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Browse published articles attributed to Elaine Quinn, with full-archive search.
• File and Find Documents Fastr The only reason to file papers is to give them a place to be until you need them again. A good filing system should take you very little time to file or find documents. Don’t spend time creating an elaborate system, and don’t automatically file everything that comes your way. Studies consistently show that 80 percent of papers filed are never referred to again!
The latest advice we hear from the business gurus is “Work smart, not hard.” Yes, of course; that makes sense. But what does it mean? What exactly should we do to work “smart?” Working smart means being effective – focusing on the results we’re after, not the process we use to achieve them. Don’t mistake activity for effectiveness. You can stay busy all day without accomplishing anything important. We only have a limited amount of time and energy, so we need to use those resources in a smart way. Use them for the things that make a difference.
When I worked in a big company, I never had much trouble feeling motivated to do my job. There was energy and activity all around me. There was always a deadline to meet. Everyone was busy doing something interesting, and the truth is, so was I. I really liked my job—most of the time. Granted, there was too much of it. And some of my co-workers weren’t exactly team players. And now that I think of it, I did have a boss or two I truly despised, but all in all, I stayed motivated to do well. Besides, NOT doing well would have been mortifying.
Surround yourself with positive energy... Create a supporting environment Create an environment that is motivating. For example, listen to music that energizes you. Make your office inviting and comfortable so that you'll want to be there and will feel good about working. Develop healthy routines
Everybody hates email, right? Aren’t you swamped? Don’t you feel overwhelmed knowing you’ll never be able to clear out your inbox? Complaining about email has become everyone’s favorite pastime – sure to find a sympathetic audience just about anywhere. Wasn’t it so much better before someone invented email? Was it? Some people have romanticized memories of the good old days. Others are simply too young to have any first-hand knowledge. So let me describe what business was like before email.
Remember how your school days were divided into different subject periods? Do the same with your workdays now. Consider the major types of work you have before you and divide the day into work periods of an hour or so each. Schedule specific time slots to follow up with current clients, strategize to attract new ones, work on major projects, handle administrative tasks etc. Concentrate on one project or one type of work during each period until that time is up. Then, give yourself a break between tasks, just as if you were changing classes.
There will always be more items on your to-do list than you can ever complete. You don’t have infinite time or resources. It’s frustrating and stressful, but you just have to admit it’s simply not possible do everything you’d like to in the time you have. Prioritizing is the only solution.
When you work from home, there are plenty of excuses to avoid getting down to business. One of the most frequent reasons clients give me for procrastinating about their work is that they just don’t like their home office.
My husband and I were in New York City when Hurricane Sandy hit. Like thousands of others, we were without electricity – no lights, no TV, no Internet, no hot water, no heat and no elevator – for days. Fortunately, we were just visiting. We had no damage, no injuries, and it wasn’t critical that we get back to Chicago on schedule. We were able to wait it out until we could get a flight back home. Clients knew I’d be out of town for a couple of weeks and I hadn’t booked any meetings, so my business wasn’t affected. While it was inconvenient, we didn’t really suffer.r
Not so long ago, when virtually all work product was cranked out the hard way – without automation or electronic gadgetry – performance standards and expectations were a lot different. Communication moved by interoffice mail, or snail mail, or telephone if you could catch someone at their desk. Expectations were modest. The pace of work was slow. People closed up shop at the end of the workday and were “off duty” in the evenings and on weekends. Work was what you did to pay the bills and for most people, the sooner you were done the better.
Don’t mistake activity for results; just because you’re doing something doesn’t mean you’re being productive. What makes a day productive isn't just crossing things off your to-do list; it’s working on the really important things in your business. In order to be productive, you need to manage your time and your workload. That means planning. And that means faithfully using a planner/calendar. Use a planner/calendar
Do you have a to-do list? How many items are on it? Do you feel like you’ll never finish it? Do you think if you just got organized enough you could get everything done? Don’t count on it. Why? Because we have lives that are already busy. We can’t stop doing all the usual things to squeeze in those new things on our list. And how many of us discover after our daily routine that we have extra time we don’t know what to do with? While lists may be helpful for remembering what we intend to do, they don’t actually get anything done! Here’s what’s wrong with to-do lists:
Have you ever said, “I just can’t seem to get my to-do list done!” Do you think if you just got organized enough you could get everything done? Don’t count on it. The average person has so many things on their list that if they did nothing else but work on those things – didn't go to work, had no personal life, nothing – and added nothing new to their list - it would take approximately 10 weeks to get it all done! What does that tell you? It tells you no one gets everything done that's on their list!
Last week I was listening to one of my new clients as she explained why she had called. “I need help with my business! I’m just disorganized and overwhelmed,” she said. “There are so many things I need to do; just look at my to-do list!” Sure enough her to-do list was a couple of pages long. So I asked, “These items at the top -- how long have they been on here?”