Successful Blog

4 Key Time Management Tips for Even the Busiest Business Owner

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By Jennifer Dunn

Owning your own business is amazing, but there are times when it’s practically a nightmare. Sometimes it gets so hard you just want to give up and go back to a 9 to 5. This usually comes after you’ve tried and tried to catch up on tasks but can’t seem to find any time to keep your head above water, much less actually get ahead.

It doesn’t have to be like this! With a few simple tips you can turn your frazzled brain into a relaxed center of productivity. Don’t give up on your entrepreneurial dreams just yet – check out the following tips and see if any of them can help you.

Get Organized

This seems like an obvious thing to say, but it’s an important point to make nonetheless. Most business owners waste so much time searching around their office, store, or home for a paper or object that should’ve been properly stored away (think: tax time). Eventually you’ll waste so much time on this that other tasks fall to the wayside as you struggle to keep up.

Get an organizational process in place for whatever’s driving you nuts – for example, receipts should all go into a folder so you can find them easily. Alternatively you can use a service like Shoeboxed to digitize receipts for super easy retrieval. Are you always searching for files on your computer? Create a digital filing system. Do you spend hours resetting your passwords? Check out a password management system like LastPass.

Once you have this organization in place, keep it up! Don’t let it slip or you’ll go right back into your old habits.

Don’t Multitask

If you want to get more things done, common sense tells you should just do more things at once. This way you get done with tasks quicker, right? In fact, the evidence says otherwise – multitasking does more harm than good.

It’s all about spending energy – if you give 33% to three tasks, they may not turn out any better than if you spent 100% on one thing at a time. If something gets messed up, you just have to start over again anyway. Learn how to tackle one thing at a time properly so you don’t spread yourself thin. Welcome to “unitasking.”

Get Apps to Help

Tired of doing everything yourself? You may not be able to hire any help, but you can certainly afford to acquire some robots to aid you. Oh, you don’t have a connection to someone at a robotics factory? Then settle for the next best thing and grab some apps.

Whether you have a smartphone, a tablet, or laptop, there are hundreds of applications (and other software) you can grab to help you do simple tasks that eat up your time. Whether it’s financial tracking, task management, shopping lists, or a thousand other things, there’s a way to streamline it.

Step Away

Another bit of “common sense” that can get you into hot water is attempting to power through a task that’s driving you nuts. Once you get into the habit of doing everything yourself you tend to want to get it all out of the way as quickly as you can. However, like multitasking, this can actually do more harm than good.

Instead, take a nice break once in a while. Go outside, take a walk, play a game, read a book, or just stare at the wall – as long as it’s not about work. This break can not only give you a nice physical stretch it can free up your brain to come up with solutions to your problems quickly.

What are your time management tips for time strapped business owners?

Author’s Bio: Jennifer Escalona Dunn is the owner of Social Street Media where she writes about small business, tech and finance for sites like WePay and Outright. You can find her on Twitter @jennescalona.

Great Team Ice Breakers To Loosen The Group Up

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By Deb Bixler

Whenever a group of adults come together for the first time, be it work-related or otherwise, the atmosphere can be a little bit uncomfortable.

After all, making friends and getting to know someone is oh so much easier as a kid than it is as an adult.

team meetingAll leaders involved in team meeting planning should consider incorporating ice breakers into every event.

When multiple people are coming together for the first time, you may want to try some team ice breakers.

These activities are great as group team building exercises and really allow people to get to know one another.

#1 – The Team Interview

You’ve all probably done this exercise at some point growing up, most likely at school. Interview is a simple game in which you divide your group into pairs. Each pair is responsible for interviewing each other and reporting their findings to the rest of the group. Encourage the participants to find at least three interesting facts about their partner to share with the group. This is a great way for your group to learn about each individual without the awkwardness of having to talk about yourself in front of a room full of strangers.

#2 – Fact or Fiction?

This is among the most popular team ice breakers out there. Have each person in your group write down two facts about themselves that most people don’t know and an additional fact that isn’t true. The entire group can then go over each list together and try and determine which two facts are true and which is the lie. It is a fun game that really gets people out of their shells.

#3 – My Name Is?

This fun activity is super easy. Have each person go around the room and tell everyone their name. They must also add an adjective starting with the same letter of their name that describes themselves. For example, someone named Joe might go with “Joyful” Joe. For the remainder of your time together that day, each person must refer to each person with their new name.

Getting a group of individuals together for the first time can be hard to do. Most people are very reserved and have their guard up to some extent. These team ice breakers are a great way to make people feel more comfortable in their new environment. It will make your team more productive and easier to work with. Give them a try!

Author’s Bio:
Deb Bixler retired from the corporate world using the proven business systems that made her a success working for others by incorporating them into her home business. In only 9 months Deb replaced her full time income with the sales and commissions from her home party plan business. Find her on Twitter at: http://www.Twitter.com/debbixler

Entrepreneurial Tips – How to Maintain a Positive Attitude

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By Ronald Alexander

As entrepreneurs, we put work just above everything else. Unfortunately, sometimes when we are working toward something, we forget to maintain a positive attitude, which can lead to additional stress and an unhappy all-around life.

The 10 tips listed below will help you to stay positive while at the same time driving your business in the right direction.
How to maintain a positive attitude

1. Work with people that you like

It’s easy to be unhappy in a business where you are surrounded by negative people all day. This is why it is vital that you hire and work with people who have a positive attitude and don’t drain you emotionally.

2. Don’t hesitate to fire people

It is 100% okay to let people go who are not doing all they can do to help your business. Usually a primary cause of stress for entrepreneurs in the workplace is having people who make them unhappy because they either don’t work hard enough or constantly stress out about little things. It’s a great release when you know that you have just made your work environment better for everyone by letting someone go.

3. Create long-term goals

Short-term goals are good, but having goals that extend decades will allow you to be more focused on where you want your business to go. These goals are usually far less stressful and will show your team that you do know what you want out of your company.

4. Feed your creative mind

Every entrepreneur is creative, so it’s natural that we need to fill our off-time with things that will feed that creativity. Some people like to read, while others get their creative juices flowing by taking a long walk. Whatever you need to stay charged up, you need to make sure that it is included in your weekly schedule.

5. Continue to be yourself

People often forget what got them to the point of being an entrepreneur and having a business. The fact is that you need to continue to be yourself even as you are taking off as an entrepreneur. The people who work for you and the business contacts that you make need to know who the real “you” is. You don’t have to develop a phoney business persona, which, I promise you, will lead to additional stress.

6. Don’t be a yes man

Many people have the instinct that saying yes to their employees will keep all parties happy, but in reality a business has to be run by someone who knows when to say no. If someone needs help with something and you have an important task that you are dealing with right now, you have to tell them no and they’ll need to find another solution to their problem. Always take a second to assess everything before you answer questions at work so you can be honest with yourself and others.

7. Remember to take a break once in a while

Entrepreneurs are usually workaholics, but everyone needs a break to stay fresh. The truth is that those breaks that you take every day will allow you to get better work done, which should be reason enough to take them.

8. Expect stressful situations and deal with them the right way

Work is stressful no matter what you do for a living, so it is each person’s responsibility to deal with every bit of stress that is thrown in their direction. It’s tougher earlier on because you are new to all of the business scenarios that you will face, but with time you will learn how to deal with the stress. Just go into every situation knowing that there will be stress and then conquer it.

9. Don’t expect flawless work

It would be nice if everything we do in our work life ends up being absolutely perfect, but that’s just not reality. You want to draw things up to be perfectly played out, but the most important thing is that you reach the end goal in everything you do. Don’t focus too much on the imperfections; this can help you put off some burden.

10. Don’t try to do everything on your own.

You have a team for a reason, so you have to learn how to delegate responsibilities. It’s not easy at first, but you shouldn’t try to do too much of the work on your own. You run the business, so figuring out who should be doing what all day will help you to take a lot off your plate.

To sum up: You need to figure out what’s keeping you from being as happy as you can be in your business life. Going over these tips should help you to figure out how to lessen the stress so you can focus on getting your business to where you want it to be.

Author’s Bio: Ronald Alexander is a passionate writer and avid blogger currently associated with Forsyth.co.uk, which provides business services including flexible office space and virtual office services in Manchester.

Image source: Pixabay by Nemo

On Being the Kind of Boss People Want to Work With

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By Stacey Thompson

More often than not, the average employee views management in a negative light. Feared, resented, or even reviled, bosses are seen as cruel, unfeeling taskmasters that care only for the bottom line and will readily sacrifice any of the rank and file to attain their objectives.

This culture of hating on the management can go two ways: either employees aspire for these positions in order to propagate the perceived cycle of tyranny, or they will not make the effort to become better workers, seeing that promotion will only turn them into the same monsters they so despise. Neither of these attitudes does justice to the employees, the management, or the company they work in, for that matter.

Are you a boss people like to work with?

In the case of companies, I firmly believe that the culture is propagated from the top down. This places the responsibility of maintaining a prosperous and positive work environment squarely on the shoulders of the managers and supervisors. Just as bad habits and mentalities spring from negative examples provided by the people on top, productive and motivational attitudes are spread by good bosses.

Many people have plenty of theories on what managers should be doing to keep their people motivated, happy, and productive. In my own experiences as both a subordinate and as a manager, I can summarize all these lessons into four pieces of advice:

Open Lines of Communication

No amount of mutual understanding and teamwork will happen if the boss doesn’t even talk with his/her subordinates. This isn’t limited to meetings or official office correspondence; the ability to be able to shoot the breeze with the troops at the water cooler is an important ability to have, if you want to be an exemplary manager of people. It will give you more insights on what motivates (and de-motivates) your people, and in turn, it will humanize you in their perceptions. You’ll cease to be a cruel monster in their eyes, and that can’t be all bad.

Try smiling a little more, too

Though you want to appear a tad more friendly and approachable, do not overdo this, either. Being too chummy with your subordinates will often result in them respecting you less, and your ability to reprimand or correct them will be severely hindered. This does make things lonelier at the top, but remember, this is for the sake of all of your livelihoods.

Give Them a Chance to Shine

You shouldn’t be taking all the glory and credit for yourself, either. This is probably one of the fastest ways to lose favor with your constituents. When they do something above and beyond the call of duty, or have stayed consistently productive and cooperative, give them due praise, and possibly even a material bonus. Let the entire team know when one or more of them have done well, and if your own boss recognizes your team’s accomplishments, let them know where the credit should go.

Allowing them to take the lead and enjoy the benefits of their own achievements will inspire them to work more effectively, and it will give them lessons that will be of use to them when they become managers and supervisors themselves.

Be The Final Word

The two previous bits of advice portray a softer, more yielding kind of management strategy. One cannot be a boss without putting one’s foot down, however. The final lesson on being the boss your people can respect involves being the authority within the team or organization. You are the go-to guy/gal when they want a decision made, the King Solomon that will decide who gets the baby, so to speak.

As a leader, it is on you to set clear goals for you and your team, and you have to be firm when it comes to these things. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to change your mind; it means that you will only do so if your colleagues make a strong enough case for an alternative, or if you yourself have evaluated the factors and have found that a course alteration is in order.

Are you an effective boss? What are your strategies for leadership?

Author’s Bio: Stacey Thompson (@RedHotStacey) is a professional writer, marketer, entrepreneur, and a lover of weird little animals. She is based in San Diego, California, and aspires for her own little company to grow successful enough for her to qualify in entering an elite CEO peer advisory group, one fine example being The Sage Executive Group.

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Is Your Career Better Off From a Year Ago?

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As you sit in your cubicle or wherever you call home to your career, are you better off today than you were a year ago?

While that question should not be too hard to answer, you may in fact find many people who have trouble quickly saying yes or no. In many cases, they may need time to add up all the factors that go into answering such a direct question. So, let’s take a minute to look at some factors that could influence your ability to answer such a question. Among them:

* Are you making more money in your job than you were last year at this time?

* Are you putting in the same amount of hours, less, or possibly more hours?

* Are you advancing up the career ladder at work? If not, what do you see as a reasonable timetable for such a move?

* Are you being given more responsibility in the workplace? If so, do you feel it could lead to the above mentioned career move?

* Are you feeling more secure in your role or do you think a layoff or even firing could rear its ugly head?

Many Workers End Up Being Complacent

With a number of factors to consider, just where is your career today from where it was a year ago?

For many workers, they are just happy to have a job in today’s challenging economic climate, worried that even asking for a raise could lead them to an early exit to the unemployment line. Many of those same workers also fear that complaining about conditions at work could also land them in trouble.

In the event you have been self-employed for a year or more, how does your business stack up today to where it was last year at this time?

Have you taken on additional clients? Have you been able to either break even or even make a degree of profit from a year ago? Lastly, have you gotten to the point where you’re not having to put in 60 to 80 hours a week to get the job done?

Whether you work for others or yourself, it is a good idea from time to time to conduct an assessment of just where you are in your career.

To just go through the motions does you no good, nor will it do anything positive for your employer.

Be cognizant of where your career is going, not afraid to ask if you are better off now than you were a year ago.

Photo credit: indigoheron.com

About the Author: With 23 years’ writing experience, Dave Thomas covers a variety of business topics, including how to find the best used cubicles for your office space.