Archive for the ‘Resources’ Category

E Tip-Work at Home Mom’s Time Management Tips

Friday, April 24th, 2009
Holly Reisem Hanna-The Work at Home Woman

Holly Reisem Hanna-The Work at Home Woman

Another recent Twitter mompreneur friend is Holly Reisem Hanna. Holly is the founder of The Work at Home Woman, an online business resource and blog for women and mothers who wish to work from home or become self employed. (Basically, she’s living the dream and wants to help you do the same!)

As a mother of a busy two year old, the founder of The Work at Home Woman, and as a Social Network Liaison for a small publishing company, Holly knows how important it is to balance her professional responsibilities while creating quality time for her family and friends.

Here are Holly’s Top 3 Time Management Tips for Creating Work/Life Balance:

Create a Schedule for Yourself: I work at home part-time so it’s easy to get distracted by the laundry, household chores and family members. My two year old requires the majority of my attention so I schedule my work time in before she wakes up in the morning, and then again while she’s napping in the afternoon. This allows me time to write and work without interruptions. By creating a schedule you designate a time slot for all the activities in your day keeping you on track.
If you are working full-time from home and have small children or an elderly parent that requires the majority of your attention, try hiring a college student or care assistant to help you out. This will help to alleviate distractions and allow you to stay focused on the task at hand.

Stop Multi-Tasking and Start Single-Tasking: For most of our lives we have been taught to multi-task, and in some situations it is called for, but the majority of the time it is a huge time waster. By single-tasking, you can fully focus on the task at hand and complete it without interruptions. Give yourself a block of time to complete each task, and stop watching the news, catching up on email and answering phone calls, you’ll be surprised at how much more efficient you’ll become.

Cut Out The Television: T.V. can be a wonderful escape from reality, but nobody needs more than a few hours per week. Make time to watch your favorite programs, but then turn it off and make time for those activities that you say you never have time for. Try reading a new book, sign up for a Pilate’s class or spend quality time with family and friends. By cutting out the mindless television watching, you can free up many hours of extra time to do other more rewarding activities.

These are great tips for any work-at-home entrepreneur! I follow all of them and find it really helps me to put boundaries on my work week.

Do check out Holly’s Web site at The Work at Home Woman for Work at Home Jobs and Resources!

Have a brilliant weekend!

Elizabeth

P.S.–If you’re interested in taking control of your time so you work at home effectively, contact me to set up a consultation.

Elizabeth Grace Saunders is a time empowerment coach who frees business owners to achieve their dream lifestyles. She specializes in empowering women business owners to achieve work/life brillianceTM

Inc magazine, NBC, and The Chicago Tribune are just a few of the places where Elizabeth has appeared, and she’s happy to be interviewed for your publication or broadcast.

E Tip-How a Mom Juggles a Job and a Startup Business

Friday, April 24th, 2009
Mompreneur LeNesha Carey

Mompreneur LeNesha Carey

Hello friends!

This year, I’ve really become a fan of Twitter (I am RealLifeE). One of my favorite parts of this social networking tool is that I can easily connect with people of similar interests. One of my recent connections was with LeNesha Carey (On Twitter: MBAMompreneur) who is in the process of starting her first business along with working as a project manager for defense contracts.

Here’s what she has to say on work/life brillianceTM:

Everyday, I’m gaining tips on how to balance business and mommy duties as I am in the
process of working full time, while starting a business, maintaining a blog, and being mom/wife/friend. (Wow!)

Here are Her Top Three Tips:

Empower Children to Help in the Home: I’ve empowered my 11-year-old daughter (since she was 8 years old) to do chores, cook, wash her own clothes, etc.  We have scheduled days in which she will even prepare dinner for the family.  Not having to focus on the everyday things that our children are more than capable of completing has saved me tons and
taught her real life skills.

Delegation is Key!: With my business startup activities, I focus on those things that I’m passionate about and am successful at.  I delegate as much as possible of everything else.

Make Use of Travel Time: To catch up with friends, family, or a good book.  When home, I can focus on business activities or mommy duties.

Sounds like spot-on advice to me. If you’d like to read more about LaNesha’s “Real-Time Journey Starting a New Business,” check out her blog at: http://www.MyBusinessAdventures.com

It contains tons of useful links and information on mompreneur events and resources.

Still one more post to go in our mompreneur series!

Elizabeth

P.S.–If you’re interested in taking control of your business so you have more time to build your business, contact me to set up a consultation.

Elizabeth Grace Saunders is a time empowerment coach who frees business owners to achieve their dream lifestyles. She specializes in empowering women business owners to achieve work/life brillianceTM

Inc magazine, NBC, and The Chicago Tribune are just a few of the places where Elizabeth has appeared, and she’s happy to be interviewed for your publication or broadcast.

E Tip-Shut Up & Cast Out the Voice of Overwhelm

Thursday, April 9th, 2009

This is what I would look like if I didn't shut up the voice of overwhelm!

This is what I would look like if I didn't shut up the voice of overwhelm!

For almost two years, I’ve aimed to build a business while working about 40 hours a week so I would have time for physical, relational, and spiritual health. But that doesn’t mean setting time boundaries is always easy for me. On a daily basis, I have to combat the voices in my head that tell me “You are not working enough,” “You are not successful enough,” “You are not making enough,” etc…..

Do you hear any of those  voices? Or if you can’t quite hear a voice do you sometimes feel an inexplicable sense of terror at the thought of actually taking time to relax or slow down?

If so, this exercise can lead to freedom for you. (It’s a cliff notes version of concepts in “The Worry Free Life.”)

  • Draw a line down the center of a piece of paper. Write “The Voice” at the top of the left column and “My Response” at the top of the right.
  • Start to write down all of the voices that you hear in your head in the left column. If they come out in the “I” form, rewrite them in the “you” form. For example: “I need to work all the time” should be translated into “You need to work all the time.”
  • Writing these voices in the “You” form exposes them as an outside force negatively influencing you instead of you identifying with these voices as your own inescapable thoughts.
  • In the right column, respond to these voices using this formula:
    For demands write: “Why should I (fill in demand)?”
    For statements write: “So what if you think (fill in statement)?”
    For questions write: “It’s none of your business!”
  • If you want to take your counter attack one step further, after your first response, write down truths such as: “I have the ability to choose when I will work.” and “I can succeed without working all the time.”

I know this sounds funny, but it works! I’m in the midst of building my time management coaching business and developing a couple of new products. This week, I’ve heard and fought off these voices of overwhelm in my head:

  • You are a loser.
  • You have to do everything at once.
  • You’ll fall behind.
  • If you don’t do everything at once that you can think of, you’ll fall behind.
  • You’re not good enough.
  • You’re not working hard enough.
  • It all depends on you.

I recognized these lies and responded to them using the above technique and was able to stay focused and move forward with confidence.

What voices of overwhelm are tormenting you? It’s time to tell them to shut up and cast them out with the truth! Please use this technique, check out the book, and if you need extra help, be in touch with me about a coaching consultation. You don’t have to conquer overwhelm alone!

Have a brilliant day!

Elizabeth

Elizabeth Grace Saunders is a time coach who empowers individuals  who are overwhelmed and frustrated because they want to achieve a life of peace and productivity but are struggling to make it happen. She helps  them set priorities, set expectations and set routines so that they move forward, feel peaceful and have time for themselves and the people they love.

E Tip-How to Take Control of Your E-Mail

Friday, February 27th, 2009

Elizabeth Grace Saunders, Real Life EDespite popular belief, e-mail does not have to run your life.

E-mail is not your boss. It is simply a method of communicating information, just like postal mail. Before the advent of all of our modern electronic “conveniences” there was an expectation that it would take a bit of time for you to receive information. No one ran to their mailbox every five minutes or had a panic attack if someone didn’t immediately receive and respond to their note. The expectation was that communication took time, and when people were able, they would respond.

Fast forward to 2009, between e-mail, IM, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and the multitude of computer and non-computer based communication options, many Americans have a serious case of information overload and Web-induced ADD.

Here is one simple strategy to conquer e-mail overload:

Set the expectation that you will only reply to e-mail once or twice a day.

I know this may sound crazy, but I’ve been doing it successfully for a couple of years and kept e-mail in its proper place. Here’s how:

1. If you have set the expectation that you will respond to e-mail in 2-seconds flat, set up one of these auto responders to start to wean people off of instant access to you.

2. Set aside a day to completely clear out your in boxes. (This could be shorter or longer depending on your backlog.)

3. At the designated time, sit down with a list of all of your e-mail accounts in front of you. Number them in order of attack.

4. Look at the first inbox. Select and delete all of the messages that do not require a personal response (updates, newsletters, feeds, ListServes, etc.). If you can’t bear the thought of deleting something because you “will read it” move it into a properly labeled e-mail folder.

5. Select and move all of the e-mails related to a particular project/person/topic that you need to keep but don’t require a reply into designated folders. (I have one for each client and each business development topic.)

6. Take a hard look at your inbox and make sure there is nothing more you can delete or file before starting to read e-mail.

7. Click on the first message in your inbox. Take the appropriate action (i.e. read, reply, forward, etc.), and then immediately delete or file it. It CAN NOT remain in your inbox. If you need to remember to complete a task related to that e-mail, put a note on your to-do list or calendar and then file the e-mail.

8. Continue down the list of e-mails until you are entirely done with the inbox. The only time you are allowed to spend time scanning the entire inbox is if you can respond to multiple messages with a single e-mail. (For instance I replied to five of my client’s messages sent on one day with a single e-mail response.)

9. Repeat this process with the rest of your e-mail inboxes. The psychological relief will be sublime!

10. Develop a personal system of responding to e-mail just once or twice a day so you can stay on top of e-mail on a regular basis without having it constantly interrupt you. For instance, I block out 1-2 hours every morning to clear out my business e-mail inboxes. Then for the rest of the day, I am free to complete projects. I send e-mail when necessary, but try to only scan my inbox a couple of times a day and only respond to e-mails that are truly urgent. Otherwise, they have to wait for my morning e-mail purge.

According to Lauren Berger, the Intern Queen, this is the best piece of advice I ever gave her! I hope you’ll experience similarly brilliant results.

Be brilliant TODAY!
Elizabeth

Elizabeth Grace Saunders is a time coach who empowers individuals  who are overwhelmed and frustrated because they want to achieve a life of peace and productivity but are struggling to make it happen. She helps  them set priorities, set expectations and set routines so that they move forward, feel peaceful and have time for themselves and the people they love.

She also does women in business keynote speeches about how to have confidence, present yourself professionally, and work effectively with men and women in the business world.

Elizabeth has been featured in Inc magazine, The Chicago Tribune, and on NBC, and is happy to be interviewed for your broadcast or publication.

E Tip-3 E-Mail Auto Responders to Break E-Mail Addiction

Friday, February 20th, 2009

THIS IS A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: E-Mail Addiction Has Reached Epidemic Proportions. If You Don’t Take Proper Precautions, It Will Soon Take Over the Planet.

Seriously. According to a Kings College study that Tim Ferriss often cites, e-mail and phone distractions lower people’s IQ more than drugs. Crazy!

In response to this national crisis, I have been developing a Complete E-Mail Detox Program that will be revealed next week. But to get the ball rolling, I wanted to share a few effective e-mail auto responders that can help you break the vicious cycle of treating your e-mail message indicator like a fire alarm.

Once you set the expectation that you will not immediately respond to e-mail, these auto-responders will become unnecessary. But for now, the e-mails below can be your “patch” during the detox process.

To brilliant e-mail control!
Elizabeth

E-Mail Auto Responder #1

Tim Ferriss provides a form e-mail auto responder in Chapter 7 of his book The 4-Hour Workweek. This e-mail corresponds with his suggested method of checking e-mail at 12 p.m. and 4 p.m.

E-Mail Auto Responder #2

This is an auto responder used by Mitch Matthews, a trainer, coach, and connector extraordinaire! Mitch says it’s helped him to psychology let go of the compulsion to constantly respond to e-mail.

Subject Line: “Thanks for connecting! Re: Subject Line of Original E-Mail”

Text:

Hello!

Thanks for your e-mail.

I’m sending this to let you know that due to a number of exciting
projects, I am only checking and responding to e-mail once a day.

You and your e-mail are important.

So… if you need an urgent response, please call the Matthews Group,
Inc. toll-free number at 800.491.5316.

If it is not urgent, know that I will respond to your e-mail as
quickly as possible.

Thanks again for connecting and thanks for understanding this move
towards greater effectiveness.

Have a fantastic day!

Mitch


Mitch Matthews,
Coach, Speaker & Connector

www.akickinthepants.com

p: 800.491.5316
f:  515.221.3801

Check out these “kick” connection projects:

www.doyouQ.com

www.BIGdreamgathering.com

E-Mail Auto Responder #3

This is an example of an auto responder from Patrick Combs, an amazing speaker and coach who is on on the road frequently. It lets people know that he cares about their message but might not get back to them immediately.

Text:

Ah, your email has arrived but alas it might take me time to respond. So…

If you need an immediate, time sensitive response please contact me through my office: [office manager's e-mail address] or (858) 759-6994. Phones are more fun anyways.

If you have my direct line, feel free to call me. And…

If you are seeking my coaching, might you consider my coaching program? It puts you on the phone with me on a regular basis and you can ask me anything you wish. It’s less than $1/day. www.coachedbyPatrick.com

Many blessings,
Sharing Success,
—————————————
Patrick Combs
(858) 759-6994
www.coachedbyPatrick.com
www.goodthink.com
And on FaceBook
www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=554560093

Elizabeth Grace Saunders is a trainer who focuses on “Time Strategies to Create a Brilliant Life in a Burnt-Out World.” She teaches others how to control their time instead of letting it control them and practices what she preaches by running two businesses in just 40 hours a week.

E Tip-How to Fold a T-shirt in 2 Seconds

Thursday, February 12th, 2009

OK–it take 2 minutes and 13 seconds to watch this video, but if you work in retail, do a lot of laundry, or simply want to dazzle and amaze your friends, you should check it out:

It was recommended on Twitter by Tim Ferriss of The 4-Hour Workweek fame.

Enjoy cool moves like “the flick” and “the flop and fold” and save time in the process. (Plus when you fold clothes right out of the drier, you don’t need to iron or re-launder them to get out the wrinkles.)

To brilliant–and fun–time strategies!

Elizabeth

Elizabeth Grace Saunders is a trainer who focuses on “Time Strategies to Create a Brilliant Life in a Burnt-Out World.” Women in business and Gen Y professionals enjoy her fresh take on succeeding in business and life by controlling their time instead of letting it control them. Brilliance trumps burn out!

E Tip-How can I KEEP “First Things First”?

Monday, February 9th, 2009
Tonya and I use effective time strategies so we can enjoy activities like a 3-hour lunch last Saturday!

Tonya and I use effective time strategies so we can enjoy activities like a 3-hour lunch last Saturday!

This year, I will be different.

This week, I will be different.

Today, I will be different.

We tell ourselves again and again and again… but often we don’t see any lasting change because we don’t develop systems that will help us to be different. Many people like the idea of “Put First Things First” from Stephen R. Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, but how many people do you see consistently maintaining the important when the urgent starts to encroach on their lives?

Well, when I saw the “First Things First” document and checkbox list to match from one of my mentors, Tonya Ramsey, I was blown away! I knew I had to share her approach with you.

Here’s an outline (that I picked up from Tonya) about how to clearly define what’s most important to you and then translate it into a system that you can do on autopilot on even your least motivated days.

First Things First Plan

Mission Statement: Write down in one or two sentences what you would like to see in your life. It doesn’t have to be eloquent. Even a bulleted list of items like: relational, spiritual, physical, and professional wellness is a good start.

Specific Goals: For each main point, write down specific goals, and if necessary, subgoals. Here’s a great example of how Tonya turns her mission of making family and friends a priority into specific steps:

1. Implement a Sunday planning time to schedule weekly commitments to connect with my family and friends
a) Phone son/daughter-in-law on cell driving home from work.
b) Set weekly visit with grandchildren.
c) Assign one friendship for the week
d) Schedule dinner out with family one night/week

2. Mentally schedule 15 minutes each night to focus on talking with my husband.

Tonya has specific goals and actions for each area of her life. (Clarifying exactly what you want is a huge part of the process.) But where Tonya really supercharges and cements her plans is through a weekly “checklist” that includes all of the “first things” that she wants to accomplish in a week.

I have an example of her weekly checklist at the bottom of this post. And feel free to e-mail me for a “Customizable Weekly Checklist Excel Sheet” and start to experience the joy of turning “first things first” into a lasting part of your life. Basically, in the left column you write down your “Core Priority Activities,” such as get up at 6 a.m., exercise, or do a weekly planning meeting. Then next to that goal you have a box for each day and at the end a box with your “Weekly Goal,” like four checkmarks (i.e. days) in the row for healthy dinners.

For some people this will be the perfect solution for turning their priorities into measurable actions. For others, something this extensive may be a little overwhelming. You might want to start off with a short checklist like “exercise,” “leave the office by 6 p.m.,” and “call a friend.” Then make a target number of “checkmarks” for the week and see how you do. If this system works for you, you can start to add more activities to the list.

Wishing you an end of frustration and a beginning of brilliant, lasting change!

Elizabeth

Elizabeth Grace Saunders is a trainer who focuses on “Time Strategies to Create a Brilliant Life in a Burnt-Out World.” Women in business and Gen Y professionals enjoy her fresh take on work/life balance as succeeding in business and life.

This is an example of a weekly checklist that can help you KEEP "first things first"

This is an example of a weekly checklist that can help you KEEP "first things first"

E Tip-New Book: One Year to An Organized Work Life

Monday, January 19th, 2009

One Year to an Organized Work LifeOne of the biggest mental traps that stands between you moving from disorganized chaos to organized bliss is this sequence of thoughts: I don’t have enough time. Organization takes time. Therefore I can’t get organized.

Sounds logical, right?

Unfortunately, this “common sense” logic is completely wrong. If you’re overloaded, the importance of organizing and planning each part of your day only heightens. The time you invest in this activity will pay off in terms of knowing where to focus your energies. Also, not having a nagging feeling you’re forgetting something or routinely spending extra time looking for lost items, provides sublime psychological relief. (After an enormous amount of traveling for business and pleasure last fall–15 states in 4 months–I’ve sometimes had to make getting organized the main focus of whole days. Not fun–but ultimately freeing.)

At Real Life E®, I focus my training sessions on time strategies to create a brilliant life in a burnt-out world. That means transforming how you think about time and discovering how to use your schedule to your advantage. But I want to introduce you to other resources that can help you streamline your life.

Author Regina Leeds

Author Regina Leeds

One new book you may want to check out is: “One Year to an Organized Work Life” by New York Times best-selling author Regina Leeds. In this guidebook, Regina takes you week-by-week, month-by-month, through the process of getting organized.

What I appreciate most about this book is that it expects you to make life changes at a reasonable pace. For instance, January covers “Start Fresh” and is broken down into: “Chart the Course,” “Decide Where You Want to Be,” “Keep a Calendar,” and “Calm the Morning Rush.”

The January new work habit of the month is: Leave your desk for five minutes.
The January new home habit of the month is: Make your bed.

Throughout the book, the topics range from the psychological, “Stop Negative Thinking,” to the practical, “Complete Those Expense Reports.” And I enjoy the fact that there are specific exercises, stories, and lists in every section.

My thoughts on this in terms of time strategies:

  • Take Immediate Action: If every part of your life is in a jumble, you may need to buy this book right now: Amazon. We’re only on the third week of January so there’s still time to catch up on your reading and exercises. (Each week is only 5-10 pages.)
  • Scan and Schedule: If you have select areas of your life that need to be spruced up, scan the table of contents and highlight the sections that match your needs. Number them in order of importance, and then commit to a specific time each week when you will read the section and complete the exercises. I recommend choosing a time like Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to noon. This way you won’t get carried away in the Monday catch-up or the Friday wrap-up, and you won’t push these important activities aside for more urgent tasks at the end of the day.
  • Over Estimate: Also, plan to spend more time on the exercises than you expect. Unless you’re really decisive and already somewhat organized, it will take a while to unearth clutter and particularly to set up systems to create new habits. The key to breaking time wasting patterns like piling up papers on your desk is not only dealing with the current mess but also doing the next step, like creating an efficient filing system.

So as you “Start Fresh” in 2009, I encourage you to take a look at “One Year To An Organized Work Life.” This book can help you to systematically put your work in order so you can increase your productivity and reduce your stress.

To a brilliantly organized 2009!

Elizabeth

E Tip-Pursue Radical Simplicity

Thursday, January 15th, 2009

OK–I know I just talked about Study Hacks in my last post, but I couldn’t resist letting you know about, “Start Your Semester Off Right By Quitting Something.”

In this blog post, Cal shares that:

“As you know, I’m a fiend for a simplicity. I think doing less is the miracle cure for the modern student life. It gives you time affluence which makes you happy. It’s also the only route to becoming famous at something, which will also make you happy.

People often mistake my love for simplicity, however, as a love for inactivity. Nothing could be further from the truth. The goal of my philosophy is to keep significant percentages of your time unscheduled. That is, not dedicated to work.”

I couldn’t agree more. The fact that in 2008 I could build a new speaking business, visit 20 states (including many multiple times), spend 40 days in the wilderness, and create amazing memories with family and friends, is all due to the fact that I pursue radical simplicity in my daily activities. As a rule, I:

  • follow a set morning routine (up at 6 a.m., breakfast, quiet time, getting dressed)
  • plan the hours I will work each day (8 or 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 or 6 p.m.)
  • limit my regularly scheduled events to one to two a week
  • meet with people during work hours Monday-Friday only once or twice a week

I’m committed to people, not activities. I follow a somewhat “boring” regular routine so I can routinely enjoy “exciting” adventures.

So the question of the day is, “What can you take out of your life so you can fit in more of what you want?”

Have a brilliant day!

Elizabeth



E Tip-Study Smarter, Not Harder

Tuesday, January 6th, 2009

How to Become a Straight-A Student by Cal Newport

One of the best ways to save time is to know who to call… or e-mail… or read online… you get the idea.

Cal Newport, the brain behind Study Hacks

Cal Newport, the brain behind Study Hacks

That’s why I’ll periodically introduce you to other time strategists with special expertise.

To kick off the resources section, I’d like to introduce you to the one–the only–Cal Newport.

If you are a high school, college, or graduate student, or you ever have to study for anything from an insurance test to a certification exam, you will benefit from reading Cal’s blog: Study Hacks: Demystifying Student Success.

Cal is an incredibly smart (think fourth year PhD student at MIT–yikes!) individual who is also incredibly savvy. Like me, Cal doesn’t think that you have to sacrifice your sanity to be successful. Study Hacks offers practical, relevant advice on how to plan  your life, and particularly your studying.

How did Cal gather his expertise?

A: Personal Experience

B: Extensive Research

Correct response: Both A & B

Cal is the author of How to Win at College and How to Become a Straight-A Student, and he has a third publication on the way. You know Cal is the real deal because he writes a blog and books to help others succeed as a side gig to his graduate studies at MIT.

I highly recommend that you check out Study Hacks and join the thousands of people (like me) who have subscribed to his RSS feed.

To studying brilliance in 2009!

Elizabeth