Blog – Page 75 – One Insight Closer

How Will You Astound Yourself?

June 12, 2013June 13, 2013 by EvieBurke, posted in inspiration, Miracles, Quote

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter you know that I’m a big fan of quotes. I share one daily. I’ve been doing this for a couple years now, so I’ve developed quite a list of quotes. And on Monday I was browsing through and one jumped out at me:

If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves. – Thomas A. Edison

I replaced the quote I had planned for Monday with that one. The Edison quote didn’t hit me in the gut, it hit me in the heart.

Do written words ever do that to you too?

So, as I ponder what I’m capable of that I haven’t yet recognized, I invite you to do the same.

How will you astound yourself? This week? This month? This summer? This year?

Sit with it, journal with it, walk with it. Spend time with it however you best process new thoughts or ideas.

What new goals or projects might you take on as a result?

And, of course, I’d love to know what you come up with or what other questions it opens up for you. Share in the comments below.

Image courtesy of digitalart at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I’d like to Get That Done, But I’m Stuck

June 6, 2013June 10, 2013 by EvieBurke, posted in inspiration

As I write this, there are lots of other things to do yet today. You see, I leave for a business trip tomorrow and I tend to stress out a bit about traveling – until I get through security at the airport, and then I’m just fine – relaxed even. Until that point, I’m a bundle of nerves wondering if I’ve packed everything I need to (this amuses my husband who likes to point out that I travel to places that have these things called stores. So, if I forget something I can get a replacement).

Anyway, when I sat down to write this I couldn’t come up with a topic, there was too much other stuff going on in my head. So, I wrote the Note for my newsletter, because sometimes as I write it a topic comes to mind (it worked last week). This week nothing came to mind but the list of other things I still want to do today – and it’s already 4pm.

Part of me said, “Forget it! Go get the other stuff done and come back to this later.” However, another part of me that’s a bit wiser said, “If you don’t write it now, you won’t do it before you leave. The remaining day will quickly fill with the other tasks and you’ll be trying to write it when you’re tired.”

My point here? Sometimes there are things on our to-do list that we want to do, but getting it done seems really difficult. Whether it’s writing something and the words just won’t come or starting a new project and you have no idea how to approach it – sometimes you just get stuck.

And yet, you want to write those words or start that project – despite the frustration. But HOW?!

This is what I did:

Get quiet.
I set my timer for five minutes and sat quietly and thought about the task I wanted to do, asking for guidance.

Many times, when I sit quietly and gently brush away the other thoughts that pop up, I’ll open up the mental space for a new idea or thought. It didn’t work this time – although I was enjoying the quiet so much I set my timer for another five minutes.
What’s another way to get this task done?
Since my task was writing an article, I thought about how an article could be posted if I didn’t write it. I had two thoughts (1) re-post an old article or (2) have a guest writer. I liked option two better and lots of people who write blogs and are okay with people reposting them on their blog as long as they attribute it to the original author (usually there’s a specific paragraph to include with a link back to the author’s site).

I poked around one of my favorite blogs, but didn’t find anything that made me go “this is it!”
Set your timer for 10 minutes, turn off all distractions and only work on that task
I set the timer, minimized all the windows on my computer, turned off the sound on my phone and opened a document to write the article. Nothing else was open to distract me and writing, or staring at the blank page, was all I allowed myself to do.

And suddenly I had a topic! Writing about what I did to get an article written when it seemed like it just wasn’t going to happen.

Sometimes waiting for “the right time” doesn’t work. In this case, there wasn’t going to be a better time – just a more frustrating time.

Ohh, and the quote that I shared on Facebook the day I wrote this:

You cannot wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club. – Jack London

How accidentally appropriate.

In the comments below share what you do when you want to get something done and are stuck.

Image courtesy of renjith krishnan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How to Prepare Your Business for Your Vacation

May 30, 2013May 30, 2013 by EvieBurke, posted in planning, Self Care

It’s almost June! Which means schools are finishing up (if they haven’t already) and summer is practically here (regardless of what the weather might try to tell us). And with warmer weather and longer days comes the desire of a few days off, or even a vacation (!) to enjoy the weather and sun and have some time to relax.

Sounds wonderful right? But then you start to think about all those things that you want to or should be doing for your business right now – and suddenly taking any time away from your home office sounds less wonderful and more stressful.

On some level though, you know you need the time away – a time to rest and not think about your business. You just don’t know if that’s possible.

Let’s take a step back and remember having a JOB (play with me here). Remember going on vacation then? If your job was anything like mine, going on vacation meant that you had to set aside some extra time before you left to tie up any loose ends, to let clients and/or co-workers know you’re going to be gone and to update anyone who was going to be handling some of your responsibilities while you were gone (and maybe letting them know how to reach you in an emergency).

You know that that process was? A system, even if you didn’t call it that or think of it that way, it was the system that you, or the business you worked for, setup to make sure that things ran relatively smoothly while you were gone.

Let’s step back to today. What is your system for taking time off in your business?

Okay, I hear some of you laughing (or sighing) that you are your business and if you’re not there things don’t run. Nothing happens when you’re not in the office – or worse, if you’re not in the office things start to fall apart. Well, that might currently be true, but there are probably a few things that you can do before you leave or set up to happen while you’re gone to make sure nothing falls apart and that things run smoothly when you return.

Let your clients know you’ll be out of the office
Just give them a heads up. This could be a quick phone call and a follow-up email so they have the dates and other information at their fingertips. And let if you’re in a business where emergencies happen and they might need you now. Let them know how to handle that.
Tie up loose ends
If you have any projects or communications that have under 15 minutes left on them, finish those up. These things will take longer to do if you wait until you return, because they won’t be fresh in your mind.
Decide what can wait until after you get back
If you’re anything like me you’ve suddenly decided that those two bigger projects that you put on the back burner should really be DONE before you leave. Because you don’t want to think about it when you return. You want to have time available for those great new ideas that will pop up when you return from vacation.This is where I remind us both (you and me) that some things will have to wait until after vacation. Trying to cram too much in before you leave will result in frustration and the temptation to take work with you on vacation (don’t do it!).Instead, decide ahead of time what can wait. Make a list if you need to and then you can schedule those things when you return.
Out of Office email reply
Most email programs have this. Set it up for the dates that you’ll be gone and let them know when they can expect a reply back from you.
Update your voice mail message
Again, let people know you’re out and when you’ll get back to them.
Set time aside for replies and phone calls when you return
Set aside a couple hours on your first day back in the office for returning emails and phone calls (and cleaning out your inbox).
Plan the first couple days you’re back in the office
This one is really important for me. Last year I didn’t do this when I went on a two week vacation. Actually, I “planned” on planning my first week back on the airplane ride home. Yeah, so on the airplane ride home I think I slept, talked with my husband and maybe read a couple of chapters of a fiction book. So, my first week back “in the office” I did catch up on email and send my newsletter, but that was about it…I realized that first week back would have been a lot smoother, and more productive, if I would have planned a few tasks to be completed that week. I could have gotten back into the swing of things a lot faster.
Write and schedule your newsletter in advance
If you send a newsletter, you can write it in advance and schedule it to go out while you’re gone. And if you have a VA you can write everything in advance and pass it along to her early.
Enjoy your time off!
Allow yourself to mentally unplug from your business and enjoy your time off!

You deserve some time off! Put it on your schedule and start planning for it!

In the comments below share what else you do to prepare for vacation or even a day away from your business.

Image courtesy of Mary Wu at marywuva.com

How Do I Find The Time To Work On My Long Term Priorities?

May 23, 2013May 22, 2013 by EvieBurke, posted in Goals, Overwhelm, planning, schedule, Time, Uncategorized

Last week we went through how to identify the projects/tasks that are your highest priority. So, you hopefully now know what you want to work on in addition to your day-to-day tasks. However, your day-to-day tasks still take all day.

And now you’re wondering, or still wondering how to find the time to work on those tasks, because you still have the day-to-day work to take care of. You can’t exactly let that slide, right? Of course not!

So, let’s get started!

How to find time to work on those priorities you identified:

Break it down into bite-sized pieces.
And I hear you saying: “but that doesn’t solve my time problem!” And you’re partially right. Last week, one of the example tasks was updating your website and if that a task on my to-do list I would probably avoid it like the plague.Why? Because I’d have no idea where to start, it’s too big. The first step would be to break it down into manageable pieces. And you don’t have to know all the steps right now. As long as you know the first step or two, you can get started and then fill in the next steps and you decide (or discover) what they are.
Estimate the time to complete each task.
Do this as best as you can. I know that it can be difficult to know how long a new task is going to take. However, I also know that if I give myself an unlimited amount of time to do something I get easily sidetracked by other distractions like Facebook and email. But when I give myself an hour to complete something or research something, I’m much more focused. When I’m working on it I know I only have so much time to complete it and then I want to move on to the next task.
How do you currently spend your time?
Be brutally honest with yourself. Are you spending too much time checking email, Facebook, Twitter or whatever your distraction of choice is?One tool I have installed on my desktop and laptop is Rescue Time (it’s free!). It monitors the websites you visit and the programs you use on your PC and you can assign how productive or distracting each site or program is. It’s a great way to find out where those little bits of time went.
Schedule time to do those tasks.
Make an appointment with yourself and keep it!I’ll admit that there was a time that I found this piece of advice really, really, oh my goodness sooo annoying. It took me a bit of time to really realize why. My main calendar, the one I sync with my phone, is my place for appointments and meetings. Putting tasks on it felt like clutter to me – I’d look at my phone to see my meetings/appointments for the day and only see the tasks for the day – my meetings would be lost in the tasks. Usually this meant I’d dress for a day at home and realize later that I had a networking event or coffee meeting with someone.

So, what I ended up doing was creating another calendar. I use Google Calendars and it allows you to create as many calendars as you want and you can decide which ones are visible at any time.

This means I can now schedule my tasks, but they aren’t downloaded to my phone. This is fine, because when I’m working on my tasks, I’m generally near a computer anyway. I still keep a paper list of what those tasks are too, so if I’m not at my desk, I know what is on the agenda for the day.

What’s that I hear? You still think this piece of advice isn’t going to work for you? Okay, I hear you – and let’s go through a scenario (come on, play along!). Let’s say that you’re planning your week (what, you don’t really do that? That might be part of your frustration). Anyway, you’re planning next week and a potential client calls and asks if they can talk to you next week. You don’t tell them: “I’m sorry, I’m too busy with the day-to-day of my business to talk to next week – call me back in a month.” Nope, instead you find a time that works for both of you and block the time out in your calendar.

Completing the high priority projects and tasks you’ve identified is just as important to your business as that potential client meeting. The biggest difference is these projects and tasks generally aren’t as obviously related to your income.

At any rate, try scheduling the time, even if it’s just on a piece of paper near your desk and see what happens.
Hire it out.
What can you pay someone else to do for you? Is there a task you do every day or week that you could write directions for and pay someone else to do it? Maybe one of your non-day-to-day projects has a task or two that would take you a couple hours or so (between the research and then actually doing it) and it would take someone else a fraction of that time.Your time is valuable. So, even if you don’t think you’re at a spot where you can hire someone else right now, start a list of things you could hire someone else to do. You never know when an opportunity to pass some of those tasks on might land in your lap!
Be patient and kind with yourself.
One of the big reasons I get frustrated with all the THINGS! that must be done NOW! Is I’m feeling behind where I think I should be. The truth is it doesn’t matter and worrying about it, or beating myself up about it, is just a huge time and energy suck.All that matters is that this is where you are now and that you’re taking steps forward.

Know that you’re not alone! And it’s okay if you’re not where you feel you should be. Take a deep breath (I’m fond of those) and look at the things you’re doing to move forward. Then pat yourself on the back!

Feeling overwhelmed happens to everyone. There are always things to do! And that can be really frustrating, but it can also be very positive (it means that you’re constantly moving forward!). Along the way, don’t forget to celebrate your victories, big and small. And reward yourself!

What other things do you do to address your entrepreneurial overwhelm? Share in the comments below!

Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How Do I Decide What My Long Term Priorities Are?

May 16, 2013May 15, 2013 by EvieBurke, posted in Goals, planning, schedule, Time

At the beginning of last week I was at a conference, Spark & Hustle, with a bunch of other small business owners. And I heard this said many times and in many ways: “How do I get all my day to day things done and still have time for all those other things that should be done?”

Do you ever wonder that?

I know I have. And it’s usually accompanied by a feeling of overwhelm, a physical tightening of my back and feeling like I have a rock in my stomach. Oh, and it’s topped with a small voice telling me “there is NO way you will EVER get all of that done.”

How does it show up for you?

And then the voice might tell me I might as well go check Facebook or watch TV, basically just give up now, don’t waste your time.

I’d love to tell you I never experience this anymore, but that’s not truthful. It still happens on occasion. However, it does happen less than before and the voice that tells me I’m wasting my time isn’t quite as loud as it once was. And sometimes it doesn’t bother showing up at all, it must know I’d ignore it now anyway.

So, what to do?

It’d be easy and decent advice to tell you to just identify your priorities. But it probably wouldn’t be extremely helpful. I know when I’m in that place described above and someone tells me to figure out my priorities my thoughts are along the lines of: “Well, yes, setting priorities is the extremely logical thing to do. However if I could easily do that, I wouldn’t be having this problem! Right now the priority is my day-to-day stuff, and that’s part of the problem!”

I’m going to use the term “long term priorities” to mean those projects or tasks that you want to work on, but seem to get lost in the day-to-day tasks. These projects or tasks might not take long to accomplish, but they don’t seem to move forward either.

What I needed was:

A little help deciding what those long term priorities were.
A way to find time to tackle the long term priorities.

This week’s article tackles the first topic and next week we’ll look at the second topic.

Note: I’m using the term “long term priorities” to mean those projects or tasks that you want to work on, but seem to get lost in the day-to-day tasks. These projects or tasks might not take long to accomplish, but they don’t seem to move forward either.

Help deciding what your long term priorities are

What method currently is bringing you the most clients? And if you don’t have clients yet, what method will most quickly bring you the most clients (hint: if you’re a new business, the fastest way is almost always going out and meeting people).

Is there anything on your “I should do this” list that relates directly to that method?
For example, perhaps you met most of your current and previous customers networking. And when networking you pass out your business cards, but your business cards have an old email address on it that you cross out and write in your current email address. Then, getting new business cards with your current email address would be a task directly related to networking.
1. Yes, there are directly related tasks: Those tasks are your highest priority.
2. No, I don’t have any directly related tasks: What is the second way you are most likely to meet clients? Ask step 2 again.
Optional: Is there anything on your “I should do this” list that indirectly relates to that method?
For example, using the above example of networking and business cards, let’s say that the website on your business cards is correct, but is no longer an accurate representation of what you do (hey, it happens, our business tend to evolve). Then, updating your website would be a task indirectly related to networking.

What are your priorities? Did any priorities from this exercise surprise you? Share in the comments below!

Image courtesy of digitalart at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of renjith krishnan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of Mary Wu at marywuva.com

Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net