14
Mar

Is Your Business Organized?

Is your business feeling the effects of a lack of organization?  Being focused on your business can be a struggle especially if you are a solopreneur.  Holding yourself accountable to what needs to get done and prioritizing your daily goals can be difficult. 

Putting out fires on a daily basis can consume business and keep you from what you brings in money.  When there isn’t anyone else to handle it how do You handle it?  Realizing what you have to do vs. what you need to do can become your only focus.  And, sometimes what has to be done will require action steps that are hard to envision.

Being a Professional Organizer is much more than simply removing clutter from homes and businesses.  It involves setting them up for success.  It is about a mindset that is wrapped around success and making smart decisions that will continue you to move forward to the next step to achieve your goal.  Sometimes it takes an “outsider” looking in to help decipher what the next step should be.  What I have experienced is that finding someone to mentor or coach you through these tough times can be extremely helpful.  That is why I started offering my alternatives to “hands-on” organizing options.  I called them The Organized Mom and The Organized Entrepreneur. 

As human-beings we can be detrimental to ourselves.  We can allow our feelings and judgments to take over in our decision-making processes.  Thinking things out rationally and logically can become difficult because we aren’t able to emotionally step away from the situation to make a rational decision.

Here are two steps that I use on a daily basis to keep myself focused on my priorities and help keep me focused:

First – I structure my day.  This is especially important if I am having an “office day”.  An office day is necessary for me to keep up with bookkeeping, filing, contracts, follow-ups, etc.  Without keeping this day structured and focused, it can easily become a day of play.  I have a fellow business associate who receives my “Daily Intentions” list early in the morning and I am held accountable to her if I don’t get it completed.  She will expect me to explain to her why I didn’t reach my goals that day and friendship is set aside when it comes to accountability.

Second – I have to remember that I am my own boss for a reason.  I always worked really hard for my bosses in my previous jobs and I need to work just as hard for myself.  I can only be upset with myself when goals aren’t met because I have become side-tracked.  It is my choice to check email throughout the day and to answer my phone.  (Both get limited time during my day when deadlines need to be met).  Staying focused on what needs to be done is the only way to make sure that goals and deadlines are met.  Distractions must be avoided at all costs.  I set a kitchen timer to remind me to take a 15 minute break after working for about 90-120 minutes.  Then, right back to finishing my goals for the morning or afternoon.  Sounds kind of silly, but it works!