Does Time Get Away From You?

As the weeks fly by I ask myself where the time went and what did I accomplish. I recently listened to a series of webinars which provided me with some great ideas. Jack Canfield (well-known author, motivational speaker, and business coach) talked about how significant "the power of five" can be. He said that on our to-do lists we should list five things that move us toward our goals, and we should start each day working on those five things until they are completed. Then if time remains we can work on other tasks. While he was speaking about business goals I know that his advice also applies to taking care of children, running a household, and juggling work and family life. Most of us put too many things on our to-do lists with no real grasp of how long it would actually take us to complete the entire list. If we focus on what is most important to be completed and form our to-do lists with five tasks leading to the accomplishment of those things, we will get them done! If I am not pro-active I can easily get caught up in minutia, and probably a little of my own OCD also slips in there. I have been trying to follow "the power of five" advice daily, and I am amazed at how much more I am accomplishing. Whether I am concentrating on my business, household tasks and projects, or volunteer work I really am able to get the most important things done first. Try it. I'm sure you will be pleased with the results. I know that children can at times prevent adherence to schedules and plans, but more often than not I am confident you will get all or most of your five things done on a daily basis and still have time left to do other things. I am also thinking that as children enter school and take on responsibilities this might be a good practice to share with them. Let me know what you think. I hope you will sign up to follow my blog and give me your feedback on anything I write. Thanks in advance for helping me!

Information Overload

For a number of weeks now I have been reading books, blogs, Tweets, and Facebook posts about business. In addition, I have been sitting in on webinars which are providing lots of good information. So many knowledgeable speakers on so many pertinent topics, but I have to admit I am suffering information overload. ETSY webinars, some great Laura Roeder webinars, and a Business Momentum series of presentations by 20 different speakers have given me much to think about, much to filter through to determine what applies to my business, and many great ideas that I would LOVE to try. I think I may be getting analysis paralysis so I am going to take a step back and try to digest all of it before making any decisions. The common threads running through almost all of them are: Have clarity of your vision; Believe it is possible and that you can do it; Focus; Have five things per day to do that take you closer to achieving your business goals and work on them first before doing busy work (emails, social media,etc.). I am a person who can get caught up in minutiae so that really applies to me. My advice to solopreneurs is to listen and learn but don't delay so long that you never get your business off the ground. I am psyched up to try some new approaches in my business, and I'll let you know how they work for us.