HOW TO FIND MORE TIME

You probably know that the very title of this article is a contradiction.  Can there be more time?  Did anyone discover more than 24 hours in a day?  Was it hiding somewhere and we just didn’t know about it?

Of course, we know that there isn’t such thing.  But there IS such thing as using the time that you have more productively.  In other words – how to achieve more results and better results within the same amount of time that we all have in a day.

Here’s how.

1. Act vs. React. One of the worst situations that we can find ourselves in is reacting to something.  We didn’t know it was coming.  We didn’t anticipate it happening during a day.  So we suddenly are in a reactionary mode, where things are spinning out of control, time is going by, and the planned to-do list isn’t diminishing.  To be in the state of acting ( vs. reacting) takes planning.  Planning takes some time.  So the first tip is to take the necessary time to plan your day, your week, your month, your year.  Plan what you want to accomplish in your business life, in your professional life, in your kids’ lives, your family life, etc.
2. When planning, use a calendar. They say that setting goals without a timetable is like dreaming.  Same logic applies to planning.  To create a plan without aligning it with your calendar is like writing a long college term paper on “alienating identity as the common theme of the post-modern literature”– after all that work, you wonder what was the point.  Your plan needs to have dates next to each line item.  For example, let’s say you’re trying to be better at your networking activities.  I suggest you make a list of all groups you might be interested in, plan to spend 2 hours researching all of them, identify 3 that you will join, and plot all of their meetings for a year into your calendar.  Once it’s in your calendar, it’s an appointment (much like a client appointment).  Honor it.
3. Make only 1 to-do list. How many of you have a to-do list?  I bet everyone said yes.  How many of you have multiple to-do lists?  I bet many of you said yes to that.  How many of you have multiple to-do lists AND have additional post-its, scraps of paper, napkins, perhaps with additional reminders of what needs to be done?  I bet many said yes to that too.  The key to being productive is keeping ALL of your to-do’s in one place.  It should be a simple table with 4-5 main categories, in which your tasks fall.  Note that one of these categories should be “personal”.  Everything that comes up during the day, should go onto this to-do list (not on a   scrap, post it, or napkin).  Update it daily to delete items that are done, and add items that you’ve written manually.  Keep it clean.  Keep it simple.
4. Let someone else handle it.  Of course another term for it is delegate.  One person can only get done one task at a time.  Two people can handle two tasks during the same amount of time.  Three people can get done three tasks during the same amount of time.  You will never be as productive trying to get done everything in your business and your life.  Without a doubt, the very first two big areas which every designer needs to delegate out is doing quickbooks and administering purchase orders.
5. Don’t do it as often. Ask yourself:  how many times a day do you check your email?  How many times a day do you check your phone voice mails?  How many times a day do you check your texts?  How many times a week do you check your mail?  I challenge you to cut that number down in half.  Or better yet even more than half.  For example I check my mail only once a week.  There is nothing in my mail box that’s so urgent that can’t wait until Sunday morning, when all the mail for the week have been delivered.  I don’t even take it out of the mailbox, so that the big pile of envelops and magazines doesn’t become an eye sore and starts stressing me out.  By doing it this way, I save myself time and aggravation of not doing the same routine activity every day.
6. Do one thing once. You should only touch something, physically or virtually, once.  Be that an e-mail, piece of mail, customer file, vendor binder, or anything else that you come in contact with.  If you touched it and read it – make a decision on what needs to be done with it and do it right there and then.  Putting it away in a pile only procrastinates the decision, but doesn’t eliminate it from your mind.  And if it’s sitting on your mind, it’s preventing you from being your absolute best productive self.
7. Let go of perfection.  Making something perfect is a belief that will hold you back from achieving quick results.  It will take you time and energy to add that one finishing touch to your presentation, or to add that one extra photograph to your blog post; or to tweak your website one more time.  But will that extra touch and tweak bring you the extra income that would be lost during the time that your presentation, website, and blog are in process?  And what additional things could you have done that would have brought additional income had you worked on something else?  I’ve heard it said, that you should get your project up to 75% perfect, and then move one.  Course correct as you go forward.
8. Have a start and an end in mind. Often times, we put a start time to a project.  For example, I will start researching the fabrics for this client at 10am.  Then we lose ourselves in our work and before we know it hours have gone by and we are still searching for that perfect fabric and that perfect trim.  Instead, have the end time in mind.  So say to yourself – I will work on this project for one hour, from 10 to 11am.  Psychologically, our bodies and mindsets adopt to this new deadline and work much more productively.  It’s a similar concept to when you’re going on vacation and you must complete your to –do list, no questions asked.  One of the great ways to keep yourself on track is by using a very simple kitchen egg timer.  When that ding goes off, you’re done.
9. Turn off your email.  This is very simple, but very hard at the same time.  We have a love-hate relationship with our email in-box.  We all complain that it gets out of hand, that it’s too big, that we get bombarded with information all the time.  Yet, we can’t help it, but press the F5 or the send/receive button much too often than we should.  So to tame the temptation, I invite you to turn off your email completely.  Decide which parts of the day you’ll check it and only turn it on during those times of the day.  I also encourage you to check your email only when you’re in the position to deal with it.  There are 4 ways of dealing with it:  read, respond, delete, move to folders.  If you don’t have the time, energy, or desire to do all of these things, don’t check your email at that time of the day.
10. Batch the alike tasks. Batch your client appointments.  Batch your installations.  Batch your personal appointments.  Batch your in-office tasks.  Batch your ‘at the computer’ tasks.  By doing things that require the same state of mind, same physical presence, same set-up – you’re saving yourself a ton of time!
11. “When will I do it VS. I have to do it”.  I hear it time and time again:  “oh, yeah, that marketing thing, I really have to do it.  Someday, definitely. “  Or “I know I need to be doing more networking, I’m really going to do it”.  I strongly encourage you to make an appointment with yourself right now, put it into the calendar, and respect that appointment with yourself.  Get into the habit of asking yourself “When will I do it?”  vs. saying “I have to do it”.  So for example, you’ve been wanting to start an ezine, and it’s been on your list forever, but you just haven’t gotten around to doing it.  If it’s the case with you, I ask you to look at your calendar right now, set a date and time, and do it when you said you’d do it.

Congratulations to all of our winners from our VIP Business of Design Book Launch Party

• Ronica VanGelder – winner of the 5 Part Audio Course – “5 Ways to be the Next Design Marketing Star”, compliments of Kelly Galea, The Design Biz Coach – www.thedesignbizcoach.com
• Dawn Williams – winner of a $50 Gift Certificate to the Minutes Matter Online Store, compliments of Debbie Green, founder of Minutes Matter – www.minutesmatter.com
• Ruth Banks – winner of a 45 minute consultation and Dewey Color System, compliments of Margi Kyle, Design Doctor – www.doctormargi.com
• Lois Laidlaw – winner of the brand new book “Business of Interior Design, Proven Marketing Secrets to Attract More Clients, Make More Money, Have More Freedom, And Love Being a Designer”, compliments of Vitalia Vygovska, Window Treatment & Productivity Expert – www.vitaliainc.com
• Lucinda Reed – winner of a 1 year free membership to DSA, compliments of Natasha Lima-Younts, Designer Society of America – www.dsasociety.org
• Jennifer Crawford – winner of “live” video training of how to do a walk through and stage a clients home as well as how to redesign a room, compliments of Mary Larsen, Mary Larsen Designs – www.marylarsendesigns.com
• Denise Willard – winner of the book “Marketing Interior Design”, compliments of Lloyd Princeton, Design Management Company – www.dmcnyc.com
• Janice Ward – winner of the e-book, “Get Clients Now: How to Attract Ideal Design Clients”, compliments Kelly Galea, The Design Biz Coach – www.thedesignbizcoach.com
• Marna Conner – winner of the brand new book “Business of Interior Design, Proven Marketing Secrets to Attract More Clients, Make More Money, Have More Freedom, And Love Being a Designer”, compliments of Vitalia Vygovska, Window Treatment & Productivity Expert – www.vitaliainc.com
• Mary Bowden – winner of a 2 part audio class on “How to put on a Successful Trunk Show from Start to Finish”, by Margo DeGange, Degangi Group – www.margodegange.com
• Kelli Chitty – winner of a $50 Gift Certificate to the Minutes Matter Online Store, compliments of Debbie Green, founder of Minutes Matter – www.minutesmatter.com
• Patti Anderson – winner of $50 off WCAA membership compliments of Jenna Abbott, Executive Director Window Coverings Association of America – www.wcaa.org
• Michelle Eaton – winner of a 30 minute coaching session with Anna Jacoby compliments of Anna Jacoby Interiors – www.annajacobyinteriors.com
• Cherie Rissi – winner of ‘How to Host a Successful Telesminar”, compliments of Nika Stewart – www.nikastewart.com
• Maureen Quinn-Donovan – winner of $50 Gift Certificate to the Minutes Matter Online Store, compliments of Debbie Green, founder of Minutes Matter – www.minutesmatter.com
• Stacey Just – winner of the brand new book “Business of Interior Design, Proven Marketing Secrets to Attract More Clients, Make More Money, Have More Freedom, And Love Being a Designer”, compliments of Vitalia Vygovska, Window Treatment & Productivity Expert – www.vitaliainc.com

3 More Ways To Increase Productivity In Your Home Office So You Can Get More Done In Less Time

Eliminate post-it notes.  Although they are a great invention and I use them every day in the course of my work, I resist the urge of using them to post reminders around the office.  Why?  Because, they collect dust, they curl, they fall off, and ultimately add to the clutter.  If I need a reminder, I set my outlook.  If I must make a note for later, I write it down on my ‘to-do’ list, because effectively it becomes a to-do item.

A while ago, I wrote down my assistant’s fax number on a post-it note and attached it to the fax machine. “It’s just temporary”, I said to myself.  Months later, the darn thing was still there, curling up and falling off.  Every morning I would find it on the floor, grind my teeth, slap it back on, just to repeat the process the next morning.  After months of frustration, I finally decided to take my own advice.  I found 2 minutes (big deal, right?), got an adhesive label, wrote down the number, and pasted it neatly on the fax machine.  I was very proud of myself.  Small thing, I know, but it made me feel so good.

Place a coaster by your computer.  It sounds silly at first, but believe it or not, it can play a part in healthier you this year.  The coaster is in effect a reminder that a glass of water needs to be placed on top of it.

It’s no surprise that most of us don’t drink enough water.  As decorators, we are always “on the road”, between clients, and on appointments, which makes it particularly hard.  But when we are in our office, there should be no excuse.  Water cleanses your body, makes you feel better, and ultimately increases your productivity.  Although we know all the benefits, it is still very easy to forget it, while getting wrapped up in the office-day catch-up.  The coaster is your reminder:  if it’s empty, it’s time to get your water!

Go full circle.  This is like saying:  “Everything that goes up, must go down”.  In the life of a designer (decorator, window treatment specialist, workroom, or installer) it’s about putting things back where their “home” is.  But it doesn’t mean putting it back some day, tomorrow, or later – it means putting it back right away.

So if you’ve pulled out several trim books to match with the fabric, put them back right after you’ve found the right trim.  If you’ve taken out a price book for a hardware order you’re working on, put it back as soon as you’ve completed that proposal.

In my GET IT DONE Mentoring Program, my clients particularly like this rule, because it’s so simple and they can easily implement it.  Just remembering about it and catching yourself when you’re tempted to put something aside until later, is all it takes to make it work.  Just remember, all your tools, reference materials, supplies, and files must go back full circle to where their designated home is.

How to Achieve an Amazing Year – by Neen James

To make the most of this year, make an appointment with yourself to review these 10 tips and find out what you can implement to make this year amazing for you.

Set Realistic Goals

Everyone says to set goals but I recommend you write down your goals and then decide you will achieve them. Many of us write down our goals but don’t commit to achieving them – make this year different. Make your goals realistic and put them on your fridge where you can see them everyday.

Focus on your health

This can be your greatest asset or your greatest liability. Get a check up with your doctor, implement an exercise program if you don’t have one, take vitamins if you need to and discover what will help boost your health this year.

Invest in your personal development

I recently read those who spend a thousand dollars or more on their personal development will increase their business by 20%. Read books, attend workshops, find a new network, listen to tapes or CDs in your car, do on-line courses or enroll at Tafe or university. Keep your brain active.

Know your priorities

Once you have set you goals you can focus on what is important to you this year i.e. family, self development, profitability, building your profile, health, gaining new clients or more relaxation time. Whatever you deem most important will help keep your focus on how you spend your time.

Eliminate Time Robbers

Make a list of the things that rob you of your time i.e. TV, running many errands, checking your email too often, long phone calls, waiting times and sometimes it might be other people. Focus on controlling your time and get rid of the things in your life that are not a high priority.

Surround yourself with VIPs and eliminate VDPs

Find very inspiring people (VIP) you can learn from, bounce ideas with and enjoy their company. Minimize your time with the very draining people (VDP) in your life. Be strict with yourself and you will feel more positive when VIPs surround you.

Plan your next holiday

Yes that is right! Allocate time in your calendar for your next holiday to give you something to look forward to and also to prevent your diary filling up before you have time to plan.

Make time for those you care for

Balancing work and home is a challenge for most people. Choose to spend this year more focused on those you love and don’t forget to remind them how much they mean to you, promise yourself you won’t take anyone for granted this year. I try to tell one person per day they are special, maybe you could try this too.

Create a daily ‘Attitude’ to do list

Many of you make ‘to do’ lists for work but consider creating an ‘Attitude’ to do list you can use everyday. My list includes things like; tell someone they are special, send a thank you note, sit in the sun for 15 minutes, find something funny, exercise and choose to be positive. What will your list say?

Choose to be amazing

Make a commitment to yourself each morning that you will have an amazing day. This might include trying some of these tips like read your ‘Attitude’ to do list, focus on your health, eliminate time robbers or find more VIPs in your life. Remember life is not a dress rehearsal – we only get one performance so let’s give it our best.

Neen James is an International Productivity Expert. She demonstrates how boosting your productivity can help you achieve amazing results. She is a dynamic keynote speaker, author and executive coach and business mentor with a unique voice, high energy, sense of fun and uncommon common-sense. Find out more at www.neenjames.com – P.O. Box 1764 • Doylestown, PA 18901 • 215-230-0835

A Lesson in Productivity – the LOA Style

Just came off of a 3-day seminar, as part of my year-long Quantum Leap mastermind program. If you’ve ever attended anything worthwhile, you will probably sympathize with what I’m about to say.

I feel excited, overwhelmed, and numb all at the same time. Excited by the prospect of what’s to come. Overwhelmed by the possibilities. Numb from the amount of information. Phew!

Now I have to sort through all the notes and handouts and decide what to do next. It’s interesting how I have to remind myself to take my own advice: list, prioritize, act, I wrote more about it here.

The last day of the seminar was led by Jack Canfield – the co-author and best seller of Chicken Soup for the Soul. What an experience it was!  Here’s me, holding an autographed copy of his book and getting close to Jack at a photo op.

As I am trying to work through the numbness and emerge with clarity, one lesson keeps coming up to the surface for me. It has to do with the law of attraction and it’s super old and super obvious. Listening to all the information, I kept thinking: “this is going to be so hard, how am I ever going to get it all done”. This idea of it being hard is really something I need to work on. It became very clear to me that until I get rid of this limiting belief, everything I do will be hard. It will feel hard. It will never be easy, b/c I concentrate on the ‘hardness’.  Since I keep thinking about it, I keep attracting it. It’s a vicious circle and only I can stop it.

I’ll let you know how it goes…

2 ways to increase productivity in your home office So you can get more done in less time

1. Keep it to bare essentials. What I mean is that permanent contents on the top of your desk should be kept to bare essentials, so that your desk always has a clean and organized look and feel. When I say bare essentials, I really mean it. Here’s what my desk consists of: laptop, docking station, printer, fax, scanner, router, staple and tape dispensers, writing utensils, 2 pictures, 2 accessories, and some bragging items (more about that later). That’s it. And I have a decent size, U-shaped desk. Everything else has either been discarded, moved, or hidden. All reference binders are inside cabinets. All customer and project folders are inside file drawers. All samples and swatches are put away.

It’s ok to keep 2-3 feel-good things that make you smile. For me, they are photographs of my wedding and of my baby. One accessory is a small globe I received as a gift – it’s a reminder and an inspiration of the global vision for my business. The other accessory is a small plaque with my favorite quote: “Love the moment”. Everything else is behind closed doors.

During the course of the day, the only other things that belong on your desk are your calendar, to do list, and 1 folder on which you’re working. Yes, you read it right, just 1 folder. Not several on which you are planning to work later. Just one, because you can effectively work on only 1 thing at a time (multitasking is one of my least favorite words)

So look around your office right now and see what can be taken away, cut down, and hidden. You will be amazed how cleaning your desk increases your productivity. Here are some examples of things to eliminate:
a. Dry flowers
b. Baskets of fill
c. Mismatched frames of random art
d. Knick knacks
e. Multiple folders that you may or may not use on a daily basis
f. In-basket
g. Top-of-desk organizers

2. Designate a home. Everything in your office should have a permanent home, which is a place on your desk, in your drawers, or inside filing cabinets where things always go. For example, if a designated home for your, say, envelopes is in the right-hand side back corner of the 2nd shelf in the top cabinet, than that’s where they should always go. If a designated place for your, say, paperclips is a small bowl inside the top right-hand-side drawer, that’s where they should always go too. No but’s or if’s about it.

The home for every piece of paperwork is a file – just a simple manila folder. The home for vendor catalogs and price lists is a binder. You can easily store these away in a filing drawer and refer to them later. This way, you don’t have to deal with piles of paper, wondering what to do with them, while they irritate you on a daily basis and drain your energy.

When I work with my clients 1-on-1 as part of my GET IT DONE Mentoring Program, this is one of the areas where we spend some time. I help designers organize their businesses and mindsets by starting as small as organizing their desks, files, and physical environment, in which they operate every day. This is so important because, if we are to operate at the top of our productivity, our surroundings need to energize us, not bring us down; they need to support us in moving forward, not pull us back.

Look at everything that you use on a daily basis and decide on the “home” for these things. Having a home for everything you use not only makes you feel more organized and saves you time, but it clears up our head and energy to work on what’s really important to grow businesses.

In my GET IT DONE Mentoring Program, my clients particularly like this rule, because it’s so simple and they can easily implement it. Just remembering about it and catching yourself when you’re tempted to put something aside until later, is all it takes to make it work. Just remember, all your tools, reference materials, supplies, and files must go back full circle to where their designated home is.

#1 SECRET TO MANAGING THE E-MAIL INBOX

It is no secret that our e-mail inboxes get overflown with messages on the daily basis. Yet email is THE way of modern communication, so there is no ignoring it. How then to best balance our preferred way to communicate with getting the most out of our time?

Here are several helpful tips that I’ve picked up along the way and use daily.

1. Set up folders for those e-mails that don’t need checking on a daily basis. For me, they are: on-line magazines, e-zines from industry and marketing experts, invoices, and google alerts. When I get an e-mail on any of these topics, it automatically gets filed away, without even hitting my in-box screen. I then go through these on a weekly basis. Not looking at them every day saves me time and energy.

2. Don’t use your inbox as your to-do list. Your to-do list should be a comprehensive file, while your in-box is not. So it’s not enough to refer just to your inbox. And since you already have a to-do list (right?), why keep it in two places. When I get an e-mail that requires action, the item goes on my to-do list and gets filed away from my e-mail in-box screen.

3. Set up folders for everything. Much like you have physical folders in your drawers and virtual folders on your computer, you need to have folders for your e-mail. My list is long but here’s a sampling: customers, marketing, product, vendors. Many have sub-folders – for example marketing is broken down into advertising, pr, newsletter, direct mail, etc.

While all of the above tips are highly helpful, they are useless if you don’t do them. So I’ve come up with a way that I can actually implement them. Here’s my #1 secret for managing my in-box. Only check your e-mail when you’re in the position to deal with it.

So this means that you won’t check your e-mail because it’s the first thing in the morning and that’s just what you do. Don’t check it because you’re curious and you’re itching to hit the F5 button. Don’t scan it, only opening a few ones that you’re most interested in.

Although it sounds simple, think if you actually follow this advice. Unless you have time and energy to read, respond, delete, and move to folders – don’t be checking your e-mail. Otherwise it will become a big monster of unread, undealt with message that will hang over you and add stress to your life. Of course the idea is to simplify your life.

So there you have it: only deal with your e-mail when you’re in the position to deal with it. There are only four ways of dealing with e-mail: read, respond, delete, and file away. If you don’t have time, energy, and desire to do either one of these actions, it’s best to check it at a different time of the day.