by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Jan 19, 2016 | Productivity, Time Management
Training at the gym and running your company have more in common than you may realize. If you want to build muscle, then key in on focus, determination and single-tasking. You’re not going to be able to press 845 pounds if you’re busy scoping out the gym members, checking text messages or admiring your pump in the mirror. You have to connect with the body part you’re training, concentrate on the muscle group, the weights and that single moment because one wrong move and you’re looking into the eyes of an EMT.
“You’ve got to block out all distractions when you train. Your focus has to be 100% into the rep. You’ve got to get into a zone. You know you’re in the zone when guys in the gym look you in the eye and then quickly turn away ’cause they see the fire. You’ve got to be all business.” – Mike Matarazzo
One task. One thought. One action.
It seems so simple and uncomplicated but as you know, once your alarm detonates the early morning calm, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and make business explode. From the time you grab your first coffee and swipe open your phone or computer, the potential chaos can ensue and your day begins: eyes darting, fingers clicking, brain processing: emails, text messages, children, spouses, news and total data overload and you haven’t even begun to tackle your To Do list.
The problem with multi-tasking is that when you jump from task to task, you aren’t really getting more done. You are actually scattering your focus a little thinner and forcing your brain to consistently shift gears and work harder at a lower level of priority, “ability” and concentration. It’s a brain drain.
Multi-tasking is costly
- Increases your stress hormone cortisol
- Can reduce your effective IQ by 10 points
- Causes information to go to the wrong part of the brain
- Burns up oxygenated glucose (the fuel to help keep you on task)
- May increase bad decision-making
- Reduces focus
- Projects may be incomplete or not top quality
- Reduces productivity
- It actually takes MORE time to complete projects
- Amount of errors are increased by 50%
CHECK- IN:
Pause right now and ask yourself “How many things am I doing at this very moment?”
The American Psychological Association on Multi-Tasking:
- Psychologists who study what happens to cognition (mental processes) when people try to perform more than one task at a time have found that the mind and brain were not designed for heavy-duty multitasking. Psychologists tend to liken the job to choreography or air-traffic control, noting that in these operations, as in others, mental overload can result in catastrophe.
- Multi-tasking may seem efficient on the surface but may actually take more time in the end and involve more error. Meyer has said that even brief mental blocks created by shifting between tasks can cost as much as 40 percent of someone’s productive time.
It is clear that multi-tasking is not conducive to enhanced productivity, superb cognitive function or excellency in efficiency. We are a distracted nation, living within technology and not paying attention to being present in the moment, at a single task.
It’s time to bring back your focus, your energy and productivity. If you’re ready here’s a few action steps you can take right now.
13 tips to stop multi-tasking and get more done
- Turn off notifications and sounds: the more you have going on at any one time, the less you are able to concentrate on what is in front of you
- Set a timer to do focused work for a distraction free zone: a timer enables your brain to dedicate thought and action to one task
- Time block your day: assign specific tasks to specific times during the day. It helps to reduce procrastination while maintaining productivity
- Batch process emails at most 4 times per day: stopping to read/respond to every email throughout the day is counterproductive
- Prioritize and do important things first: this simple tip sets the tone for the rest of your project list. Everything else seems easy and more manageable
- Give your brain a break and disconnect from technology at set intervals: reduce data overload and consumption.
- Don’t check email first thing in the morning: email can wait. Develop new healthy habits like meditation, yoga, or mindful breathing
- Delegate admin and low pay off activities: low payoff activities do not represent the greatest value of your time. Delegate to do more
- Break up large projects into small increments with action steps: outlining your complex projects into smaller achievable tasks ensures a greater likelihood of completion and timely delivery
- Understand it’s okay to say NO and not take on new projects: more isn’t better. You’re plate is full enough.
- Give up busyness and think productivity: being productive is results oriented – Actions. Busyness is well, just taking up your time and not much to show at the end of the day.
- Generate some white space in your day: white space is just that, white space without the daily assaults on your brain. Go for a walk, listen to soothing music, journal, go “inward” and just BE.
- Commit to change
Developing your new productivity plan of action interrupts crisis mode and chaos, allowing the natural flow for enhanced productivity, less distractions and better time management. What tips will you implement today to “single-task” and get more done?
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Feb 25, 2015 | Entrepreneur, Productivity, Small Business, Social Media
No, not a financial burden imposed by the state, but the tax social media can have on an entrepreneur can feel like a huge time-sucker.
Dictionary.com presents 5 ways to define the word tax, the best fit for this article is:
Too Many Hats
An entrepreneur has a lot to do in a bootstrapped business. They are the person performing the customer service or generating the product they deliver to a client AND they are also every other department such as marketing, creative design, accounting, sales, talent management, and more. Their passion is clear and focused on the service and product, but it can begin to dwindle with the burden of necessary duties to support that business.
Social Media Visibility
Add to this, there is an expectation that all entrepreneurs are online at all times providing continual content to build a loyal audience and that content must live on Social Media platforms. After 6 months to a year of generating content, responding, being conversational to build relationships, and doing everything they can to rise above the noise and be noticed, they grow weary of it all. I heard one woman entrepreneur state that because of social media, she needs a wife, an assistant, and a design team because the weight of her business does not fit into the 24 hours she is given. Some days it feels like a heavy tax and burden on an entrepreneur’s day.
The Anchor
The message seems to be, if you are not on social media, you don’t exist. Yet many feel that being tied to the responsibility of social media keeps them from living, much less working on their business. They want to be there interacting with the people who need their business, but it doesn’t always feel like they are reaching an audience when using social media. It is a tough balance, entrepreneurship, and all it entails. However, there is a strategy that can be implemented to ease the load on a business owner’s time.
Delegation. Plain and simple.
Delegating is the simple act of entrusting authority to another person. While you can’t or shouldn’t delegate every task or responsibility in your business, you should move some of the non-essentials off of your plate. The ones that are the most time consuming, don’t generate revenue and take you away from the core of your business.
According to VerticalResponse, 23 percent of CEOs and business owners spend between six to 10 valuable hours each week on social media.
In a Constant Contact market survey, they found that:
- Small business owners spend at least 20 hours per week on marketing
- 82% market their business using many different platforms, including email, e-newsletters, social media
Wow! That is a big chunk of time to give up. I bet this doesn’t even include those hidden hours when you are sucked into the black hole of searching and link clinking. Before you know it, the day is over.
Who nurtured your business and your clients?
Yes! Your social media efforts represent the architectural structure that leads to brand recognition, credibility, a positive customer experience, brand advocates, increased web traffic, search rankings, and word-of-mouth marketing. There is absolutely NO question that you do need an online presence. It is vital in today’s super socially connected world. Everyone does business online; searching brands and companies, reviews, social proof, connections, tips, tools, apps, and addresses. It is only going to continue to expand.
BUT…..
What about the commitment to your business beyond social engagement?
Are you ready to apply for your social media tax rebate and get back to building your company??
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Feb 17, 2015 | Productivity
We are always on, I mean ALWAYS. With all of our mobile devices, computers, cell phones and smart technology, it is easy to get distracted. If you are honest with yourself, you might look back on a work day or two and agree that you relate to A.D.D. (Attention Deficit Disorder) more than you want to admit.
Studies show that FOCUS is the key to productivity. Here are ways you can gain more focus and leverage your existing tools to do so.
Start your day right!
- Come into work and sit down at your desk. Then do the one thing that will set your day up right: TURN EVERY DEVICE YOU HAVE ONTO AIRPLANE MODE!
- Shut down your email application, close your browser and breathe.
- Grab a coffee and start your “to do” list for the day.
- Break your day into quadrants: Morning, Mid-morning, Afternoon, Late afternoon.
- Identify tasks that need to be completed in each quadrant
- Leave 5-10 minutes a quadrant to check email and respond immediately.
- Once your to-do list is complete, book a meeting with your devices. Turn on Airplane mode and give yourself the treat of checking notifications.
- Discipline your day to keep Airplane mode on then reward yourself with notifications only when a task has been completed. (No Browsing)
- Browse your social media or any other online information that charges you only after you have finished the full to-do list.
Productive meetings.
- Warn your team that the meeting is a mobile device free zone.
- Ask everyone to check their device prior to the meeting and deal with immediate concerns so that they will be free to contribute – but leave audible notifications on
- Put every device into a basket at the door of the meeting room– BUT NO ONE IS TO GO TO THE BASKET TO GET THEIR DEVICE.
- Each time the meeting participants hear a notification sound from one of the devices, put a single tick on the whiteboard or flipchart, but keep the meeting moving.
- Make the meeting about Five things:
- Reason for the meeting
- What needs to be done
- Who is going to do it
- When it will be complete
- Who will follow-up on it
- At the end of the meeting, note how many interruptions there would have been
What are your key tips to maintain productivity and efficiency?
Patti Blackstaffe works with people and organizations for engaged and successful change, guiding leaders and their organizations toward mastery and leadership through change management advising, coaching, innovation, facilitation, process review and efficiency. You can find Patti at http://www.strategicsense.ca
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Oct 15, 2014 | Delegation, Entrepreneur, Productivity, Time Management, Virtual Assistant
Do more –achieve more is a recipe for exhaustion and collapse. And you are probably tired of being tired right? Doing more does not make you more productive or efficient. In fact, the more that you heap onto your plate, the less you are able to effectively manage. Your proficiency decreases.
Identify the essential and eliminate the unnecessary.
Learn to think creatively to find more effective ways of getting things done is nothing new- work smarter, not harder. Putting in laborious hours into your day doesn’t necessarily equate to powerful payoffs of valued activities. Just think of the wasted hours surfing the net or scrolling through social media updates. That is time used. Time wasted. Get the things done that add value and impact to your life and your business.
1. Do LESS – ACHIEVE more
How is that possible?
It sounds pretty silly doesn’t it?
Kick start doing less:
- Learn to say no
- Set boundaries and priorities
- Resist the urge to be busy
- Slow down – be fully present in whatever you are doing
- Stop multi-tasking. It’s counter productive
- Finish projects, don’t just check off a few To Do items
- Reduce distractions
2. Do LESS – ACHIEVE more
How could you give up tasks and projects yet increase your productivity and effectiveness? Here’s the little secret …
D E L E G A T I O N
Entrepreneurs are accustomed to doing it all from changing printer ink, uploading tweets, proofing blog posts and ordering supplies to curating content, creating images, retweeting and sharing content and testing the latest social media apps.
This is just the short list of every day, mundane To Dos that eat up time and energy. Have you ever truly kept track of the hours you spend on the low payoff routine activities? What is your tally? 20+ hours perhaps?
This is time you are not working ON your business. If you aren’t, then who will? With only one person at the helm, there is only so far that you can scale. While it isn’t easy to relinquish some of your daily demands, it is a tremendous benefit to free up your valuable time and avoid burnout.
VALUED FOCUS
As a business owner you need to focus on the items that are of the most value to you and your company. Simply put, the things that YOU and ONLY you are capable of doing. The core business activities that: generate income, build relationships, nurture clients, develop new leads or foster a positive customer experience. You get the idea. Structure your day around these key elements.
Remember that old 80/20 rule?
Apply it here. You know that 20% of your efforts yields 80% of favored results. The trick is to determine what represents that 20% and DO MORE OF IT! Live and breathe that as your core genius.
The Pareto Principle, or “80/20 Rule” as it is frequently called today, is an incredible tool for growing your business. For instance, if you can figure out which 20% of your time produces 80% of your business’ results, you can spend more time on those activities and less time on others. This doesn’t mean that the low payoff tasks and projects aren’t useful or worthwhile to your business – they are. BUT, they don’t exemplify the best use of YOUR time.
You’re the CEO not an employee. Of course it can be a challenge to step outside of that role, removing a few hats and grabbing the reins but as the President, you owe it to your company to take charge. You owe it to your clients and prospects.
If you buried deep in paperwork and social icons, how do you intend to shake hands and build long-lasting relationships? You all have a propensity to take on more work, do every task or project which leaves you overwhelmed and distracted. This cycle needs to stop before you do.
Don’t keep adding more work.
Nothing is less productive than to make more efficient what should not be done at all. Peter Drucker
When you are able to focus on fewer things you increase your productivity and achieve better results. AND you want results. Every business owner does.
Ask yourself these questions:
- What are THE most important core business activities that you should be doing?
- What generates revenue?
- What leverage points produce the greatest results
You now have some key items or tasks that you have identified that do not need your focused attention. You have three options: do, dump or delegate. Make an executive decision on how you will manage or pass off these non-essentials. Consider what you will gain when you are no longer tied up doing some of the daily minutia.
Do less Achieve more!
What will you give up….. to gain?
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Sep 24, 2014 | Content Marketing, Organization, Productivity, Small Business, Time Management
Bleary eyed and reaching for your coffee, you boot up your computer and start your daily diet of content consumption. It is a filling nourishment of words, intel, fired up neurons and brain overload. Or at least it can be. Personally, I can spend hours reading all of the articles on social platforms, news aggregators, daily digests, emails and newsletters. Sometimes I think my head will explode.
Research demonstrates that we take in five times as much information as we did 30 years ago, raising huge challenges to organize it all.
We are drowning in data.
In a 2010 LexisNexis study, 62% of workers felt as though their quality of work suffered at times because they couldn’t sort through the information they needed fast enough.
There is so much to digest and learn. I could be bookmarking and saving content all day long. There are hundreds of talented bloggers and business owners sharing their incredible knowledge of tools, tips, recommendations and experiences. It can be overwhelming. Think of how many times you get sucked in to the black hole searching, clicking, and redirecting. It’s a vortex.
How do you manage all of the content? There are tools to organize your content or to help you search and save but you also need to decide what you are going to do with the information. Daniel Levitan, author of “The Organized Mind,” says “Whenever we feel overwhelmed by everything we need to keep track of in life, we talk about wanting to get organized.”
You’ve chosen your sources, thought leaders and industry favorites to follow and “study” in your own college auditorium of higher learning. That’s what it sometimes feels like for me and without the outrageous tuition costs.
What is the purpose? Business or personal? How does it apply to your business? Customers? Colleagues?
What are your content goals?
- Self-education
- Curation
- Repurposing
- Inspirational
- Research
- Love of reading
If you’re like most of us, you have a business to run and can’t spend every waking moment culling and sifting through information. It’s a full time job. Who has the time to sit and read all day when you are trying to live the entrepreneurial dream?
Use filters and keywords help to refine your searches.
This will help to save time and improve your overall content management. If you have some systems in place, it will be much easier to sort through all of the posts you want to read and combat your information hangover.
Researchers tend to agree that it’s not the volume of information that is the problem; it’s our inability to organize and process it all without experiencing “information overload, or what neuroscientists like to call “cognitive overload. Saga Briggs
| Research |
Organize |
| Social Media |
Evernote |
| BuzzSumo |
Readability |
| Scoop.it |
Spreadsheets |
| Tagboard |
Swipe files |
| RSS feeds |
Bookmarks |
| ContentGems |
Files and folders |
| Hootsuite Content Feature |
One Note |
| Flipboard |
Feedly |
| Alltop |
Google Drive |
| Inbound.org |
Dropbox |
| Biz Sugar |
Pocket |
| Topsy |
Ubernote |
| Feedly |
Powerpoint |
Design a system that works for you to enhance your time management and productivity as well as minimize on the extreme overload of data and what to do with it all. A method to your madness is guaranteed to keep you on track and focused. Systems and processes are the architectural structure of your success and productivity.
Establish some routines; otherwise you hit a wall, letting things go and opportunities are forfeited. The routines could be time limits or specific times you will be searching, saving and filing. Time block when you will surf. If you discover something important during the day, “save” it somewhere to revisit later. Don’t let it be a distraction and take you away from your current task at hand.
Decide what to keep or implement NOW based upon it’s perceived impact on your goals. Prioritize to your needs. Is it something you must have or must know? If so, how soon will you be needing it? Use your organizing tools to keep track of the data, being mindful of how you will use it and when. Some articles may have a more immediate use while others are purely for reference. You decide, but take action.
Declutter: remember to go through your folders or storage options so they haven’t blossomed into an overload of organized data. Purge the old to make room for the new. There’s no sense in just letting everything pile up and multiply as that will defeat the purpose of your systems.
How do you challenge your content zombie? What helpful tools can you suggest?
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Sep 10, 2014 | Content Marketing, Organization, Productivity, Social Media
How many times have you started your day feeling a little discombobulated? Out of sorts or otherwise, a hot mess?
Maybe your alarm didn’t go off, you’re missing a sock, can’t find your keys or worse, your coffee pot died! Oh yes it did. It’s not even a Monday! This is a horror and seems to set the tone for the rest of the day.
You throw up your hands and opt for the bedhead look. If you’re like me, you might even have a little crazed Medusa look going on. No, I’m not doing an HOA or SKYPE video call with you.
HOWEVER, you cannot bring this uncoiffed mentality into your social media marketing world. Oh it is so tempting to just jump on board and start posting, commenting and singing your song. Who cares about the different platforms, best times to post, what to share, syndication sites, building relationships and the whole ménage of social etiquette, tips, tools and suggestions? Right?
A little chaos and messy hair feels good.
Close your eyes for me. Just for a second. Now shake your head from side to side. Flip your hair up and down. Run your hands through it. Yeah, you men too. Okay, gradually open your eyes. Doesn’t it just feel a little freeing to let go?
Okay, you’re done. Come back down in your chair and focus!
If you’re like most small business owners, you think social media is just something you do versus a marketing tool that you MAKE time for. Remember, the majority of your customers and prospects are online and consuming information every day. If you aren’t online and making time for social media, you can rest assured that your competition is.
I will tell you this: YOU do NEED a social media strategy; a plan of attack. Nothing is accomplished by haphazardly flitting around tapping a few keys here and there. This goes beyond just the SMM goals for your company. You need more than that.
Focus on strategy, not tips and tools. It begins with your audience, their objectives, who are you connecting with and what they need from you. Pam Moore, CEO of Marketing Nutz
You should outline a daily plan for each of your social profiles, including goals for each one.
A daily routine will help to keep you focused and productive, otherwise, you will be spinning the hamster wheel of frustration. It is already so difficult to keep up with everything, figure out social media AND operate your business. Who has time for all of this??
Social media can be a tremendous time suck. Many business owners spend 12-20+ hours a week maintaining their online presence. Do you really have this kind of time? Can you afford to step away from the core of your business to search, write, edit, post, comment, share and otherwise be seen, be heard and engage?
Again, your routine and time management will keep you from wasting needless unplanned hours. Everything has a road map or a blueprint. Create one and stick to it.
Simply posting or tweeting a random thought without a strategy behind it is a recipe for disaster, and a complete waste of time. Rebekah Radice
Let’s assume (and I do hate this word):
- You have defined your SMM goals? Yearly? Monthly? Weekly? Daily?
- The tactics you will use to achieve them
- Understand your audience, their needs and their most used platforms
- You maintain a content or editorial calendar
- You search and curate content to meet the needs and questions of your audience
- You write weekly rich and valuable blog posts
One through six are the bare naked basics, part of your standard workflow.
Your daily schedule can make you or break you. If you find yourself with a knotted nappy head then you should probably revisit what you do every day and how deeply you sometimes get dragged into the abyss. You should be using time tracking tools or those that limit your website use, but that is a whole other post. Simply put, discipline yourself.
Ready. Set. Go.
- Outline your SMM platforms, include the URLs and logins
- Include the dates/times you will post on each.
- Type of post (examples): URL, quote, image, reshare, educational
- Create lists and groups in each channel of thought leaders, colleagues, friends or other important people in your network that you follow, engage with or want to share their content
- Gather a list of the RSS feeds of industry blogs or those VIPs above enabling you to read, share and discuss their content
- Curate information from the above as well as content that mirrors/supports your company products and services, buyer’s needs, drivers and pain points
- Search industry keywords and trending topics on sites like Triberr, scoop.it, buzzsumo, tagboard, Twitter search, topsy, paper.li, or pragmatic.com
- Find and implement time saving tools to curate and schedule content
- Automate: schedule some of your daily content
- Retweet, share and comment on posts
- Create relationships: engage in meaningful conversations (NEVER automate the personal touch. NEVER)
- Create relationships: yes I repeated myself because this is worth repeating. Don’t just shout out some content and run away. That isn’t social. Not by any means. If you want to see and feel a return then be personable not a conveyor belt of URLs.
- Follow your routine. Set aside time each and every day to accomplish these social media tasks, at a minimum. Even jump on at least twice a day to manage your digital space. Schedule this time on your calendar like you would any other appointment
- Most importantly: Shake hands. Smile. BE HUMAN. While cliche, be social, don’t do social if you hope to see any type of payoff.
Remember social media isn’t an overnight million dollar sensation. It’s almost a lifestyle. An investment. It takes time, nurturing, honest engagement, understanding and a hell of a lot of patience.
You’ve got this and with a little help from a few tools and perhaps a virtual assistant (Ace), you can manage a successful social media plan AND operate your business.
If you’re tired of doing it all or not having enough time in the day to do much of anything, let alone pour a fresh cup of coffee, simply click on the Contact Us button and we can talk.
Come on… it’s easy. You deserve a little sanity. A little hair product for a more coiffed look. We’re here to help YOU.
