Workflow: Freelance» Amanda Alexander

Will Workshifting Become Commonplace?

Amanda Alexander — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 19:33:38 +0000

Slowly but surely, a seismic shift is taking place in the way that we work. We are far more enlightened and aware of exactly what is possible, and we are beginning to question what working for a living actually imposes on us, our family and our private lives. We understand that we need to work to generate money that enables us to pay the mortgage, but increasingly we are looking for ways that do not place so many logistical challenges on us. This growing trend can be described in one word - workshifting.

While it's difficult to get real figures ...

Why Employers Should Trust Workshifting Employees

Amanda Alexander — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 19:54:45 +0000

According to the Telework Research Network, productivity increases by 27 percent among those who workshift. This statistic should be of great interest to employers everywhere, as productivity, or the lack thereof, is one of the biggest challenges they face today.

Whenever you are responsible for a workforce, you encounter many varied obstacles to motivating your team sufficiently towards your established goals. New employees may be enthusiastic and dedicated, but it invariably doesn't take long before a certain amount of lethargy sets in, and productivity starts to drop. If the employees share a common workspace, then what's the problem? Is ...

9 Worry-Busting Tips

Amanda Alexander — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 13:23:56 +0000

"I've developed a new philosophy... I only dread one day at a time." - Charlie Brown (Charles Schulz)

Up to 90% of all visits to the doctor are for stress-related symptoms and the major cause of stress is worry. We all know that worrying serves no purpose, but that doesn't make it easy to stop a worry habit. Here are 9 techniques for worry busting:

Swap worrying time for thinking time

Nuroscientists have proven that worry is worse than useless when it comes to resolving big problems--it is counterproductive. Worry impairs our reasoning abilities. If you have a big worry, think about it instead. Get into problem solving mode. It helps enormously to talk to someone else while problem solving rather than to try to do so in your thoughts alone.

Walk down the memory lane of your previous worries.

Can you remember what you were worried about this time last year? If you can actually remember them, which were worth the worry? Remember the old saying: "Today is the tomorrow that we worried about yesterday."

Brainstorm all your worries

Brainstorm all your worries, big and little. Now for each worry write down what you can do about it. Don't just sit there worrying--do something about it!

Accept the worry

Accept the worry when it is beyond your control.

Write your worries down

Write your worries down and ask a friend to read each one out loud. As they do so, ask them to role-play the worry. They should act as if they are you, and you play the devil's advocate to challenge each worry. The aim of the game is for you to have the final say as the devil's advocate. The purpose of this is to retrain your mind into positive, solution-led thinking.

Play with your worry voice

Play with your worry voice. Give the voice a character with a life.

For the sake of illustration, I like to call mine Dobby (after the negative little house-elf from Harry Potter). Now try having a conversation with Dobby, who might start off like this:

"But master, what if the Dark Lord comes tonight?" Hear Dobby's high-pitched, little whiny voice, see his big ears and his wringing hands. He's a bit ridiculous, isn't he? How would Harry Potter respond to Dobby?

How will you respond to your Dobby equivalent? Give him a bloomin' good kicking, that's how. Kick that Dobby voice NOW!

Turn the volume up and down

Turn the volume on the worry voice up and down, change the pitch of the voice, get it to sing. How about getting the voice to sing its lyrics to the tune of Kylie Minogue's "I Should Be So Lucky"? Once you've had a good old play, go back to the volume and turn it right down until you can't hear that worry voice at all!

Halt the repetitive worry cycle

When your worries become almost mechanical, with a rhythm that goes on and on (when you're getting the same thoughts again and again), do something physical or just plain daft. Here are a few ideas:

Run up and down the stairs.

Snap an elastic band on your wrist--ouch!

Sing the alphabet backwards in the style of Pavarotti.

Touch your tongue to your nose, wiggle your ears, raise one eyebrow, try a handstand (best done at home rather than at work for this one). Just do something physical that requires some concentration. I bet you can't worry at the same time!

The possibilities are endless; the key is to get out of your own way!

Perform a worry autopsy

Write down what you are worried about in a notebook. What is the worst that could happen because of these worries?

Think about how you would handle this worst-case scenario.

Decide where you have control over this worry. What can you do to reduce the chances of this worry becoming a reality? Where can you take action?

Look at the worrisome thoughts that you feel you can't take any action on. Which of these have you inflated or distorted? Which have little basis in reality?

Write opposites or alternatives to the worrisome thoughts.

Learn the alternatives by heart. Each time you catch yourself worrying replace the original worry with the new positive thought.

Photo Credit: Photo Plod

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78% Fail Their New Years Resolutions

Amanda Alexander — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 18:55:41 +0000

Welcome to 2011 and the new decade. Hurrah...a new start, spring will be here soon, it's time to strip away the old and open ourselves to new possibilities - and then return to the same old same old life as a workshifter. January, of course, is a time for making our New Year's Resolutions and then promptly begin breaking them.

The "78% will fail" statistic comes from research by Richard Wiseman, who does some interesting research debunking many of the claims made in the personal development field. According to Wiseman, many of the 78% in his research group failed because they had focused on what would happen if they didn't achieve their resolution and tried to do get there by willpower alone. Personally, I avoid being in the 78% category by not setting any resolutions!

Here's 3 reasons why people fail with New Year's Resolutions, and what works better:

Resolution Challenge #1: Cold Weather

January, for those in the Northern Hemisphere in particular, is a month of cold, grey, short days and one that follows a month of excess, merriment and celebrations. It's the prime "Cold Turkey" month - an image which conjures supreme acts of will in withdrawing from addictive substances, most of which will result in failure. Not really a proper environment to promote the best chances of success!

What works better: If you've already tried a resolution and failed already, shift your focus instead onto developing a Theme for the year ahead. Choose one word or a short phrase (up to 3 words) that represents the overall direction you want to take your life this year. My theme this year is "Simplify". I may not fully achieve it, but by having this one goal at the front of my consciousness, I'll strive to simplify daily and I'll be more aware (and, as a result, find it easier to make adjustments), when I over-complicate my life, which I tend to do on a frequent basis!

In short: Ditch the resolution and pick up a theme for 2011.

Resolution Challenge #2: Being Overambitious

People have a tendency to make large, difficult to achieve resolutions that don't afford the demands of everyday life. Remember that you don't live in a vacuum. For example, it's not easy to lose 2KGs weight when, like most people, you're probably leading a full and busy life. If you are a celebrity with a personal chef, then you're all sorted!

What works better: Look at your life and what's realistic and plan according to this. Break your resolution or goal into baby steps. One step at a time. And just because you stumble in your baby steps (as you will), it doesn't actually mean that you're doomed to failure! Just get up and try again!

In short: Be realistic, get support, take baby steps and keep on trying!

Resolution Challenge #3: Failing to Plan

Rarely do people plan how they will achieve our resolutions or goals. Nor do they consider "What might prevent me from succeeding in this resolution?" or "What might go wrong and what will I do if that happens?" and "What will I put in place to support me?"

What works better: Keep a diary of your goal progress. Ask yourself why you want to achieve this, what it will bring you and brainstorm as many ideas as you can of ways to get there. Don't make goals or resolutions with out thought! Ensure you've got good support and accountability structures in place (Coaches are good for this. There's one writing to you right now!).

In short: Treat your resolution or goal as a project, not just a sentence. Remember that boring old adage: "Failing to plan is planning to fail"!

Photo Credit: Jeff Hester

7 Procrastination Techniques as a Workshifter

Amanda Alexander — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 14:06:53 +0000

You might want to steer clear of this post if you were looking for procrastination busters! I'm in the mood for levity and fun, and having done a bit of self-observation this morning of how I've actively avoided doing all but one of the things on my to do list, I thought I'd take it a step further and share my slothful seven ways of procrastinating.

7 Procrastination Techniques as a Workshifter

Tarrying in Holiday Daydream Heaven
There are cottage sites to search, skiing holidays to plan (and honestly, it's soooo complicated, getting all the childcare coordinated, the lift passes, the right chalet, comparing snow conditions in different resources: someone's gotta do it). I generally plan (but never book) a short break to Disneyland Paris about twice a year; this is a great way to waste at least 40 minutes or so. There's nothing quite like it for lifting the soul, especially on a gloomy, rainy November day like today. Hmmm, I wonder if there are any airline sales on at the moment?
Lingering around Twitter
Actually, no, this doesn't count as procrastinating. As any self respecting workshifter knows, social media is an essential part of any decent 21st century marketing and business development toolkit, isn't it? So it's actually a productive use of my time and is bound to lead somewhere jolly profitable. Gosh, have you seen what @B_List_Celebrity_Bimbo has just tweeted?
Dilly-dallying in the kitchen
There's something about making my kitchen look like a minimalist designer show home that is a critical part of my pre-writing ritual. I'm not quite sure why cleaning the kitchen surfaces nurtures the creative writing process, particularly as I don't write in the kitchen, but one mustn't stifle the creative process, must one?
Dawdling on eBay
One tiny thought: "I need a slug trap" or "I wonder if I can find a pair of cashmere socks at a bargain price" and I'm off. The beauty of eBay is that I can spend hours researching the best slug trap, and then remember at the point of sale that we need a new roof rack for the car. There are endless things I need from eBay. So much stuff, so little time. Well, maybe just another 15 minutes.
Prolonged Email Culling
No matter how many different systems I try to implement to deal like with emails, they always seem to conquer me. It's an endless war, and I rarely win a battle. I end up with a tonne of those emails that I'm not quite ready to answer, that I didn't know how to answer or that I know would just take too much brainpower, effort or finger tapping to answer. So I leave them.

However, given the choice between the work I'm supposed to be doing and culling those emails, I'll get the email scythe out every time. After all, once I've culled the emails, I'll create so much mental energy and I'll be able to concentrate fully on the task that I've been putting off. Surely this works every time for you too?
Frittering away the day doing anything else
Today I have been highly industrious and conscientious: I have researched and found a watch repairers that can fully refurbish my old Gucci watch at a reasonable price, packaged said watch and had a conversation with said watch repairer. I have packaged up 3 books that I'm swapping via the book swap site www.readitswapit.com (another highly recommended place for procrastinators, but do try to find people to swap with who have very LONG book lists) and turned the innards of the Hallowe'en pumpkin into a very nice pumpkin soup. Really impressive, eh! It's just unfortunate that my business is not as a soupmaker, a watch seller or a book reviewer. Getting everything else (ANYTHING ELSE) done is definitely one of the best procrastination techniques. At least with this one I'm doing something vaguely useful. At least if I'm not working on the business I can feel like a Domestic Goddess and Gold Star Homemaker.
Moseying around Amazon
Those darned clever people at Amazon with their nifty tracking robots that know me SOOOO well. They have perfected the art of piquing my curiosity and greed for just the right book, CD or general household appliance that will definitely complement the book, CD or general household appliance that I bought from Amazon last week. Those dastardly Amazon emails with their siren calling "50% off these books that you might be interested in..." mesmerize me and compel me into clicking that alluring link into Amazontopia. And without doubt, that book on "Get it Done Now" currently on offer at 50% off is JUST the thing to stop me procrastinating....

When you're in a mood to procrastinate, what are your traps?

Photo Credit: Emilie Ogez

On Hiring a Virtual Assistant

Amanda Alexander — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:12:47 +0000

A while back, I finally hired a Virtual Assistant to help me on a regular basis with my business. Here are some musings on what I've learnt so far about engaging and working with a VA:

1. Schedule a monthly call or Skype video call to check in and use this as a monthly planning mechanism for your business (2 birds with 1 stone always good for busy workshifters!) Not only will this ensure clarity in communication and prioritisation, it will also build solid working relationships and help your VA feel enthusiastic and a real part of your business, rather than just a "hired help".

2. When you are hiring a VA, decide whether you want someone to follow your processes or whether you want someone who will work with you developmentally - i.e. someone who will make suggestions for your business and use their initiative. I wanted the latter, but if you are clear about what you want done and you don't want deviation from your own procedures, you need to make this clear at the outset.

3. If, like me, you want someone to use their initiative, recognise that the downside of this is that they will almost certainly carry out some tasks differently from you. This means that you either have to let go and allow this, or ensure regular and upfront communication when they do something that isn't in line with your business brand or personal style.

4. Accept that when you are working with anyone after being a solopreneur for some time, you are going to spend more time initially setting up and skills transfer, just as you might have done at work if you were training up a new member of staff.

5. Use the opportunity of hiring a new VA to get clear on what your business strategy is, how the VA will help you achieve that strategy and what your business processes are. It forced me to think logically through the different elements of my daily business and to establish who does what.

6. Remember that all human beings are starved of acknowledgement and we all need regular and meaningful praise. When your VA (or any member of your virtual workshifting team) delights you, make sure you tell her!

7. Your VA will make mistakes. Again, it's about recognising that you are hiring a fallible human being. Mistakes are part of the learning and business development process. Deal with them, shrug your shoulders and remember that it's all good learning!

8. If you're wondering whether you can afford to hire a VA, err on the side of throwing caution to the wind! I've been in business for 7 years, but with the benefit of hindsight, I would have hired a VA much sooner. In the long term, I believe that outsourcing 20 hours of work per month to my VA will make my business more profitable. I've started to see the results already. If I had to choose whether to pay my salary or pay a VA, I'd pay the VA first and use the time I'd gained to concentrate on doing what I do best - attracting and serving my clients

What do you think? Do you have any tips to share?

Photo Credit: Sean Dreilinger

Seven Ways to “Find” An Extra Hour Each Day for Workshifters

Amanda Alexander — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 15:24:49 +0000

We know that we have 24 hours in each day and that this should be plenty of time for us to complete everything that we have to do, with ample time to spare. The dawn of each day should bring a fresh outlook to all of us and we should feel rejuvenated and ready to tackle anything that life has in store. However, for one reason or another it seems that we are always playing catch-up, despite what we might feel are our best intentions. When the sun has set and the hours are winding down, we often feel frustrated, as we have not had enough time to complete all those tasks. Here are seven ideas for "finding" that extra hour each day!

1. Set up your phone so that all calls are processed before they reach you. There are some great programs available these days, including Google Voice, which will help you to prioritise the calls that you really need to take and leave the time wasting calls. You can even block unwanted or troublesome calls through the system. By having your own, personal secretary in this way, you will not waste valuable minutes.

2. Realise the value of outsourcing. What is an hour of you time worth? If you haven't calculated it, do it now! Chances are an hour of your time is NOT worth you spending it doing all the things that you find difficult, time-consuming and repetitive. Make a list of all the things that suck up your time. Concentrate on what you excel at and start flexing your outsourcing muscle, perhaps initially by trying to outsource just one thing that is sucking up your time. That might mean finding a cleaner, engaging the services of a Virtual Assistant or finding someone who can do your ironing much faster than you can!

3. Explore time management software programmes. Once you've experimented and found the one that works for you, learn how to use it and stick with it. It might seem a bit alien to you at first, but if you are really stringent, you will save a great deal of time each day by focusing your attention. I use an appointment scheduling system now for my clients (www.timedriver.com ) It took some getting used to, but it's saving so much time each week that I previously spent with emails and voicemails going to and fro trying to find mutually convenient times for calls!

4. When it comes to planning, make sure that you actually do it! If you have a rather muddled list of things that you have to accomplish in your head, you will bounce back and forth between these chores and not be efficient. Allocate time to plan ahead, whether this takes place during the prior evening, or when you first wake up. Research has shown that an hour planning any project saves at least four hours. Block out time in your diary on a quarterly, monthly, weekly and daily basis to plan and you'll find that you avoid diary clashes and that you naturally become more focussed.

5. Allocate an hour for communication and "batch process" that communication time. This includes all those call-backs that you might have to make, the checking of e-mail, updating of Facebook or other social networks. You would be amazed how much time can be lost if you're constantly checking e-mails or taking phone calls without a structured plan.

6. When you're planning your time, include a "buffer" at appropriate intervals. This means that you should not plan one task after another within an unrealistic time frame. If you allocate a certain amount of "buffer," you will not get sidetracked, harried or fall off your schedule.

7. Combine your exercise time with "catching up" time. If you allocate, say 30 to 45 minutes a day for physical activity, combine this with your time to catch up on the news and current affairs. This could mean the installation of a television in your workout area, or this may now become the time to listen to a particular media channel or even to read updates through your electronic book reader.

What do you think?

Photo Credit: Steve Grosbois

Three Steps To Achieving Your Dream

Amanda Alexander — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 17:18:11 +0000

(from the girl who kissed a frog)

As a professional coach, if I was to write a job description for myself, one of the "essential" parts of the job that I would include would be this: "Assist clients in making their dreams come true"

Recently, I took my sons to see Disney's new animated film, "The Princess and The Frog". This was a film about making your dream come true, and it espoused some of the lessons that I teach my clients when helping them to define and achieve their own lifestyle dreams or goals. The difference between a goal and a dream? Try this: A goal is a dream with a date on it.

I was enchanted by "The Princess and the Frog", a modern day take on an old classic with the star an African American girl called Tiana from the poor end of town in New Orleans. The messages within the movie were so delightfully presented and even better, they serve to illustrate my own three step process to achieving your lifestyle dreams.

Step one: "You gotta HAVE a dream!"
Tiana's dream is to own a restaurant. She's had the vision since she was a little girl, helping her daddy to cook at home. Tiana's father had a picture of a beautiful restaurant, full of smiling people and delicious looking food. The restaurant is opulent, decorated with chandeliers, sweeping staircases and populated with smart besuited waiters. He wrote on this picture "Tiana's Place".

Fast forward though the years and we see Tiana as a young woman. She's still looking at that (now rather tattered) piece of paper with "Tiana's Place" written on it. Every day when she comes home from work, she takes it out and looks at it and imagines how her restaurant will look. With the help of Disney animation, we go off into Tiana's multi sensory experience of her dream - sights, sounds, smells.. We see what Tiana will be wearing, the food she'll be serving, the fame of the restaurant, the buzz of the place... it's VIVID.

I teach my clients to define their vision i.e. their dream. You can do this in several ways. Write "A day in the life of", collect pictures, write a vision statement out each morning and read it out. The important thing is, like Tiana, to make your dream, your vision, as vivid as possible and to keep it in the forefront of your mind.

You have to hold onto that vision, even when you don't believe you can achieve it. On the hard days, you just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other. On the hard days, it's even more important that you read it/look at it/write it/imagine it, even if you're doing it "by rote"

Step two: Do something
Nothing in life happens without you taking action. A dream without action will remain a dream. I'm not from the school of thought that says that things just come along in life without putting some effort in. I'm one of those old git types who bemoan the fact that so many youngsters these days believe that a life of fame and fortune awaits them if they just queue up for an audition on X Factor. Don't get me started on that...

Anyway, back to hard work! We all know deep down that those "overnight successes" we hear about aren't actually overnight successes. The successful person will invariably have worked for many years and tried many different things in order to achieve that success.

In The Princess and the Frog, we follow Tiana over the years working day shifts and night shifts in different restaurants as waitress and cook. She saves all her tips for the down payment on the derelict building that features as the setting for her restaurant dream. We see her collapsing on her bed each night after looking at her precious picture of "Tiana's Place". Whilst all of her friends are out having a good time, Tiana never stops working towards her dream, knowing that every shift at the diner, every cent in tips, is moving her closer towards that down payment.

Step three: Let go
I preach balance in all things. As Oscar Wilde said:"Everything in moderation, including moderation!" (Actually, that probably doesn't illustrate balance, but I love that quote and I've always wanted to use it!)

Tiana, as our heroine, has a fatal flaw (as all heroines must at some point in the story). Her fatal flaw is that she doesn't work in moderation, she works to excess. Tiana never lets her hair down, goes out with her friends or lets up from working towards her dream.

Then she meets her antithesis in Prince Naseem, who represents everything she's not: loucheness, extravagance, fun and drifting through life without any direction at all. Naseem asks her to dance and she tells him that she can't dance; she's been too busy working hard to achieve her dream to learn to dance.

Naturally, as the movie nears its dénouement (I don't think I'll spoil the ending here -it's Disney, so it's obviously not going to be a sad ending), Tiana has to give up on her dream and it looks as if it's all going to hell in a handcart. As soon as she lets go of that neediness and that single minded drive towards her dream and accepts life as it is, that's when the Disney magic happens! Tiana achieves her dream, of course. To find out how and what happens to her along the way, you'll have to go and see the film yourself!

John Lennon said: "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans." Too right John! We have to live each moment of our lives now, and the more we can find happiness and joy in the life we are living today, the more space we create for the magic to happen to us.

So, in summary, your three steps to achieving your dream, from the girl who kissed a frog, are:

Define your lifestyle dream in vivid Disney Technicolor and burn that image into your brain, your heart and your soul.
Make a plan to achieve your dream, no matter how far away or how impossible it may seem now. Keep taking baby steps forward, just as Tiana saved her tips for many years.
In the meantime, live the life you have now, rejoice in it, enjoy each moment, kick off your shoes and dance with life. Then, when you're least expecting it, the magic will happen!

What do you think?

Photo Credit: Krystn Palmer Photography

Seven Habits for Time Pressed Solopreneurs

Amanda Alexander — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:39:35 +0000

There are thousands of books to choose from about what makes a successful entrepreneur; how to become a master at time management and so on. Each of these books come with many nuggets of wisdom to be gleaned from them. But as a workshifter, you probably just don't have the time to read all of these books, let alone put into place what you learn from them.

The fact is, solopreneurs are supreme jugglers, but even the most accomplished jugglers drop a ball at some point!

Over almost seven years of coaching people to run profitable businesses without running themselves ragged, the top five complaints I hear most often are:

"I feel overwhelmed and exhausted with too much to do and too little time."
"I know that I need to work ON the business, but I'm so busy working IN the business."
"I know what I need to do to grow this business, but there is never enough time to do it all."
"The business is doing ok, but it feels as if I can't quite make that leap to the next level."
"I feel like I'm just not planning my time effectively as I could. I'm constantly fighting fires."

It's not hard to spot the pattern here - lack of time! Solopreneurs tend to berate themselves for not having completed all of their gargantuan "to do" list at the end of each day. But most of the time they have simply set themselves 12 hours of tasks to complete within a 6 hour day! I know this because, while I'm superb at getting my clients focused and helping them to set up project plans to make their own businesses more efficient, I often forget to "take my own medicine"!

Solopreneurs are notoriously bad at setting themselves impossible targets and beating themselves up for not having achieved "the impossible". The following tips are nothing new and you won't be bowled over with a magic formula for getting it all done. There is no clever solution here, just time-tested stuff that you have no doubt heard before. But whether they are old news or cutting edge to you, those who cultivate the following seven habits will find that they are more in control of their time, have less episodes of overwhelm and build sustainable businesses.

Seven Habits for Time Pressed Solopreneurs

Habit No. 1 - Learn to Prioritize

 It is a truism that time is our most precious commodity and we just don't have enough of it. It's ironic that when you're doing something that you don't enjoy, the minutes seem to drag relentlessly. On the other hand, when we are busy, time appears to fly and unless we grasp that time management is fundamentally about managing priorities rather than time, we are likely to feel overwhelmed.

Professional coaching experts will tell you that time management is rule number one, but as we all know, time cannot be managed: We each have 24 hours in the day, seven days in the week and no amount of wishing will give us that extra two hours a day!

Try this exercise for a week: Evaluate all that you have to do for the week and take time to jot it all down in a list. You will need to allocate a priority to each activity and collate them into a realistic timetable. When you embark on this exercise, it can seem daunting! However, if you persevere, this can really pay dividends as you will start to grasp how you under-estimate and the importance of prioritization.

Habit No. 2 - Don't Forget About You!

 
Remember to think about yourself. Without rewarding yourself and enjoying valuable "me" time you will quickly burn yourself out and be far less productive. The buck really does stop with you when you are self-employed. Most solopreneurs are running micro-businesses where they are the chief bottle washer and cook!

So make personal time a priority and understand that this is not about being selfish, but is in fact a vital investment in your business and your life.

Habit No. 3 - Make Friends with a Little Routine in Your Life

 Setting up a routine is one of the best habits you can practice. They say that it takes a minimum of 14 attempts at something before a habit becomes ingrained, and we all seem to work better if we adopt a routine.

While you might not like to be too structured, I would be surprised if you do not benefit from incorporating some routine into part of your daily business management.

Habit No. 4 - Block Out Time without Distractions

 Don't let the myriad of communication methods become the enemy of efficiency. You have to block out time when you can turn off not only your phone, but perhaps all those time-depleting social networking sites. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, IM... the list goes on and on. All of these new social media tools can be great networking and business generation tools, but more often than not, they can be great excuses for not doing the stuff that brings in the business.

So make use of time blocking or "do not disturb" time to focus on larger projects. You can then allocate time to return calls once you've completed the tasks and projects that are essential to grow your business.

Habit No. 5 - Create Sacred Space to Work

 Habit number five is about creating your own special and protected area. Many solopreneurs run a business from their home. If you are a work at home entrepreneur, don't try balancing a laptop on the kitchen table and putting your file cabinet in your bedroom!

Wherever it is in your home, make your workspace sacred and ideally place it in its own room, off-limits to the kids when you are working. Design this room with efficiency and ergonomics in mind and don't use it for leisure purposes. If possible, have another computer set up elsewhere for personal use.

Habit No. 6 - Healthy Body, Healthy Business

 If you don't look after your health, all the other habits will be difficult to maintain. Exercise and fitness must become a habit and you should plan on getting at least three exercise sessions in per week.

Do whatever is easiest for you to take on as a new exercise habit. So if you don't live near a gym, it's unrealistic to plan to go to a gym three times a week, as you'll find that you don't have the time to travel to and fro. Keep it simple - walking, running, cycling or dancing in front of an exercise DVD are all examples of keeping your body moving that are easy to adopt into your life as a mum. And do what you enjoy - if you're not a sporty person, it's unlikely that you'll stick to a new habit of playing tennis each week. One of my clients who hates the gym and all form of sports exercises keeps trim with her Wii each evening.

Think laterally and do what works for you! It doesn't matter what form of exercise you choose, providing you just get your body moving!

Habit No. 7 - Build a Superstar Success Team

 
You've heard the expression "no man is an island"? None of us can run a business alone and we all need support in various guises. Ask yourself what sort of support you need to become a highly successful solopreneurs and start to look for ways of building your "superstar success team".

But however you choose to build your team, don't try to do everything on your own as there is so much to be gained from seeking the wisdom of good friends, confidants, associates and professional experts. They can be superb sounding posts and linchpins to your business success!

Having read these seven habits, it's likely that you will go away and forget most of them! So, rather than trying to adopt all seven at once, thus dooming yourself to failure, choose just one habit, focus on it and practice and practice it until it truly does indeed become a habit (i.e something you do without even thinking). Then, once you have adopted one habit, choose a second and so on.  

Easy does it - and remember to acknowledge each little achievement along the way!

About the author:
 Amanda Alexander is a Professional Certified Coach who helps work at home professionals who long for more hours in the day. Through her coaching programs and online coaching courses, Amanda helps people to create fulfilling and successful businesses. Learn more at www.amandaalexander.com

Photo Credit: derekGavey

Surefire Ways to Fail at your New Year’s Resolutions

Amanda Alexander — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:07:00 +0000

Now that we're just about 5% of the way through 2010, you may be at that point where some of those New Year's resolutions you made just a few weeks ago are already starting to slip. There is still time to recover and keep to those resolutions. But, make sure we don't make the following mistakes or else you'll certainly derail yourself:

Ten surefire ways to fail your New Year's Resolutions!

Make huge, unrealistic and unsustainable resolutions like "Lose 6KGs in the next 4 weeks", "join gym and go every day" or "Go to bed at 9.30pm every night without fail"
Make sure you set the sort of resolutions that you think you should achieve, not those that really "pull" you towards them. New Year's Resolutions have nothing to do with who you are and who you want to become.
Ensure that you make at least 5 New Year's Resolutions, preferably addressing every area of your life. That'll keep you busy for this first week of January!
Make New Year's resolutions into your one and only chance to change your life this year. Keep telling yourself that if you fail now, you may as well give up and accept that you'll never make those positive changes.
Test your resolution at every opportunity. So for example, if you've resolved to give up smoking, hang around all your nicotine pals at every opportunity. If you've resolved to be a calm parent when your children test you, make sure you are exhausted most of the time and that you haven't met your own needs first.
Remember that you must do it alone. It's not up to any of your friends or family to support you in achieving your New Year's Resolutions.
If you've managed to keep your New Year's Resolution through to the end of January, don't give yourself a pat on the back. You have to keep on your toes, dammit! Just because you've managed a month that doesn't mean you should reward yourself or acknowledge your so-called achievement in any way.
Ensure that your New Year's Resolutions fill you with horror/dread/a sinking feeling every time you think about them (all ten of them). Nothing worth achieving was ever easy, was it? No pain no gain!
Compare yourself frequently with other people who appear to have achieved what you are trying to achieve with your resolutions. Remember that whatever you achieve, there will always be someone who has achieved it faster and better than you.
Don't prepare for your resolutions at all.

Of course, I don't need to tell you that, in order to achieve your resolutions, the opposite of the above ten points apply! However, let's get the positivity flowing for 2010, shall we. Here are the ten tips that will increase your chances of success with your resolutions:

Ten Ways to increase your chances of succeeding in your New Year's Resolutions

Make small, achievable resolutions. Instead of "Never lose my temper with my children again", try a resolution that addresses when and/or why you lose your temper. It might be because you are tired, you are in a rush, and you've got too much on. Which resolution might you choose that addresses one of the underlying causes of you losing your temper?  Or try a more general resolution. Try on "Be nice to me and my kids by ensuring I get my 8 hours sleep most nights".
Set resolutions that are a reflection of you and your values, not resolutions that reflect someone else's values.
This year, just try one or two resolutions. Once you've achieved one (maybe you could set a realistic date), then try another. Think quality resolutions rather than quantity.
You're bound to have days when you do less well in keeping your resolution than you'd hoped. Don't define such days as failure. Instead use them to reflect and learn in order to do better tomorrow.
Just because you don't achieve 100%, it doesn't mean you've failed the test. Treat your new year's resolutions in a similar way. Give yourself the best chances of success by keeping temptation out of reach. If this is impossible, then make a choice as to whether a tempting situation is going to mean that your resolution is not going to be kept on that particular occasion. If you anticipate this and give yourself permission to "slip up", then you're more likely to keep with the resolution afterwards.
You're more likely to achieve your resolution if you get support from those who want you to succeed. Note the careful wording there - choose your support team carefully and avoid the naysayers and false friends!
Build in celebratory milestones and acknowledge yourself for what you've achieved at each of those milestones. I believe that people nowadays are starved of acknowledgement, and it's important that you learn to acknowledge yourself in all areas of your life, not just for your resolutions!
Choose resolutions that fill you with joy, peace or pleasure at the thought of achieving them. Put each resolution through the joy/pleasure/peace filter. If they don't meet one, bin them!
Remember that comparison is the killer of creativity. This is your resolution - nobody else's!
Prepare! The following questions WILL of course help you to prepare effectively for keeping your resolutions:

"How can I give myself best chances of success?"
"What must I do more of/start doing in order to keep this resolution?"
"What must I do less of/start doing in order to keep this resolution?"
"Will this bring me nearer to achieving this resolution or further away?"

Happy New Resolutions!

Photo Credit: beX out loud

My Obsession with Flat White

Amanda Alexander — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:30:17 +0000

Without a doubt, one of the best things about being my own boss and working from home is coffee. But not just any old coffee - you can get any old coffee from the vending machine in Cubicle Nation. Oh no! When I talk about coffee, I'm referring to a daily love affair of two - possibly three but never more - cups of properly made cappuccinos a day.

I'm known amongst my circle of friends as a coffee snob. In fact, I think I may have even lost friends because of my coffee snobbery. There have been hints that, on my Fridays off (my "mummy days" when I try to catch up with other non Friday working mum and SAHM friends), I have not been invited to certain social events, as some think I'll turn my finely caffeinated nose up at their nescaff. They're right. I'd rather have a cup of builder's bum. And I really don't like tea much, except on the two occasions when I've been severely traumatised (childbirth x two) and then only with two sugars and lashings of sympathy.

The fact that I'm writing a blog post about coffee is testament to my love affair with the stuff. And yes, I do realise it's also testament to me being an anorak a l'extrème. But I console myself with the fact that I'm not the only one who has this strange but life-enhancing relationship with the bean of life. The New Zealanders are renowned for their love of coffee. For those in the know, New Zealand (and particularly Wellington) is the home of the best coffee in the world. It is one of the few countries in the world that imports its beans raw and roasts them locally, and, having drunk a fair few cups whilst I was down in the land of the long white cloud earlier this year, I believe that the Kiwis do make the best coffee in the world.

Whilst I was in New Zealand, I was introduced to the "flat white", which is best described as half way between a Cafe Latte and a Cappuccino. It is crafted by the Kiwis with loving care, and there is a standing joke that it takes 20 minutes to get your coffee. But boy, is it worth the wait! There is a particular texture in an impeccably crafted flat white that brings out the flavour of the coffee and gives the partnership of espresso and milk the same sort of divinity as peaches and cream or strawberries and champagne.

The trip to New Zealand was a reccie trip to see if we wanted to move there. Yes I do, because I simply can't contemplate living the rest of my life without access to Kiwi flat whites. My work shifting vision is firmly in Wellington, my dream house a mere hop away from flat white heaven.

Back from New Zealand, the withdrawal symptoms were so bad that I bought myself a new coffee machine, a bona fide tax deductible business expense as a happy bonus and a great excuse - as if I'd needed one.

New machine all set up, I went onto YouTube to find out how to make a flat white, only to discover after several failed attempts, that those darned Kiwis make it look far easier than it actually is. My new machine is a good one, and it makes a jolly good espresso, but alas, the skill is in she who crafts the coffee, and she is a mere amateur with pretensions of becoming a Kiwi barista. I can sometimes get the milk almost a little tiny bit like the Kiwi flat white, but it never quite works.

Want to try it out for yourself? Check out this video and see how you fair:

Perhaps I should blame the British cows for not making the right type of milk, or perhaps I just need to keep that Kiwi vision in my head and hope that we emigrate sooner rather than later.

Photo by: Nick in exsilio

Reflections on Time Management Techniques

Amanda Alexander — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:08:13 +0000

I think I've tried every time management and time trick going. Not only for myself, but for my clients, who also hope that I can help them to be more efficient, get more done, find more time. More often than not I can help them find that elusive extra hour, even though I've never found time management utopia for myself. As the old saying goes, "Physician, heal thyself!"

The trouble with the art of time management is that it doesn't cater for the crazy, juggling whirring world of conflicting priorities that is the life of a working mum. Is there a perfect time management technique for working mums? Or is searching for this as useful as tilting at windmills? Here's just a selection of the many, many techniques I've tried, in my quixotic quest for the "perfect time management solution":

Urgent Important Quadrants

I forget what the proper name is for this, but I have just one word to say about it: "Yeurch". This was Stephen Covey's idea wasn't it? You know the one - where you divide a page into four quadrants, with urgent important, urgent non important, non urgent important and non urgent non important? Stuff and nonsense. Sacrilege perhaps to slate the great Covey - I really buy into his big rocks theory on time management - but the quadrant thing just drives me mad. For a start, the stuff that is non urgent and non important never even gets written into that naughty little 4th quadrant. If I'm procrastinating on writing an article, making a call or doing my accounts, I don't write into the 4th quadrant: "browse autumn fashion trends on PC", "waste time on twitter" or "pick up ski brochure from doormat and mentally calculate cost of next skiing holiday and fantasize for 2 hours".

Prioritization

Sometimes I prioritize according to Michael Neill's time management suggestion (Michael is a well known American Success Coach whom I respect hugely). According to Michael's simple system, you just classify things as "A", "B" or "C".

"A" means "Bad things happen if I don't"; "B" means "Good things happen if I do" and "C" means "That'd be nice!" I love this simple technique when I'm feeling focused, but it falls down with all the inevitable overlap of work and life. A WaHM's life is like a Venn diagram - work in one circle, home in another and a big grey blobby overlap of messy juggling in the middle.

As a mum who works from home and runs her own business, I might class "write article for blog" as a "B" (good things..someone might like the sound of me, click through to my website, call me, become a client). But "Call Revenue and Customs to sort out tax mess" and "Make boys' dinner" have just got to be "A". Well, have you ever dealt with a hungry toddler who's been at nursery all day? Have you ever tried to argue with Revenue and Customs that you haven't responded to their error that has caused them to fine you and then fine you some more because "Actually Mr Taxman, I was focusing on making some bl**dy money so that you can claim their bl**dy share. And besides this Mr Taxman, it was actually your error in the first place?" (You might note a certain personal bitterness in this example).   So the "A" priority stuff of being a mum and being the family Administrator and Financial Controller frequently stops me from working on my business, which should be "A" more often.

Do the Worst Thing First

Mark Forster, a time management coach and author, suggests that we do the thing we least like doing first. This is my least favorite time management technique!

Just get the file out: Mark also suggests that, when procrastinating on something, we "Just get the file out". This one works for me, but I give original credit for the idea to my mum, who used to tell me to "Just write your name at the top of the paper" to encourage me to start a dreaded essay.

Post-It Notes

I use these to write short reminders like "M football kit", "Send invoice", "Buy milk" or "Jo birthday" and stick them in strategic places like the front door where I can't miss them. This works well until my youngest son decides to appropriate one of the bits of paper to draw on and then I find it stuck to the bottom of my shoe when I'm on the way to school with M sans football kit.

Nice Stationery for Mummies

Earlier this year, I bought a calendar from an online shop called Organised Mum. It sits in the kitchen with nice little picture stickers of things like a football (denotes "extra curricular activity"), a suitcase (denotes "holiday") and a present (denotes "birthday"). These stickers are supposed to help me organise myself and my family. It even has a little plastic overlay so you don't have to keep writing regular weekly activities, and a tear off shopping list and "to do list" on either side of the calendar. It really appeals to the homemaker in me and makes me feel like a proper mum. Alas, whilst I keep it in the kitchen to impress other mums, it's more for show than practicality. The shopping and to do lists aren't big enough, the space on the calendar never fits in all the various things going on and fundamentally, I'm a technophile, formerly wedded to my PDA and now my beloved iPhone. The calendar remains permanently in July.

Chuck Out the To Do Lists

I once tried "binning" my to do lists (not list - lists plural), because Thomas Leonard, the founder of Coachu (the coach training school I trained with) said lists were bad. Thomas Leonard died a few years back and he's like the Godfather, the Granddaddy, and the Patron Saint of coaching. He is widely considered by those in the know to be the original and the ultimate coach. If Thomas said it, so be it. And boy, was Thomas Leonard wise - I've learnt a lot from him about how to live and how to help create the "perfect" life for my clients. But then I realised that when Thomas said "bin your lists", he may have been a brilliant coach, but he was not a working mum. Lists are essential for working mums. Challenge me on this and you'll get a fight. Have you seen how I handle a windmill?

Priorities, big rocks, first things first and just getting the file out are all very well, but as a mum, I have to be strong, firm, focused about "work stuff" and "non work stuff". I know from experience - my own and my clients - that if I'm not, I can spend half the day catching up with stuff that doesn't serve my business at all. So what's a WAHM mum to do? Quite simply, she must write lists, lovely, satisfying lists.

Praise Be! To Do Lists

Oh, my precious! "To Do Lists" represent the simplest time management technique, as slated by Saint Thomas and many more. I live by lists. I love my lists. I have lists from yesterday that get consolidated into today's list. I have "household to do" lists, I have "tolerations" lists and I have "business" lists. Oh, the relief of getting all that stuff out of my head, cooling down my hot burning brains! Oh, the pure pleasure of crossing through something on one of my To Do Lists when it's finally done. I like to make each item on my list into a small "do-able" task if I can, so that I get to do more crossing through. Sad? Undoubtedly. But effective? Satisfying? Empowering? Most definitely.

Here endeth my reflections on time management as a WAHM. PLEASE let me know if you've found time management heaven for mums. In the meantime, I'll take a break from tilting windmills; I'm off to cross "Write first blog entry for www.workshifting.com" off my lovely To Do List. Aaaah!

Photo by: Ali Nassiri