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• Writers use the Internet to research, contact writers and editors, and to touch bases with customers/clients.  However, they often become involved in answering e-mails and spending time unrelated to their business on social media such as Facebook and Twitter.  (Just a quick look can evolve into an hour or more!)
• Quilters and other artists may browse around related sites and groups looking for particular information and find themselves two hours later still there.
• You’re writing a blog for your walk-in store that has an online presence, too.  Then you take a “quick”  look at e-mail and Facebook. 

These are just some of the scenerios that may take longer than they should.  I find myself doing this, too.

Since reading Dr. Jean Murray’s guest post for my Small Business Boomers blog, I’ve resolved to be more efficient.  After surgery, Jean had to manage her time better to use her little energy to keep her business going. 

When I started back to work at home, it was for only an hour or so a day. I gave up Twittering, reading emails, and spending time wandering around the web. It was amazing to me how much time I had been wasting on that stuff. Letting it go has now been a permanent habit for me. I scan through emails quickly and select only those that must be answered, ignoring the rest. I don’t do social media until the end of the week, and only if I have time. Maybe I’m losing a little business, but keeping my clients and editors happy, and myself healthy, is much better than a few connections on Twitter or Facebook.

Another friend, who is a writer/editor/book author, homeschools four children and teaches a class for a homeschooling group, has had to strictly monitor her e-mail time and answer only so many per day. 

I’ve resolved to get my blogging work done before I deal with e-mail or check out Facebook and Twitter, unless I’m using them for necessary business promotion and research.

How do you organize your online time?

Post from: My Organized Biz

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However, if I don’t write something down, I bounce from one task to another wthout accomplishing much at all.

There are a number of ways to create a “to do” list and I’m still working on the best for me.

• 3×5 index cards for each day of the week. Adjust as you accomplish or don’t the items on them.
• Write the most important items at the top of the list
• Plan an hourly schedule and put something there you plan to do.
• List only three important items. Then you won’t feel deflated that you didn’t accomplish more.  Add as you accomplish these.
• Keep a list that you adjust daily, instead of rewriting each night.
• See yourself accomplishing the tasks as you write them down
• Visualize your day in advance.
• Utilize one of the computer programs for organizing your day.

What works best for you in organizing your “to do” list so it isn’t overwhelming?

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While you “lose” an hour of sleep unless you go to bed early, you gain precious daylight hours to enjoy your evenings a bit more. And more daylight means Spring and Summer are coming!

So remember to set your clocks so you won’t miss any Sunday morning appointments. Or for those of you that work Sundays, don’t be late!

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If your system works for you, keep doing it. Is organization all about neat files, a clean desk, a fancy day planner? No. To me, being organized is all about being able to work well.

Finding things when you need them. Are you able to put your hands or eyes on something you need within a minute or two (assuming it’s in your work space and not in archival storage)? Do you need to backtrack to remember where you put things, or is your system logical (for you) enough that you know where things are? To me, it’s knowing relatively quickly where I put something and that item actually being where I thought it was.

Scheduling time for efficient work. A project doesn’t get done by just throwing time at it. You need a plan. A working list of what needs to be accomplished. Randomly doing tasks in hopes something will get completed by the end of the day gets you nothing except a few checks on your to-do list.

Meeting your goals. Define what you’re working towards. What are your business goals? Personal goals? Is the work you’re doing each day truly getting you closer to your goals? If they aren’t, you need to stop and figure out why you’re spending precious time on them. Once you know what you want to accomplish, define how you’re going to get there.

These are just three things that define organization for me. What about you? What do you think being organized is all about? Are you working on it, or do you feel like you’ve got it under control? Does it feel like it’s something you can achieve?

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But if you work a M-F schedule (and while few entrepreneurs really do, your clients probably do, right?) then Mondays are hectic, aren’t they? Do you really feel like you have time to plan your week first thing Monday morning?

You usually have to hit the ground running. So you already need to have your plan before you start Monday morning. When you have time to think. To plan. To look ahead.

There are a couple of times that could be better, depending on your personality and preferences.

You could start Friday afternoon. Look back at your week on Friday afternoon and see what you accomplished. What you missed. And where you need to start back up next week. That gives you the advantage of reviewing things while your week is still fresh in your mind. But how much will you remember of that Monday morning? Will you still need time to get back up to speed if you take a couple of days and don’t look at your projects or tasks? (That’s something that will be different for everyone.)

On the other hand, you could plan things on Sunday night (or afternoon, even morning – the timing is what works best for your rhythms). Sunday nights are usually pretty mellow for most of us. It’s a good time to sit down, reflect, figure out what you need to do in the coming week. You can look at trouble spots and see if there’s a new tactic you should try. It’s a good time to be contemplative. No reacting to fires or emergencies. Just calm, easy review. Lots of thinking. Maybe even a little meditation.

The point is, find what works for you. If Monday’s too busy, if you feel too overwhelmed, you’re not going to plan. And you need to plan. So find another time that works for you. And use it instead. You need to do something instead of just hoping that things will get done and that things will work out. Control your time instead of letting it control you.

[Image: Newscom]

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I have a couple of projects staring me in the face right now. They’re pretty large – and when I think about how much I have to do it can be pretty overwhelming.

Sometimes it’s okay not to look at the big picture. Temporarily, of course. If the big view of things makes you panic, then stop for a moment. Take a smaller, more manageable piece and do it. Or do part of it. Just make sure that what you’re doing is actually helping you make progress towards your goal.

I’ve mentioned that my desk has a large stack of mail left over from when I was traveling. And I tossed several things on it when I got home. There’s so much to do right now. Process my travel receipts. Put away the cords and other things that I just tossed aside as I was unpacking. Finish opening all of the mail. Shred what I don’t need. File. And even just cleaning my desktop to get rid of a little debris and dust from being away (we live near two freeways and the dust that gets in our place is unbelievable).

I look at all of that and shake my head. I don’t want to do it right now. I have other things that I feel are more important. But if I wait any longer it’ll just get worse.

So I took just 20 minutes to get done what I could. I put away a few things, opened part of the mail, pulling any bills I’d missed, tossing the extra junk that’s always inside a bill, and putting things in my “to file” bin.

I didn’t get through everything. But half of my desk looks better. It’s neat(er). And there’s space to work again. And just having part of that task completed really helps. This weekend I’ll do another 20 minutes and see what else I can get done. And then another 20 on Monday, if I need to. If the desk is clean by then, I’ll use that time to file.

What started out as a seemingly unmanageable project is suddenly much easier to handle. It can be done, even though it may not have looked that way at first (not with limited time, anyway).

Do you get overwhelmed by a mountain of papers? A big project? How do manage your expectations? Do you break it down into smaller pieces?

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There are a few small tasks that need to be done that I just keep putting off. Over and over. When I remember that they need to get done, it’s the wrong time. Inconvenient. Or maybe just not possible (as in, I’m not in the same place as the task) at that time.

I confess that I haven’t captured those small tasks. And coincidentally, I haven’t been feeling as organized as I’d like. Because these little things keep bothering me even when I’m not really thinking about them.

I’m a list person. I have to write things down. It helps me remember things. And track what’s supposed to happen. But I haven’t written down these small tasks. As the number of little, unimportant tasks grows, they are suddenly much more important. Because it means I’m not managing my time and to do list properly.

So here’s what I need to do. I need to write down every single task that’s been bugging me. All of the to do items. It will probably be a long list, which can easily intimidate. I don’t want to get overwhelmed by all the undone tasks. That’s a huge de-motivator. So why would I want to do that?

If I write down everything, it actually frees up my mind. I can stop worrying about what I need to get done and actually start working on it. Let’s face it. I can’t get everything done in one day (especially not with a 10-month-old who just started crawling). I need to choose a number of tasks to get done each day. That’s it. Just a reasonable number of items that I think I can manage that day.

And when they’re done, I mark them off. And then I choose some more. And so on.

I’ve been feeling like I’m not making progress. And I haven’t, because I haven’t been tracking things. My schedule has been off since I left for two weeks. I’ve been back a week now. It’s time to take control and start managing my work load again.

Are you struggling with something similar? Have you thought about how you can apply this to your undone tasks?

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Do you travel a lot with your small biz? Overnight trips? Or maybe longer? It could be for conferences, to meet clients, or just to drum up new business. The reason doesn’t really matter. But making the travel easy on yourself sure does.

Here are three quick ways you can make travel easier.

Keep your bag packed. Yes, keep smaller, essential travel items in your suitcase. Ideally, you should keep small bottles of essential toiletries, a disposable razor, an extra toothbrush, and any other indispensable items packed. In fact, I just keep the liquids stored in a clear, quart-sized bag. If they leak, my suitcase is protected. Then when it’s time to pack I just have to throw in a few clothes and any medications and I’m ready to go!

Don’t check your luggage. More people are using carry-on items because of rising luggage costs. But it’s more than just saving that $15 or $25 fee. It’s faster to use carry-ons. Before the child, I always took one suitcase and my laptop bag. And rather than waiting for the baggage carousel, I could grab a ride and get to my hotel faster. And it keeps you flexible. If you want to fly standby, it’s much easier with a single carry-on suitcase. No worries about pulling your checked luggage. No concerns about switching airlines when needed.

I loved flying with just one suitcase. It was such a breeze. And it’s still fairly easy, even with today’s tighter security. But if you’re not in a hurry, go ahead and check your luggage. At least you can relax by walking onto the plane with just a magazine or book. Or your laptop.

Get a ride to the airport. This is a biggie now that I’ve discovered the joys of a car service (I know people). Sometimes that service is simply my husband, but it saves a lot of time to be dropped at the curb, rather than parking, grabbing my luggage, and dragging it to the terminal. And don’t choose a shuttle service that stops all over the place. They’re cheap, but it’s a total time waster. Unless you really want to go all over town picking up and dropping off people while waiting for your stop. And you brought a book or work along and you don’t get motion sickness. Otherwise, get dropped off and picked up at the curb. You’ll save time – and that’s time you can use to garner new business and make more money, right?

There are a lot of ways to make your travel simpler and more organized. We could talk about ways to ease through security with minimal hassles, if that’s something you’re interested in. What other things would you like to know about being organized during business travel?

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Post from: My Organized Biz

(www.myorganizedbiz.com) – If you’re at all familiar with Franklin Covey, then you’ve probably heard of sharpening the saw.

Basically, when using a saw, you must occasionally stop and sharpen it. The longer you wait, the duller the blade will get. And the duller the blade, the longer the cutting will take. It turns into a vicious cycle.

So while it seems like you don’t have time to stop and sharpen your saw, that’s exactly when you should. Taking a small bit of time will prevent wasting a lot of time later.

It can be applied to projects. A little planning up front, plus re-evaluation periodically, will prevent you from wasting time by getting off track and forgetting your original goal.

It can also be applied to you. If you don’t occasionally stop and take stock, how do you know you’re headed in the right direction? If you put off vacations or even just a bit of rest, you risk wearing yourself down. And don’t you lose more time when you’re sick than you would if you just stopped to relax once in a while?

I need to do this soon. Too many projects, too many demands on my time. My load will lighten at the end of the month and while I’m a bit nervous about what it entails, I’m also relieved. It should free me up to give more focused attention to the projects I’m keeping, and hopefully allow me to get caught up. And if I’m really lucky, even get some much-needed rest.

If I can manage for just two more weeks, it should get better. But what about you? Do you stop to sharpen your saw? How often? And has it been enough for you, or is it time to rethink or even change it?

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It takes a day or two to get back into the swing. I have to catch up on email, regular mail, and all the other paperwork that running a business entails. And I’ll need to unpack, process my receipts, and follow up with all of the people I met.

I need to pick up where I left off with projects, things that I couldn’t attend to when I was gone. And that means sitting down for a few minutes and remembering where I was the last time. Switching gears is sometimes where we lose a lot of traction. Where did I leave off…?

I tend to feel out of sorts for a bit, but that could just be me. I don’t do a ton of traveling and I rely heavily on routine to keep myself organized. And sane.

Does it seem to take a bit of effort to get back on track after you’ve been traveling? Or do you jump right back in with little down time?

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