Did you accomplish what you wanted in 2008? Did you meet sales goals, get new customers and increase your income? If yes, congratulations! Plan to build on that progress next year. If no, it’s time to take a look at what didn’t work and find new ways to do things in the coming year.

Take some time to look at what worked and didn’t work over the past year. Did you keep up with your filing? Expense reporting? Customer retention goals? All of these things (and so much more) are important to your business success. What failed? Do you know why?

Use your experiences this year to improve on your goals for next year. And don’t forget to make those goals SMART so you can track your success. And review those goals at least once a quarter to make sure they’re still relevant to you and your business.

A new year is the perfect time to take stock of how you’re doing things, and make plans for your future success. No one else is going to plan it for you. What do you think is important for you to focus on next year?

Post from: My Organized Biz

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]

Post from: My Organized Biz