasks written down in one easy-to-access place, preferably online, where it can be synced across all of your devices. Develop an uncomplicated organizational system. Structure your contact databases for maximum effectiveness, create searchable file systems on your computer or mobile device, and design an efficient labeling system.
Have an idea notebook with you at all times
. Ideas will hit you out of the blue all the time. Unless you’re prepared to jot them down at the moment of their conception, you’ll forget them entirely. Your brain will be pulled in a thousand directions, and there is only so much you can possibly recall. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that your extraordinary photographic memory will store every thought. No matter how foolish, crazy-sounding, or just plain useless something may seem—write it down. You never know when one of your ideas will be the catalyst that positively transforms your business.
What time is it?
Ever have a moment where you looked at your watch and asked yourself, “Where did the day go?” or “Is it 5 pm already?” As an entrepreneur, it is essential to manage your time effectively. However, proper time management is only effective if you master proper time
allocation
.
Three Steps to Bite-Size Your Tasks and Objectives
Failing to simplify complex tasks will lead to expensive mistakes, drawn out timelines, and scattered efforts. Breaking down multipart undertakings into a series of bite-size steps will keep you motivated and allow you to accomplish goals more easily. Distilling tasks to basic elements can also help to determine the best courses of action. This trains you to simplify big projects into smaller action steps and to avoid taking on more than you can handle.
1.
Determine whether the task is simple or complex
. Simple tasks are those that contain no moving parts and can be completed in one step—like depositing funds in your bank account or responding to e-mail. Complex tasks are made up of many components and cannot be completed without achieving multiple milestones. An example of this would be building a Web site.2.
Map out action steps
. Break out each of the components into individual items. Consider possible alternatives for each action step before settling on it. In the case of building a Web site, you might go about making the process bite-size like this:
- Research and list available Web site development options.
- Establish timelines and price each of these options with multiple vendors and online services.
- Determine each available option’s potential “rock bottoms.”
- Decide on the appropriate course of action.
- Renegotiate terms to your liking with selected vendor (if applicable).
- Hire the vendor or pay for the selected service and execute.
3.
Analyze your process based on successes and failures
. Was there a task you were unable to complete in the time frame you established? Could you have simplified any of your action steps further? What did you learn from the achieved outcomes that will help you to improve your method of dissecting tasks in the future? Asking yourself these types of questions will better prepare you to take on your next round of “to-dos” and bite-size complex task lists in the future.
Before you perform any task or entertain any time commitment, determine first whether the activity is time-efficient or a time drain by asking yourself these four questions:
1. Is the activity
essential
?2. Is the
timing right
or would you be better served doing something else?3. Is your
presence absolutely necessary
to complete the task?4. Is there a
better way
to engage in this activity?
Should you decide to take on the task, do everything in your power to remain on schedule. After completing it, assess your results with these four follow-up questions:
1. Did the activity turn out to be the
best use
of your time?2. Was
adequate time
allotted for the activity?3. How could your time been spent
more efficiently
?4. Will you participate in this activity
again
? If so, under
what conditions
?
Assess your time usage daily. If you find that an activity doesn’t pass muster, amend or eliminate it entirely.
“MIND” YOUR BUSINESS
Well-rounded entrepreneurs are capable of making informed decisions and thinking on their feet. It’s imperative you learn
how
to think for yourself—not simply listen to others’ opinions of
what
you should think.
The most important thing you can do is to learn from your mistakes—and never make the same mistake twice. Once you figure out how to nudge your way out from between a rock and a hard place on your own, ask yourself why you ended up there in the first place—and you’ll be less likely to end up trapped again.
Do one thing perfectly, not 10 things poorly
. Too much multitasking will result in spreading yourself too thin—which will, in turn, eat up valuable time and limit both your effectiveness and productivity. Don’t feel compelled to jump at every opportunity. Just because someone offers you the chance to become an equity partner in their cool-sounding, penniless start-up or a shot to sell their untested, no-market share product alongside yours doesn’t mean you should agree. You shouldn’t even listen to them—because these so-called opportunities are often nothing more than distractions.