Category Archives: Time

Homepreneurs & Solopreneurs

22 Sunday Sep 2013

Posted by in Business, Office, Organizing, Personal, Time, Work Space

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More than half of all U.S. businesses are based at home and an estimated 6.6 million home-based enterprises provide at least half of their owners’ household income.  Together these “homepreneurs” employ one in 10 private-sector workers.

So how do we separate our home life from our business life?

Having a ‘separation of states’ for managing information (appointments, tasks, email, etc.) is a good beginning. If you can manage it, have a room designated as a home office and let your family know that if the door is closed, you’re not available at that moment.  You can even put a “Be Back in 1 Hour” sign on the door! If you don’t have a spare room, consider a corner of a room and use an attractive room divider so that you have private space to work and think.

Conversely, we need to integrate our work and home life with as little confusion as possible – which is why Google is so popular.  Personal calendars and business calendars can be linked and viewed independently or jointly (each calendar is a different color).  When adding an event, view the combined appointment calendars to reduce the chance of double-bookings.

Google also offers cloud computing and on-line collaboration.  If you’re working on a Word document or Excel spreadsheet, but have to leave the house, just upload it to the cloud and later you can access it from your smartphone to make changes and add content. Additionally, business and personal email accounts can be linked so you can ‘toggle’ on your phone to access each one separately even when you’re out of the office.

Cloud computing, email, calendars and smartphones have accelerated the trend of independently working from home.  But if we want to be successful, we must stay in tune with both the big picture and details jointly for home and work.

If you have questions, need assistance in setting up an account or would like more information about the benefits, feel free to email me.

If you have any tips or favorite planning applications, I would love to hear from you!

If you would like to receive my Blogs, click the “Follow” box on the left side of the screen above the calendar.  I always enjoy tips and feedback!

What’s weighing you down?

17 Tuesday Sep 2013

Posted by in Clutter, Time

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I’m not talking about the plate of strawberry french toast stuffed with syrup and whipped cream you had for breakfast.

I don’t mean the breakfast of strawberry french toast stuffed with syrup and whipped cream. (Which will wear off in a few hours.)

I mean “What is the burden on your shoulders?”   What is the undone thing that’s lurking in the back of your mind?

The more we put something off, the bigger it gets and sometimes it snowballs into guilt.  So we try not to think about it; but when it creeps back in, it’s bigger than before.    

So why do we procrastinate?   It could be that we’re overwhelmed by a project or task and don’t know where to begin.  Sometimes we’re struck by perfection paralyses and the fear of not doing it “well enough” prevents us from even beginning.  And sometimes it’s just because the job is unpleasant and we don’t want to do it. 

Now, how do you make it to “git r done”?  First, identify what you feel you should be doing.  If you can define it in detail, that’s half the battle.  Next, do you know WHY you keep putting this off?  Once you discover the why, you can begin the problem solving. 

If your basement is a disaster, can you visualize what you want it to look like?  Can you work at it in phases, by breaking it into smaller areas, or by similar items?   Can you “chunk” the project into doable time frames so you can celebrate the accomplishments as you make progress? 

If it’s something you just don’t want to do, estimate how much time it will really take and find a way to make it more enjoyable.  If it’s only 15 minutes, you may be able to phone a friend; if it’s a longer project, is there someone you can recruit to help or just keep you company? (Reciprocating with a friend always makes it more fun.)  Sometimes the best motivation is just to put the kitchen timer on and get laser focused to just get it off the list!

Let’s be honest, we all procrastinate, just for different reasons on different tasks. Here are some words to remember:

Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task.

Is there something you’ve been putting off and found a way to overcome the delaying?  Do you have any tips or suggestions?  Please share, we would love to hear from you!

If you would like to receive my Blogs, click the “Follow” box on the left side of the screen above the calendar.  I always enjoy tips and feedback!

Forgetting something?

07 Saturday Sep 2013

Posted by in Organizing, Planning, Residential, Time

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Calendars can have many purposes in addition to using them as reminders for anniversaries/birthdays or appointments, practices and lessons.

 Calendars are equally important for tracking home and car maintenance!

 When was the last time you tested the items that protect your home and family such as smoke sensors, fire extinguishers or carbon monoxide detectors?  How often do you change the filters in your furnace (which also saves you money)?

How many of us have discovered (after the fact) that our vehicle registration or inspection had lapsed?  It’s great to include oil changes and repairs so you have a record if you go to sell your car in the future.

If you use an on-line calendar, you can easily add these items with reminders to all your other events.

If you’re a pencil and paper kind of person, feel free to download these calendars.

Calendar Downloads – September 2013 October 2013 November 2013 December 2013

If you can’t fit everything on one calendar, have one calendar for events and appointments and another calendar for home and car maintenance.  Staple them together or put them in a file to check each month.

If you would like to receive my Blogs, click the “Follow” box on the left side of the screen above the calendar.  I always enjoy tips and feedback!

 

Living in the moment…

01 Sunday Sep 2013

Posted by in Personal, Time

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Life gives you plenty of time to do whatever you want to do if you stay in the present moment.

How can we live fully in the September moment when we’re surrounded by Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations?  Walking into the stores, you get the feeling you’re behind on something that’s not happening for 4 more months!

I spoke to a friend today who was looking for shorts for a picnic this weekend.  She found the stores are filled with autumn clothes and the only shorts available were picked over on a clearance table.  Her comment to me was “Do I have to know and purchase in February for events in August?”.  I laughed out loud and realized that’s just what the retail stores want us to do – spend our money now for what we’ll need in 4 months.

And that may be why we’ve come to live much of our lives in the future instead of in the present.

Of course it isn’t just the retailers.  Add school and work deadlines, extra curricular activities, family events, etc.  and we now have lives that are over-booked.  Half the time we don’t know if we’re coming, going, or passing ourselves!

I can’t stand the “passing myself” any more.  Contentment is living and enjoying the present moment without thinking and worrying about the next..  The good news is that we have the ability to create more moments of contentment if we would block out periods of time to “live in the future”. 

For this purpose consider the ‘living in the future’ as synonymous with looking at the upcoming days and preparing for them.  If we take a few short minutes to prepare for our tomorrows, it will free us up to enjoy the present!

If you invest a few minutes today to look at tomorrow’s horizon, you will have the additional benefit of an uncluttered mind.  A little preparation and planning today can save a lot of time and worry tomorrow.

 C’est la vie! (“That’s life!”)

Just remember, life doesn’t go ‘as planned’.  Sometimes things happen and plans need to be changed, but the unexpected can be handled with much less anxiety if your map (plan) is beside you.

Adjust your route, accept the detour and maybe you’ll even enjoy the new scenery!

Plans are made to help and guide us, not imprison us!  A plan is just a simple overview of what is coming and what is needed; it should be fluid.  You can change priorities or activities daily with no worries of “missing something”.   Don’t imprison yourself to your plan – maintain Gumby’s philosophy and “Be flexible!”

In the meantime, let’s ignore the retailers and let each month and season arrive on their own terms. You can’t really enjoy the warm September sun and crisp air if you’re mind is in November.

If you would like to receive my Blogs, click the “Follow” box on the left side of the screen above the calendar.  I always enjoy tips and feedback!