Archives for September 2015

September 24, 2015 By Kim Hughes Leave a Comment

Practical “Math” for Procrastinators

As I was trying to decide what to write about, I came across a new (to me) website called 43 Folders and found an “equation” that the creator of 43 Folders uses that’s just brilliant!

Here’s the equation – (10+2)*5

And here’s how it breaks down:

You do 10 minutes worth of work (you don’t have to FINISH in 10 minutes, you just have to work!)
You follow that with a two-minute break. Get some coffee, read a quick blog, update your Facebook status (no going down the rabbit-hole and getting sucked into Facebook, though).
Rinse and repeat five times.

There! You’ve breezed through an hour’s worth of work! Congratulations! Now you should probably get up from your desk now and take a walk or something (remember, sitting all day isn’t good for you!)

If you’re like me, though, being able to focus for that 10-minute block can present a challenge. Why? Cell phone notifications, email notifications, instant message notifications, stacks of other work calling to me to be done!

So, take some time to prep and be ready to actually FOCUS!

Clean your desk (and, while you’re at it, move that cell phone off of your desk, you can check it after you’ve completed your focused work sprint…the world won’t end. Really.)
Set your priorities. Break large jobs down into chunks that you’ll be able to complete in 10 minutes.
Schedule time to read email, return calls and answer instant messages. (Perhaps for a half hour between your hour-long sprints, you can spend 10 minutes on email, 10 minutes on phone related tasks and 10 minutes taking care of instant messages).
If you’re able, delegate some of your non-critical tasks. What do you do every day that doesn’t actually require your expertise? Identify those things and delegate them!
And, here’s a big one for many people… Schedule your social media time. Use a timer – when it goes off, you’re DONE and you need to get back to work.

Now you’ve cleared the deck and can get back to your tasks. Still having problems focusing?

Write a list of the things you want to do on your breaks. That way you won’t go back to working and suddenly remember that you needed to play your turn in ‘Words with Friends’.
Use color to your advantage – I am a huge fan of color coding and there are actual, scientific reasons why it can help.
Find an “accountability buddy”. If you don’t have a boss or clients to be accountable to, find a colleague who will help keep you on track.
Change your location. If you have the flexibility to do so, take your laptop or tablet somewhere else and work there for a while. Sometimes the change of scenery can be just the nudge you need.

Let me know how this works for you if you try it! (Schedule a time to make a comment!) Happy Increased Productivity!

Article courtesy of Laura Darkstar ~ www.Adminderella.com
Photo Courtesy of The Odyssey Online

September 15, 2015 By Kim Hughes Leave a Comment

Goal: Lifetime of Weekends

Work every day, live for the weekend. That’s a goal, one most of us usually meet. You did it day by day, hour by hour, meeting a lot of small goals along the way. You made a map of what had to be done to get there. Suppose you made a map like that for your entire life? What do you want to achieve in your lifetime? How do you get there? With a plan, a map.

If you don’t have one, how do you know where you’re going? The first step is to determine your lifetime goal. Then break it down to what it takes to get there. Lifetime goals consist of several aspects – career, family, finances, and education – all the things that happen in your life and that you work for. Determine the significance of each in the big picture. Then work backwards with each aspect. Break down five year goals for each one, in relation to meeting your lifetime goal, then one year goals, then monthly goals, weekly, daily goals. It’s helpful to write them down. Create a daily to-do list focusing on your daily goal. If you find the goal is too easily obtainable, make the next one a little tougher, until you have a sense of accomplishment in relation to your next goal, all of which are aimed toward your lifetime goal, and continue the process.

It’s not critical to achieve each and every goal within a timeframe. Some goals will change due to changing life circumstances. Like detours on the road of life, still part of the route to your destination.

Use these tips as you go:

Be positive. Thoughts like “Won’t do that again” should instead be framed as “Found a better way”.
Be precise and stay on your planned course as much as possible.
Don’t be constrained by outcomes, the greater value is in the performance.
Keep goals small and attainable; review and update according to new information.

The most important keys to executing a lifetime goal plan are motivation, self-confidence, determining what’s most significant along the way, and sticking to your course. The same things you do each week to make it to the weekend, right?

The services of a business coach will help you develop a strategy for your business. When you’re ready to start, contact Kim Hughes. Let Kim help with this crucial step of the process so you can take a break from business planning, and spend more time developing your goals.

P.S. Imagine you were offered the opportunity to be coached both on-site and virtually – by the leading expert in the real estate assistant industry through the 10 most important areas of a real estate agent’s business. Introducing the Real Estate Assistant Playbook. Designed for both real estate assistants and agents, The Playbook offers the training you need to excel in the business of real estate today! Visit TheRealEstateAssistantPlaybook.com for more information.

Image courtesy of Unsplash.com

September 10, 2015 By Kim Hughes Leave a Comment

Take the High Road

You’re a seriously committed business professional, and you invest much of yourself in your business, as all successful people must. You work hard for your clients and strive to develop a good working relationship with them. Consequently, when you abruptly lose a client, it hurts; the more work you have invested in that client the greater the sting. However, losing a client is a fact of business life and business professionals must learn to deal with it positively.

Initially, losing a client may feel like a rejection of you, your efforts, or your business. But it may not be. Ultimately it is the client’s decision to employ your business, and their decision to remain or leave. When they leave in the midst of a project, it may actually have nothing to do with you. Though it is still difficult for you to accept, it could be that the client is just not really completely committed to success; you may have already received indications of this through missed appointments, etc.; or it could be their own personal or financial situation as well.

Review feedback, if you have received any, and first determine the truth of it. Based on your findings, make changes if any are warranted. Talk positively with yourself about the event. Also review your policies and address this issue if you have not already, and develop policies which might turn such a situation around.

Regardless of the reasons for a client leaving, as a professional you must always take the high road and respond graciously and positively, difficult as that may be. Your reputation and future business depend on it. There is always the possibility that the client may return in the future, and in that event, you may wish to decide your course of action in advance through specific policies.

In the meantime, there are therapeutic things you might may want to employ to alleviate some of your disappointment; for instance, write a letter or email to the client and express your feelings resulting from their behavior, but do not send it. Many people find this cathartic and relate that shortly after, they feel much better and are ready to move on from the event.

Maybe you need to review your skills to refresh or learn more and your industry. This is where you should always work on providing the best services to your clients. By continuing to educate yourself you not only create more of a demand for your services, but you build confidence in knowing you are always improving who you are and what you have to offer.

Above all, do not dwell on the event or continually question your abilities. Instead focus on the positive – your other clients. As a successful business professional, you have many positive experiences to help restore your confidence and self-esteem. Dwell on these instead, then let go and move on.

Do you find that with your busy schedule that you don’t have time to implement these very important client relationship management tasks? Get in touch with Kim Hughes today and learn how client relationship management can be made simple, with no burden to you.

Imagine you were offered the opportunity to be coached both on-site and virtually – by the leading expert in the real estate assistant industry through the 10 most important areas of a real estate agent’s business. Introducing the Real Estate Assistant Playbook. Designed for both real estate assistants and agents, The Playbook offers the training you need to excel in the business of real estate today! Visit TheRealEstateAssistantPlaybook.com for more information.

September 3, 2015 By Kim Hughes Leave a Comment

Make it Your Business – Identify Your Passion

People who become successful in business do so by marketing a creation inspired by their passion. Most of the rest of us are employed to assist them. Where does their creativity come from? We usually think, “Wow, they were really sharp to find that niche, wonder how they did it?” The truth is, they didn’t find it. It found them.

To consciously attempt to be creative is very difficult, perhaps because it’s not the first step. When we look at some else’s creation and think “I could do that”, that’s great for confidence–building, but if you’re looking at someone else’s product, that niche is filled.

People who are successful and profit from their own creativity have learned the secret – creativity is inspired by passion, and each individual has a unique passion. The first step is identifying your own. Only then will you find an original creation, and a good place to look is your childhood. Frank Lloyd Wright did what he loved as a child, building things, and he did it with a passion for the rest of his life. Examine what you loved to do as a child; children are the most creative beings on earth. Was it drawing, making things from natural elements – such as clay or cloth? Or did you enjoy imagining, writing, designing? Creativity is literally child’s play.

Once you have identified your passion, surround yourself with images, perhaps on a board, that express your passion and intention. Make a list of persons you wish to emulate, who have created a product of their passion and successfully marketed that product. Create your own plan. Begin creating and develop a feel for what it might be like to create as a business. Set goals.

Successful entrepreneurs have discovered a unique product, and they found it by looking within. Where else would your own creative passion and your unique product come from? The niche for that product cannot already be filled because you have not yet created that product from your own unique passion.

The services of a business coach will help you develop a strategy and set goals for your business. When you’re ready to start, contact Kim Hughes. Let Kim help with this crucial step of the process so you can take a break from business planning, and spend more time developing your passion.

Image courtesy of gfpeck/Flickr.com

September 1, 2015 By Kim Hughes Leave a Comment

Develop Your Exit Strategy

The start-up of a business is often all-consuming for a period of time – the owner of a new business is focusing on name and brand recognition and building a client base. Day-to-day demands leave very little time or energy for anything else. And that is what is required initially.

However, it is risky to ignore a long-term vision for your business. As with all our endeavors, we must set goals and plans that aim for our vision. Otherwise, when the time comes to end your association with the business you have created, you may not realize its full value without a strategy to exit it.

Certainly you will have invested much time, money and effort in creating a lucrative business and it would be unfortunate to simply close the doors. What, then, will your strategy be?

Think in terms of having your business outlive you. Because you will no longer be the principal involved in the everyday operations does not mean you should completely stop doing business. Develop a plan to either turn over your business to a key employee to continue it in your retirement, or a plan to sell the assets you have created. An established business with brand recognition already built and an excellent reputation for client service has a great value.

Although you may still be in the building stages of your business, now is the time to begin to develop your vision of what your business will ultimately be and build the value it will possess. In order to avoid losses when you leave the business, begin to work toward your final goal contained in your exit strategy. Begin your assessment of how to obtain its full value even though you retire or leave it.

When you have invested so much of yourself in creating your business, why would you simply give up all its value by closing it and walking away? Develop your exit strategy early enough to have your business outlive you, and the rewards could be greater than you ever imagined.

If you don’t know where to begin in developing your strategy, or just don’t have time to do the very important task of putting it in place, contact Kim Hughes for a consultation. We can help devise a plan that is just right, and at no burden to you.

Photo courtesy Flickr.com/audi_insperation