Why in the world should you master the art and skill of delegating? The easy answer is that there are 168 hours in the week. Some of that time you're sleeping, you're eating, your spending time with family and friends. You have a finite amount of time where you can actually work on your business, and you want to make sure that you're doing [...]
ast month I shared the story of Emily and her overwhelmed staff who felt stressed by a large number of messages and tasks from a variety of communication channels, concerned that some were slipping through the cracks and not getting done. They were all hypervigilant about checking their communication sources, even long after their normal work hours. (Read the post here) Emily and the [...]
You love your business. But every once in a while you get frustrated, overwhelmed, and tired. You are one person – yet it feels like you are doing the work of 3 (or 4 or 5). It's hard when you wear ALL the hats...even if you're good at delegating! And the joy you had when you first started your business . . . well, [...]
The way to really grow your business is to stay in your Zone of Genius, doing the work in which you excel and moving the rest off your to-do list. Let’s face it – you can only do so much by yourself. At some point, you run out of time and mental capacity! After all, when you try to do EVERYTHING, something suffers. Your [...]
One of the underlying philosophies I use when I work with leaders and teams is "if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” It is important to dig into whatever the underlying cause is of the challenge and only “fix” that part that isn’t working, rather than trying to fix everything. For example, recently one of the organizations I’ve been working with thought they had a problem [...]
Productivity is an enticing buzzword that keeps many small business owners running in circles. (In fact, for a while, I called myself a “productivity consultant”!) You know what I mean . . . always looking for the newest productivity app, productivity book, and anything you can get our hands on that might make you feel more effective in your business. Really, anything to help [...]
How can you become more productive? One solution is to become more aware of where your time is spent! The websites listed below offer some useful tools to help you understand your time management habits. They'll help you become aware of distractions, know how much time you spend on various tasks, and juggle multiple priorities and projects. Rescuetime helps you understand your daily habits so [...]
I'm always on the lookout for new tools to increase my productivity - and help my clients! Recently I discovered an online software system that not only helps me be more efficient, but increases my internet security too! LastPass.com is a “vault” program which securely stores all your passwords, accessible by one user with one highly complex log-in. Think of it as a bank [...]
Typically when I work with business owners on delegating effectively, one of the top problems is getting them to realize it's ok to let go! They believe they are the only ones who can do the job . . . and it's difficult for them to give up control. (Yes - this is even AFTER they realize that they only have 168 hours each week . . [...]
Nicola Cairncross is an author, speaker, and business consultant. But in her role as host of the fabulous podcast The Business Success Factory, Nicola is simply brilliant at teaching entrepreneurs how to create an automated marketing machine, turn knowledge, skills and expertise into digital products and stop trading time for money. [Tweet "Own your brilliance - focus on your strengths and shine!"] I recently [...]
