Blog

Business Hours from store window

Why I Do Laundry During Business Hours

by EvieBurke, posted in rules, Task List

Business Hours from store windowIf you work from home, have you heard this advice: Never ever do housework during your business hours? I have. And usually, anything that tells me it’s okay not to do housework is great in my book! However, I break this rule regularly and usually on Mondays.

The title of this article gives it away. I do laundry during my work day. Why? Because it works out really well for me.

Rules like “Never ever do housework during your business hours” are guidelines. The purpose is to encourage you to treat your business seriously, make time for it and don’t get sidetracked doing other things (things that won’t help you pay bills). So, it makes some sense.

But why do I do laundry on Mondays? Well, my Mondays are usually a day for writing and getting some items checked off my to-do list. And it takes about 45 minutes or so for a load of laundry to finish, which is a nice block of time to get something done. It becomes a game for me – how far can I get on this task or how many of these items can I complete before the buzzer goes off?

Now, I do have a few of my own rules around doing laundry.

  1. It does not get put away during work hours unless it can’t go in the drier.
  2. Work comes before laundry. So, if I’m in the zone working on something, I won’t get up when the buzzer goes off. I’ll finish what I’m working on first.
  3. It does not run when I have calls scheduled (especially if I’m doing calls from the first floor). The buzzer is quite loud.

So, when I’m doing laundry I’m usually very productive, a lot gets done! And it surprised me at first – given that I was breaking a “rule” about working from home. But, like most “rules” they are just guidelines for you to use while determining what works best for you.

What business or productivity “rules” do you regularly break with great success? Let me know in the comments!

photo credit: tengrrl via photopin cc

Things To Do, Low Motivation and 3 Questions

by EvieBurke, posted in procrastination, Self Care

Ever had a day where you just wanted to sit in front of the TV or maybe curl up with a good book or take a nap? It’s not that you didn’t have things to do; it’s just that you didn’t feel motivated to do them.

These days happen to everyone. You can push through it, give in to it or take a look at why it’s happening.

Here are some questions to ask yourself when you’re in this situation:

  1. Am I getting enough sleep?
    Many times low motivation is a result of too many late nights. Your body needs sleep to recharge. Try to get at least 7 hours, preferably more, of sleep tonight.
  2. What am I avoiding?
    Is there something that you’re avoiding? Another way to word this is: what am I afraid of happening if I complete this? Sometimes you have to dig a bit to figure out why you’re avoiding something.
  3. Do I have enough down time?
    If you’re always busy, whether business or family, you’ll wear yourself out. Your body and mind might decide that a day off is exactly what you need.

Go through and answer each question – especially if you’re not getting enough sleep. Why? Well, why aren’t you getting enough sleep? Answer the other two questions. Sometimes I find that I (or a client) am not getting enough sleep because I’m avoiding something or I’m taking some well-deserved downtime and missing out on the sleep.

For example, several years ago I had a job that I did not enjoy, at all. I regularly stayed up late and then got up early for work. I kept telling myself to go to bed earlier, but I didn’t. One night I realized I was staying up late because when you fall asleep, it feels like a few minutes later when you wake up. So, by staying up later, I was delaying going to work the next morning (ok, logically it might not make sense, but we don’t always do things logically).

So, I was staying up late to avoid work. Thankfully, that spurred some changes in my life at that time. Now, you might not be avoiding work. Instead you might be avoiding a particular task, a meeting or conversation or something else.

Once you know why your motivation is low, decide how you’re going to address it (what changes will it spur in your life). Meaning – if you’re not getting enough sleep, what can you do to make sure you get to bed earlier tonight? Basically, what’s your plan of action to avoid having this issue tomorrow?

But what do you do about today’s motivation low? Well, the plan of action might have given you some motivation, which is great! But it’s okay if that didn’t happen too. When your motivation is still low you have a couple of options left: push through it or take a break. Trust your intuition (or gut feeling) and decide what the best course of action is for you. It’s okay to decide to take a break. Sometimes that’s the most productive thing you can do.

What do you do when your motivation is low?

Two Forms of Overwhelm and What To Do About Them

by EvieBurke, posted in Goals, Overwhelm

This month’s teleclass topic was about “Ending Entrepreneurial Overwhelm.” And as I outlined the topic, I thought about was what causes it. How does it show up for me, how does it show up for my clients and other entrepreneurs I talk with?

It comes in many forms and the two I hear (or recognize) the most are:

  1. Information overload – “they” say I need to be doing this and this and that. And I’ve heard about this other thing I should be doing – Oh and then there’s this – and I can’t forget about that. But how do I find or make time for all of that?
  2. Everything’s started, nothing is finished – last month I started doing this, but then last week I decided I should really be doing this instead. And two days ago I decided I should do this too. So, I have a lot of things I’m working on right now! For some reason I just can’t get anything finished, I just run out of time.

Both of these have the same root cause –you’re focusing on too many things at once, specifically new things. I get it; new things have a bit of a new car look and smell to them. Then you get started on it and the “newness” melts away. You notice that maybe your new car isn’t as perfect as you thought. You’re not getting anywhere any faster than you were in the old car. And now you’re even more frustrated.

So, why are you focusing on so many things at once? Why is it when you pick out one thing to focus on you stick to it for a bit and then find yourself picking something else to focus on before finishing the first one (don’t worry, you’re not alone)? The reason is you don’t have clarity. Yes, you probably have a goal, make this much money or have this many clients or sell this much product, but you aren’t clear about which strategy to use to get there.

As a result, you jump from one strategy to the next. And none of them are really given enough time to determine if they work for you or not. So, pick one strategy and see it through. Purposefully work on each step and tweak as necessary.

The next question is: How do you get clarity? One of the simplest ways is to clearly define what you want and the strategy you’ll use to get there. Think of it like a taking a trip. If you’re going to Chicago, there are lots of different roads and methods you can take to get there. You pick out the way that makes the most sense to you and set out. Halfway through the trip it probably doesn’t make sense to decide to take the train. However, you could make a note that next time you’d like to take the train.

The strategies we use to reach our goals are similar. Once you plot out your strategy, stick to it. And if you come across another strategy on the way, make a note that you thought it was interesting and maybe next time you can use that strategy.

I’d love to know one of your goals and the strategy you’re committing to using to achieve it. Leave a comment and let me know!

We All Have 24 Hours in Our Day

by EvieBurke, posted in attitude, Overwhelm

Has anyone ever told you something like: You have just as much time each day as Thomas Edison and Bill Gates (or Steve Jobs). Everyone has 24 hours each day, no matter who they are.

Take a moment and notice your thoughts around this. What are you thinking? What are you feeling right now?

Generally, this kind of thing is meant to motivate you, to encourage you to spend your time wisely. And when I’m feeling overwhelmed with my goals or tasks, this sort of comment or quote annoys the heck out of me!

My thoughts tend to go like this: Good for them! They accomplished great things! Yes, I get your point, I can do that too – but how can I possibly do more in my day!?

Did you catch what happened there? I made an assumption. Based on my frustration and annoyance that I’m not “doing” enough it makes complete sense that I would make that assumption. Maybe you made the same assumption when you read it.

The assumption is that the purpose of the quote is to encourage me to do more each day. Be more productive, get more done, because obviously (another assumption here) the people who are more successful do more each day.

Is “doing more” the real purpose of pointing out everyone gets 24 hours each day? Maybe, maybe not. The real purpose doesn’t really matter.

What matters is how we interpret it. You interpret everything from where you are. So, at different points in your life, or heck, different points in your day, you will interpret the same sentence a different way.

When I’m tired, frustrated and overwhelmed I interpret everyone getting the same 24 hours as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs (or Mother Theresa for that matter) as someone telling me I should be “doing more” or “being more productive.” That time is something everyone struggles with daily.

However, at other times of the day you (and I) might view it differently. Here are some other ways to interpret it:

  • You immediately look at how productive you are and how you can improve it. Then you create strategies and plans to manage your time and stay productive! What doesn’t work for you today you’ll modify and do better tomorrow.
  • You think about all the different ways you can use your time (it’s kind of exciting!) and look for the ways you can make the greatest impact for others.
  • You think it’s really great that you get to choose how to spend your time. Maybe you’ll relax today or work on that project. Either way, it’s your choice and a great way to spend your time!

How did you respond to the “24 hours” comment?

How would you like to respond?

Leave a comment and let me know!

How to Deal With Overwhelm

by EvieBurke, posted in Overwhelm

Overwhelm – the word we use to describe so much coming at us at once that we can’t quickly identify the individual parts.

There are two ways to deal with overwhelm.

  1. Ignore it and move on
  2. Spend the time to identify the individual parts.

When any of your five senses are overwhelmed (hearing, sight, touch, smell and taste) a lot of times we just ignore it (or enjoy it) and move on. Emotions are another story, and I’ll leave that up to you to decide how to handle. However, when your thoughts overwhelm you, specifically your responsibilities, that’s where I have some definite thoughts.

The difference between being overwhelmed by your responsibilities (or to-do list) and most the others is that usually the other overwhelms occur once and then you can decide – quickly – whether to experience it again. For example, the taste of that dish was overwhelming; do I want to experience it again or not?

When your responsibilities overwhelm you, you still have that choice. However it requires a bit more time to ensure you don’t experience it again. If no action is taken, you’re pretty much assured that you’re going to feel overwhelmed again rather quickly.

So, how do we prevent overwhelm from happening again, once we’ve already experienced it? Stop or slow down! Yes, I realize that might sound completely counterintuitive. You want to get something done! Not add something else to your list of responsibilities!

However, I bet that’s part of the overwhelm right there, you don’t actually have a written list of your tasks. They’re all in your head, fighting to not be forgotten.

So, what’s your first step to avoiding or handling overwhelm? Make a list of everything you want to accomplish. Yep, sit down and write it all out.

Then, if you have someone to delegate to, decide what you can delegate to them and delegate it!

Next, decide what really must be done this week (or today). Yes, I know you want to do it all, but give yourself a break! There are only so many hours in the day and you need and deserve some time for yourself and your family. So, go through your list and decide what must and can be done and let the rest go until next week.

And repeat this until you actually have reasonably doable list.

As you go through your day, you’ll probably think of more things to add to your list. Add them! That way you’ll remember them and you’ll avoid feeling overwhelmed later. Remember to continue to be realistic about what can be done in a week!