I have some specific habits that keep things moving here (here being my business).
One of those habits is creating my daily to-do list.
I’ve noticed that the days that go a little off the rail (or a lot) are the days that I haven’t created one.
The days I don’t have a to-do list are the ones that:
I fall into the “I know what I need to do and don’t need a list” trap
I get sidetracked by checking email or Facebook “quickly”
I’m not sure what I actually did that day
When I have my list I have a visual reminder of what I am focusing on right now and that I will have an email and Facebook check later.
I’ve also noticed it helps to create this list the evening before (it takes me longer to create this list in the morning).
And, through a bit of trial and error, I know what format my daily to-do list needs to be in for it to be most helpful to me.
But what works best for me might not work best for you.
So, I put together a short list of different formats of daily to-do lists to share with you on Wednesday when I go live on Facebook.
If daily to-do lists are not something that you do, I encourage you to attend on Wednesday (or watch the recording later) and see if one of the methods might work for you.
You can find the video below.
PRODUCTIVITY FOR SOLOPRENEURS: INSIGHTS TO GETTING THINGS DONE #102
Last week was my 100th Facebook live! I did a Q&A and you can watch it by clicking here if you missed it.
I’ve been thinking about the first question that was asked.
It was “I recently started my business and am overwhelmed with how much there is to do! Some days I have NO idea where to start. I never feel like I’m making any progress. How do I manage everything without going crazy and start making progress?”
Even if you haven’t recently started your business, you can probably relate to the question (I know I can).
The quick version of what I said last week was:
Look for where you can start cutting back on receiving new information
Decide what you’re going to do and stick with for a bit to figure out what works for you and what doesn’t.
And I have more to say on this topic!
I’ll share it in this week’s Productivity for Solopreneurs: Insights to getting things done. You can watch itbelow..
Productivity for Solopreneurs: Insights to getting things done #101
In December of 2016, I was challenged by my coach to start going live on Facebook each week.
I had lots of reasons (*cough* excuses *cough*) about why I couldn’t.
But he helped me realize that I had even better reasons TO do it.
It’s now over 2 years later and this is my 100th live video.
To celebrate I’m doing a Q&A or you can think of it as an AMA (Ask Me Anything).
Productivity for Solopreneurs: Insights to getting things done #100
The questions I answered were:
(2:05) I recently started my business and am overwhelmed with how much there is to do! Some days I have NO idea where to start. I never feel like I’m making any progress. How do I manage everything without going crazy and start making progress?
(7:38) When you’re just tired and don’t want to do anything, how do you get the motivation to get the things done you need to?
(15:17) I didn’t keep up with my bookkeeping and accounts very well and now have HOURS of work to do before I can turn it over to my accountant. How do I prevent this from happening next year?
In the video I mention the article where I reference my bookkeeping, click here for that.
The short answer is to find what works for you and keep doing it.
But if it was that easy, no one would have an overwhelming inbox.
Email clients have gotten a lot better about helping you manage your email.
I know figuring out how to get your newsletters into Gmail’s Primary tab is a hot topic and many people worry about it, but those tabs keep my email working for me.
Most email clients have some version of this (an email client is where you read and send email from, examples are Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, etc.).
For example, Outlook has a “Focused” and “Other” inbox.
Use these tools to your advantage.
If something ends up in a folder you don’t want it in, move it to the folder you do want it in.
Most email clients want to keep you happy, so they learn pretty quickly that your Mom’s emails are important, but the emails from that clothing store aren’t.
Having your email automatically sort your personal communications from the newsletters and business/store/sale updates makes quickly checking your email much easier.
It’s the difference between a quick email check that’s actually quick and efficient and an email check that’s distracting because you have to manually sort through so much stuff and you feel like you missed something important.
I have a Gmail inbox and I LOVE the tabs.
But I don’t use them all the way that they’re intended.
Here’s my breakdown:
Primary – personal communications, including emails from clients.
Social – Social media type and digest updates/emails (Meetup, Nextdoor, Instagram, Facebook, Quora, Goodreads, etc).
Updates – Newsletters that I want to read a day or two after they’re sent, payment emails (Paypal, Square, Stripe, etc).
Promotions – everything else. This tab is full of newsletters I get that I want to keep getting (although I keep an eye out for ones I regularly delete without reading and then unsubscribe from them). If I’m quickly clearing my email I’ll read the ones that catch my eye or if I have time I’ll open and skim each one.
Forums – I don’t use this tab.
One bonus tip.
Do you get emails from places that you’ve ordered from that you don’t want to unsubscribe from (because sometimes you do want to know about their sales), but their emails multiple times each week clutter your inbox?
Create a “Shopping” folder and when you get an email that belongs in that folder, create or update a rule that sends emails from that sender to the “Shopping” folder.
This way, you can open that folder every day or two and quickly scan for any emails that you want to open and delete everything else in that folder.
This also keeps these emails from cluttering up other folders of your inbox.
I shared this for this week’s Productivity for Solopreneurs: Insights to getting things done. The video is below.
Productivity for Solopreneurs: Insights to getting things done #99
A while ago I was having lunch with some fabulous solopreneurs and the topic of email came up.
One of the ladies looked at me and said “Do you keep your inbox at zero? I bet you do!”
I surprised her by telling her I don’t keep my inbox at zero – at all.
Looking at my main inbox right now I have nine read emails and five unread.
In my other inbox folders (it’s Gmail so I make use of the inbox tabs) I have 42 read emails and 32 unread.
Why don’t I do the “Inbox Zero” thing?
My job isn’t to closely monitor my email all day
I’ve tried doing the Inbox Zero thing in the past and all it did was result in me checking my email every 15-30 minutes to make sure I still had zero emails in my inbox.
That makes it very difficult to get much else done effectively or quickly.
And while keeping your inbox at zero all day isn’t actually the point of the Inbox Zero strategy, my brain seems to think it should be when I’ve tried it.
All email isn’t important
If the goal is to process ALL email each time I go into my inbox, then all email get’s treated with the same level of urgency.
Have an email from a client asking a question? Yes, reply fairly quickly. That makes sense.
Have a newsletter from someone you can’t immediately place? Read it NOW and make that inbox be zero! Well, that doesn’t seem like it’s the best use of your time.
What does make sense is to answer the urgent or important emails quickly now and come back to process/delete/read the other emails when you have time.
I don’t always have time to clear out my email every day.
Some days other things are more important than a newsletter in my inbox, even if it’s one that I LOVE to read.
AND I still want/need to respond to emails from clients, potential clients, and friends.
Don’t strive for an inbox of zero. It’s just not the best way to use your time.
Instead, find or create an inbox system that works for you and keeps your email at a manageable level where the important emails are responded to and the unimportant are quickly dealt with when appropriate.
Do you have any questions about managing your inbox that you’d like answered? Comment below and let me know.
Productivity for Solopreneurs: Insights to getting things done #98
