As a solo entrepreneur who may also work away from home you have numerous demands on your time and different aspects of your life that demand constant attention.  In the past this seemed to be a challenge that affected women more than men, but in recent times there appears to be quite an equalizing.  One of the main reasons for this change is that due to the economy many men lost their jobs and have had to look at other means to create an income, including working from home.  I became aware of this significant shift while listening to introductions at networking events locally.

Part of being organized is making sure that you manage your time effectively and the following are time saving tips to help you throughout the day and hopefully lessen stress.

1. Do you have school-age children?  Do you also work away from home? Make lunches the night before. Instead of rushing around in the morning, trying to get everyone ready for school and work, make school lunches the night before and put them in the refrigerator.  Label them in bags and they are ready to go the next morning.

2. Lay your clothes out the evening before.   I find that this tip alone saves me at least 15 minutes or more and my choices are better. This is

3. Do errands on your lunch hour and make phone calls during break times and during your lunch hour.  This can save you a trip to the store after work and will help you stay organized. (more…)

Many of us go through the daily motions of life and spend our time keeping busy at being busy.  The pace of life and the constant demands on our time make it necessary to squeeze as much out of our day as possible.  When was the last time you stopped to question if what you are doing is what you really want to be doing?  What is your passion?

One of the things that was shared with me when I first came online and I, in turn, share with others is that in order to determine the niche you will pursue a starting point is to identify your passion.  The main reason for this is that if you care deeply about a topic or area, you are more likely to stick with it and make a success of it.  This therefore means that once you have identified something that you feel passionate about you basically can start earning from it. (more…)

This may seem like a silly question because if someone does not know how to do a job it should be easy to correct it my asking someone else for information.  Shouldn’t it?  Perhaps. This is our 4th and final in the series to help Paula and she will have to confirm if this is what has been holding her back in launching her online business.

Does the idea seem far-fetched that a sharp, savvy and successful (offline) businesswoman would allow her lack of knowledge in a particular area to cause her to procrastinate?  For someone who is successful in other areas the idea that they are not able to master everything perfectly could become a motivational block.  Pride for one could prevent her from recognizing that she needs help, or even worse to admit to herself that she needs help.  Subconsciously this results in avoidance or even developing an aversion for the task. (more…)

We are on our third article to try to assist Paula in determining why she has allowed procrastination in  one important task to stall the launch of her online business.  We were first introduced to Paula when we considered that her fears may be holding her back.  She admitted that while she had some fears they were not strong enough to paralyze her so we suggested that she may not be assigning the task the high priority it deserved.  Today we consider the possibility that Paula could be procrastinating due to a lack of commitment to her online business.

Paula’s record of success offline is well-recognized and is evidenced by the fact that she sometimes has appointments booked up to two months in advance with her clients.  Does Paula really want to start an online business or is she just following a trend?  An online business is a business like any other and must be treated as such for it to be successful.  It demands time, energy, and money.  While an online business may be started with a small budget, a budget is still required to take care of basic start-up costs as well as monthly costs, regardless of how minimal. (more…)

Today we continue to help Paula, a savvy, sharp businesswoman who has had a successful business offline for many years, determine why she has not completed a very important task necessary to launch her online business. We shared the points regarding fear of success, failure and completion with her and while she acknowledged she had some fears, she did not feel they were enough to paralyze her.

Could it be that even though Paula knows this activity needs to be done she has not wrapped her mind around that it needs to be given high priority?  The fact that it is on her “Most Important Things to Do” list means that it is important and in talking with Paula she recognizes that someone has to do it.  She also realizes that it is not something that should be assigned to someone else; it’s something that she needs to do.  But what has happened everyday so far?  She has found something else to do in that time slot, which means that she has procrastinated each day and given something else priority. (more…)

I invite you to join me as we explore Paula’s world.  Paula is a 40 something, sharp, savvy entrepreneur who’s managed a successful offline business for several years and has decided to start an online business.  She’s recently discovered that she has become familiar with someone who was a stranger to her before.  She’s not happy with this relationship and knows that she needs to correct the situation urgently, but before she can do so she has to identify why she has admitted this stranger into her life.  The stranger is procrastination.

Paula has dutifully worked on her “To Do” list on Sunday evening and listed the 6-10 most important things she needs to do for her business during the week.  Each evening she selects her three most important items for the next day but on Friday when she goes over her list she realizes that one task has been carried forward every day and still has not been completed.  It needs to be done but she has been putting it off.  Does she even know why?

Is fear causing Paula to procrastinate?  If so, fear of what?  Here are 3 of the basic fears that generally lead to procrastination: (more…)