What is the secret of being more productive? Is it the latest time management software for your palm, or hiring just the right assistant? They could help, but for a no-cost solution, how about looking inward to get the results that you really want?
Embrace the Power of Three. The power of three is the focus on the 3 most important outcomes or areas that will make the most impact.
� Think about what outcomes you want to achieve.
� Focus on the three most important areas.
Spend 80% of your time working on activities that are in your 3 focus areas. By doing this, you will build momentum. By building momentum, you will add value to your customers and employees.
Here�s the challenge:
� Take out a blank piece of paper.
� Write down your 90-day goal.
� Write down all of the individual tasks that need to be completed to reach your 90-day goal.
� Find the �common� focus areas.
� Identify the 3 most important focus areas.
For the next two weeks, spend 80% of your time only working on activities in those focus areas. Be vigilant with your time. Be ruthless with your questions. Be devoted to your focus areas. At the end of 2 weeks, celebrate the amount of work that you got done.
I had a client do this. He went into a meeting with a client that was to last 3 hours, and before the meeting got started asked to see the agenda. There was only two items (out of 9) that were directly in his focus area. He voiced the applicability of only two subject areas relevant to him, and the group agreed to address those items first, thereby relieving him from the remainder of the meeting. He easily saved himself at least 2 productive hours, and won the respect of his clients!
Saying Yes to the Things That Really Matter
One of the biggest issues that so many solo entrepreneurs seem to wrestle with is that their life is just so busy. The idea of a 7/24 life can be a huge energy drain. One of my favorite techniques for slowing this energy drain or reducing it entirely is to learn how to so �no� and make it stick.
As a solo entrepreneur, you do everything. This usually means that the requests for your time and energy far outnumber the actual hours in the day. As a result far more is piled into your �to do� personal bucket than you can reasonably achieve, which makes you feel overloaded and stressed out, and you then begin to do a less than great job on your many tasks. More often than not, people in this situation end up over-tired, over-committed and joyless. Below are some tips for saying �no� and beginning your journey of a more balanced life.
Say �no� to what is not in your focus area.
Say �no� and give an alternative
Say �no� and state that _____had expressed an interest in that topic and you should talk with them.
Say �no� and state that the Client�s ________(HR, legal, sales) Department has that responsibility
Ask each important person in your business circle to define the most important activity to them and say �no� to everything else.
Say �no� and state that your business has decided to simplify its work for the next 90 days.
Be relentless with blocking time on your calendar so that you will not be tempted to fill it in.
If you follow these tips, you will find that saying �no� will translate into saying �yes� to the things THAT REALLY MATTER. Congratulations on your success and have a more joyous, stress free, more productive business.
Creating a Clear Path to Successful Delegation
Most solo entrepreneurs find that successful delegation is almost impossible. Who is waiting in the wings for you to accept those delegated tasks? Surprisingly, there is help at hand if you follow these simple tips. Look to virtual assistants, colleagues, partners, suppliers and yes, even Clients with whom you can delegate parts of your business. Here are a few simple rules, which if followed will ensure that you get the results that you want the first time and every time that you delegate:
Delegate to strengths. I have said many times that if you are working in an area that uses your strengths you will be more happy and successful. That is also true of delegating, always delegate a job to someone who has the strength to do the task at hand.
Delegate, don't drop. You have to be very clear on exactly what it is that you want the outcome of this activity to be. Not just a letter, or a meeting, or a program, but what are the high level components, what will success look like, who is this directed to? Take the time to explain each step. If you don't have the information, take the time to get it before you delegate. There is more to delegation than just moving paper from your in-box to another in-box.
Use a frequent reporting process. Most delegations fail because the person delegated to will get way far down the road before they check to see if they are even on the right highway. Verify along the way that your initial verbal agreement looks like both parties thought it would; far better to check in along the way than to have to start all over again.
Lose the doubt, increase the trust. This is the hard one. But if you follow all of the steps above, it is easier to trust that the outcome will be what you want. Who knows, it might even be better.
When Was The Last Time That You REALLY Celebrated Your Success?
You finally won that big contract, you got a special referral, a Client that you have been courting for 6 months finally said yes. What do you do? Sounds almost like a time to celebrate. Speaking of which, when was the last time you took the time to celebrate your success?
This is the single biggest question that I always ask my Clients when they are sharing a success with me. "How did you celebrate?" That always seems to stop them dead in their tracks. Sometimes, it gets worse. They have been so focused on getting to the success, or achievement that they don�t recall what they have given up to get there. So I then ask them "What favorite activity have you not done in the past 3 months?" A walk in the park? A round of golf? Singing in the church choir? Playing your favorite instrument? What about calling your best friend from years ago, or having a conversation with that special someone in your life about why they are so special to you?
So here's the challenge. Take out a blank sheet of paper. Write down 20 of your favorite things to do and promise yourself that you will do at least one of them in the next seven days.
Want to make sure that this happens? If your activity involves someone else, call them right now and ask them for a commitment to do this with you.
Congratulations, you are on your first step to living your life by deriving results from within.
As a Mentor Coach with Solo-e, Vickie Bevenour is dedicated to partnering with her Clients to help them: identify and use their strengths, maximize productivity and communicate powerfully. Her greatest pleasure is sharing in her Clients Success.
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