Are you an idea junkie? Sometimes I open my notebook and all of these wonderful ideas just pour onto the paper. At first all the brainstorming feels really good until I feel almost paralyzed under the thought, “What do I do do first?” And then there are days when when I don’t need to write a list because there are already tons of things to do, so again the question arises… “Where do I start?”
Today I had a wonderful consultation call with a new client, who like me, is full of a lot of GREAT ideas but struggling with the “where to start / how to start” side of things. Our call today inspired me to write this post on how to tackle your to do list, based on my own personal strategies.
Always turn those can’ts into cans and dreams into plans
My web world is massive with blogs, networks and people. Most people look at all I’ve created online and think “I can’t do what LaShanda does!” But I never think that, because I never say can’t, I just do. This is true mainly because I don’t try to do it all at once. Handling your business can feel like swallowing a big pill, until you start cutting it up into bite size pieces.
If you have a long to do list:
Take 1 to 2 hours to tackle small projects that can be completed in 5 to 10 minutes. Examples: Bills, Email Follow ups, Social Media Updates, Call Backs
If you have several major projects you want to work on find your focus by prioritizing:
Projects for Paying clients
Projects you can actually monetize
Projects you can plan, package, and promote that are not time intensive or expensive
Simplify and/or automate all processes that you do often.
Do you know how much time you waste doing the same things over and over again? If there is an easier way to get the job done, find it!
My Time Management / Productivity Tips In Action:
When it comes to bills, both home office and home personal, I automate whatever possible because this allows me to stay on top of bills without adding additional tasks to my to do list. A wonderful side effect to automatic bill payment is that it also motivates me to get money in my account on time! Just like big businesses, we need to be diligent about creating sales quotas and revenue goals for ourselves to guarantee that the business remains consistent.
FYI: My upcoming rock the web webinar is full of pricing, planning, and productivity recommendations, so I highly recommend you join us for this 3 hour session next week. I won’t be doing this one again this year and you will get access to all the replays.
I regularly get email requests about how much my web design services cost and it takes time to respond with pricing and current promotions, so I took a few days and focused on updating Pretty Professional Websites, so now all my project examples, packages, and promotions are accessible on the website. That will cut down a lot of email time. Again, if there is a way to make simplify the daily tasks that you do, take the time to implement time-saving systems into your business.
For months I’ve wanted to plan another workshop here in North Carolina, but it takes time and funds to get the space, market the event and make all the required preparations. Rather than say I can’t do it, I found an easier solution. Hosting my upcoming webinar workshop, allows me to still teach and share in a timely fashion while cutting out all the additional work needed to plan a live, local event. BTW: There are 3 more seats available for the Rock the Web Workshop and the registration is $49 (regularly $95).
Between the blog, speaking engagements, and interviews I often get email requests for consultations calls. Figuring out what to do online is hard, so I enjoy my one-on-one SistaSense Clarity sessions because I get to help other women be more productive and profitable online. Consultation requests via email sometimes takes days of back and forth conversation plus creating an invoice, so I finally updated my consultation page to include current rates and buy now payment options, which allows women within the SistaSense community to easily find and utilize my services without delays.
I’ve also spent some time thinking about Power Circle Audio sessions and sharing them with the with the SistaSense Community, so I spent last weekend updating the page, making it easier for people to find and download all the sessions they like.
In short, its all about making it easy and getting things done! By taking the time to select focus projects that you can complete either within a few hours or a few days, you would be amazed to see how much you get accomplished in your business. Not to mention looking at tasks you do all the time and finally creating systems that make the process easier for both you and your customers!
Think about these recommendations. You can definitely participate in either the upcoming webinars or schedule a call if you want more insight on what you should be doing to improve your online business. Marketing, blogging, making it happen… that’s what SistaSense is all about.
Related: Click here to download my Time Management Tips audio.
Great article and I’m amazed at all the information on this website/empire. It’s taking me a while to learn my way around, but I’m glad I found this site as a new entrepreneur. I have way too many ideas. What I’m having to do is temporarily drop my blogs and just focus on the store, which is more than enough. I hate to put the blogs on hiatus but it’s a must at this point because they’re taking away time from the actual store. I don’t see how so many people seem to do it all, I accept that I can’t. I look forward to learning a lot from this site.