Online banking. Use your bank’s site to set up automatic bill payments. Even if your electric, phone, and internet provider doesn’t offer payments through their site, your bank probably does. Set up as many automatic payments as you can. All you have to do then is remember to deduct the expenses from your checkbook. This saves me a ton of time each month, because I don’t have to remember when bills are due or write a bunch of checks and mail them. And by doing it through my bank, I’m in control of my money going out, rather than giving a company access to my information.

Automatic payments. In addition to setting payments via your bank, you can also pay some of your business items automatically with your business credit card. Purchases are tracked for you and you only have to make one payment to cover several expenses. And you may even earn bonuses or cash back. Just be sure to pay it off each month so you don’t rack up expensive interest charges.

Finance software. If you use a program like Quicken, you can simplify several financial transactions. It can automatically total your accounts for you. Use it to track various categories of expenses. And even download your banking info to make reconciling your account a breeze.

Automatic savings. Set up your accounts to automatically put aside some money for savings each month. Do it at a set time each month, with an amount that puts you closer to your savings goals. Want to save $5000 this year? Transfer $417 each month. Or about $100/ week. Don’t forget your retirement. And sole proprietors should be setting aside money for taxes as well. All of this can be done automatically so you don’t have to spend a lot of time each week or month figuring it out, or trying to remember to do it.

Just a few small steps can save a lot of time in the long run. Give it a try and see how it works for you. What other ways do find are helpful for simplifying your finances?

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Post from: My Organized Biz

Overloading ourselves
We feel that information gives us power, so we subscribe to hundreds off RSS feeds. We have to keep up on the industry, our competition, trends, cool stuff, and our guilty pleasures. We read every email that comes through our inbox, even though we really don’t need to. We take on bunches of projects because we’re afraid to say no, and then panic because we have so much to do — and don’t know where to start. We see something on sale and buy it. Not because we need it, but because we saved money!

It all adds up to clutter, doesn’t it?

Simplifying
What can we do to clear our minds? Our desks? Take it in small bites.

Reduce your RSS feeds. Are you subscribing to more feeds than you can read? Do you have more than 5 unread posts on any site? When was the last time you read it? Even if it contains important info, if you’re not reading it, how can it help you?

You can mark everything read and start over, or you can delete the feed. Try marking it. If the list builds up again and you don’t read it for a week or two, it’s probably time to drop it.

Take a hard look at your projects. If you have more projects than time, you’re not going to give any of them the attention they deserve. What can you drop? What can you delegate?

This is where a virtual assistant or intern can come in handy. Yes, it takes time to train someone, but once that’s done you’ll see some time savings.

Be ruthless in culling your email. Subscribe to a bunch of email groups? When was the last time you read them or found useful information? Set up an email rule to send them to a folder. See if you miss them. If you don’t, unsubscribe.

Do you really need to read every email that crosses your path? Probably not. Scan them when you’re processing your inbox (you DO have a plan for processing email, don’t you?) and decide right then if you need to do something, if you need the information for later, or if you can dump it. Services like gmail make it easy to every single email, but you don’t really need to go back and look for cousin Mike’s joke email, do you?

Stop collecting “stuff.” Just because it’s on sale, even if it’s a coveted favorite office supply, doesn’t mean you need it. If you haven’t touched something in two years, will you ever? Dump it or donate it. (I’m not talking about important records. Just “stuff” that gets in the way.)

I am extremely guilty on this one and I need to work on it more. We have a very small place and not a lot of storage. I have to go through things every quarter and see what I’ve managed to hoard. If I buy a new item, an old one like it has to go. (Okay, I’m a girl, so that especially applies to bags – I love computer and work bags.)

Reducing the guilt
Remind yourself that it’s okay to prioritize what’s important to you. If that means you have to cut some things out, give yourself permission to do it. Don’t feel guilty. Realize it’s essential to your sanity.

Take it in small bites. It’s always best to break things into steps. You can complete one step at a time and avoid feeling overwhelmed. If you feel you have too much to do, it’s easy to just not do any of it. And that’s why the clutter builds. It’s all too much.

And if you forget, or fall off of the wagon, that’s okay. Just pick up where you left off. A little progress is better than nothing.

What other types of clutter do you have trouble with?

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Post from: My Organized Biz

Before I left, my biz complained that I was going for 6 whole days. It worried that my email was on autorespond and my phone was off with an “I’ll call you back in 6 days” message on it. When I walked out the door with my bags, it was seriously fretting.

My business moped around the whole time I was gone, waiting for me to get back so I could again pour into it my undivided attention and 110% of my time, energy, sweat, and tears.

But when I returned, instead of automatically, unthinkingly stepping into the fray, I took a good look at how things had been before I left.

It wasn’t pretty. In fact, when I considered how I would soon be plugging away for 14 hour stretches as before, the thought made me physically ill. In my heart, I knew I had to pay attention to this and possibly make some changes.

The Big Picture versus reality
I did some brainstorming about how I wanted my new life, my married life, to be. Everyone has an image of what their perfect day looks like. In mine, I work for 5 hours and then move on to doing other things I love – spending time with my new spouse, playing with the cat, cooking delicious meals, taking walks, oodles of reading, meditating, and hiking in the Oregon woods.

I didn’t want my partner to say “I miss you,” anymore. We had so much fun on our honeymoon, I wanted some of that in my everyday life. Though I run a small business because of the freedom it gives me, I had been feeling enslaved. Not good.

Making changes
After I reflected for a couple of days, I realized that in order to do create a new relationship with my business, I had to: A. cut out some of the things I have been doing and B. start learning to say “no” to the inevitable other things I might say “yes” to since I’m such a time optimist.

The sad news is that I’m leaving b5 – I’m going to stop blogging My Organized Biz. This is painful to my heart. I’ve met so many amazing readers and bloggers in the last 3 months and I’m genuinely going to miss connecting with you on a daily basis. The daily connection from blogging requires two hours of writing and planning and an hour of internal work with the b5 company. Simply put, if I stop blogging, I get 3 hours closer to my goal of a simpler life.

Change is hard (but good)
If you’ve thought at all about simplifying your worklife, I will assure you that cutting things out (like I am with blogging) initiates the grief process. So make space for it. Not writing the blog is just one of several things I’m stopping and there’s a huge urge to fill the void so I don’t feel the pain.

As for my second goal of learning to say “no” to the myriad opportunities that could potentially fill my new-found time, I’ve started working with business coach, Kathy Mallary The Inspired Market-Her and am getting tremendous support toward my goal. My work is becoming more purposeful and I’m finding more enjoyment from working in shorter, more intense time bursts.

I’ve also met two small business gal-gurus whose contributions to my life are immense and whose work I highly recommend: Havi Brooks of Fluent Self and Lisa Hunter at Extraordinary Women Thrive. All three of these women are helping me learn to say “no” more skillfully.

What’s next?
Not a big fan of goodbyes, I’ll let you know that even though I’m no longer blogging, my business is thriving and I’d love to see you there. I love working with small business owners who are stuck in their office with their stuff.

I’m introducing a new offer soon that I think takes the cake and my newsletter subscriptions are going like crazy. My message is still the same as on the blog: you are not the problem so let’s fix your space so you can love your work again.

If you’d like to stay in touch with me – and I’d love it if you did – you can always find me at Inspired Home Office.com. Well, at least for 5 hours a day.

Much love and gratitude to you and wishing you the best of success – and freedom – in your work,
Jennifer

Post from: My Organized Biz