Blog

What if you had easy to implement next steps?

What do you feel as you think about next year or even the first 90 days?

Excitement
Joyful
​Anticipation

Or do you feel:

​Frustrated
Anxious​
​Overwhelmed

Or is it a cocktail of both lists?

Are you so busy that you don’t have time to plan and grow? Would you move more into the first list if you were less busy and had more time? Or if you knew your next steps and precisely what you needed to do to complete them?

What would move you squarely to feeling excitement, joy, and anticipation for 2023?

What if you:

  • Had everything that’s in your head or on pieces of paper floating around your office in one place with clear next steps
  • Knew how to best use your current software/tech for your goals and ideas (to make your life/business easier)
  • Had easy to implement next steps that don’t leave you feeling overwhelmed or overworked

Would that help you look forward to 2023?

In November, I helped one of my clients map her plan for the next three months. She’s going into December knowing she’ll spend the holidays completely present with her family and not worry about everything that needs to be done or happen in January. She’s not worried about not having enough time. Everything is mapped out!

Want to talk about how I can help you go into 2023 feeling that way? DM me, and we’ll get a chat on our calendars.

I’m not wasting time! It’s important time spent for my business!

The other week I had a virtual coffee chat with the CEO of a growing business. I was sharing what I do as an Online Business Manager (OBM) / Project Manager. As I answered one of her questions, I said something about how important it is for CEOs to have time to think and come up with new ideas. They need to have creative time to themselves.

Her eyes got big, and she looked surprised. Then she said, “I’m not wasting time! It’s important time spent for my business!”

Time she spent pondering, going down rabbit trails, and coming up with crazy fun ideas wasn’t procrastinating or wasting time. Suddenly it was essential for growing her business. It reframed how she felt about that time.

How much time do you give yourself each week to dream and think? This is where you come up with crazy, weird, and fun ideas. This is where you ponder what could be next. This is where those ideas that won’t go away are planted and start growing.

Do you have time for this? Or are you too busy managing all the aspects of your business? Instead, be the CEO, the one having the ideas.

There are two ways to fix this.

  1. Learn how to be a time management ninja and possibly put a few more hours into your business.
  2. Let someone else manage the inner workings/operations and give you back a few more hours in your business.

While coaching, I found myself helping people with the first route. Now, I’m helping people with the second route.

If you want to chat about this with me, DM me. It doesn’t matter which camp you’re in.

picture of a laptop, surface, and wall covered in colorful sticky notes with text on top saying, "Why keeping track of everything keeps you stuck"

Why keeping track of everything keeps you stuck

Last week I shared that my long-trusted self-created format in OneNote was no longer working for me because I felt behind and a bit overwhelmed, which meant something needed to change. I needed a new way to track all my tasks and projects. 

Here’s the thing, organizing projects and tasks is one of my strengths.

However, from my years of coaching around productivity, I know that it’s not a strength for everyone. And that’s okay!

Is it a skill you can learn? Yes.

For example, with training and dedication, I could run a marathon. However, I have absolutely no desire to do that. AT. ALL. So, it makes no sense for me to do that.

Some entrepreneurs have no desire to be in charge of their business’s task/project management. And that’s okay. It might make sense for you to do something other than that.

Trying to keep track of everything keeps you stuck. Instead of serving your clients and dreaming/creating the big vision for your business, you might get bogged down with figuring out the next steps or keeping track of everything.

And trying to stay on top of all your tasks and projects can pull you away or even prevent you from doing the work you’re meant to do, like being the CEO of your business.

While you can learn the skills needed, you don’t have to! You can hire someone else to help you map out the steps and even let you know what needs to be done that day or week, so you’re not looking at ALL THE THINGS and becoming your version of behind, chaotic, and overwhelmed.

If you want some help with that, let me know! Because while it might feel terrible and tedious to you, it’s what I LOVE doing.

image of person hiding behind tree with text on top, "Feeling behind, chaotic, or overwhelmed isn't a bad thing"

Feeling behind, chaotic, or overwhelmed isn’t a bad thing

Over the past month, I’ve been doing something I didn’t think I’d be doing for a long while.

It surprised me when I realized it was time.

My realization was triggered by feeling behind and a bit chaotic.

This resulted in moving my to-do list from my long-trusted self-created task/project management setup in OneNote to an online task management app.

Feeling behind, chaotic, or overwhelmed isn’t a bad thing. It’s just an indicator that something isn’t working and needs to change.

So, where are you feeling behind, chaotic, or overwhelmed? Or what’s not working anymore in your business?

Let me know! I’d love to help.

PS. Next week we’re going to talk a bit more about this.

Quote: Have you yet discovered that your mind has limited space, and it's a terrible office? - David Allen

It has limited space, and it’s a terrible office

No, it’s not my office. Although, sometimes I do make this my office and it doesn’t work well for very long.

What has limited space and is a terrible office?

It’s your mind.

It comes from this quote:

It’s so important to have a place (or two, but not many more!) where you will collect your ideas and tasks.

When I started my business, keeping them in a notebook worked best for me. As my business grew, I kept a digital list. My business has now outgrown that and I’ve moved to an online task management system.

It doesn’t matter where you’re keeping your tasks and ideas, as long as it works for you.

And did you know that some people hire others to manage all of that for them? These people send them a short, manageable list every week or every couple of days of what they need to accomplish to stay on track, meet their goals, and bring their big ideas to life.

I remember hearing about it on an Amy Porterfield podcast and thinking, “I’d LOVE to do that!” And now that’s part of my offering!

Again, it doesn’t matter whether you’re managing all your moving pieces or someone else is, as long as you’re not trying to keep it all in your mind (where inevitably something falls through the cracks).

If you want some help with this, reach out!