Getting Organized for Success

Written by Elena Fawkner


Getting Organized for Success

© 2002 Elena Fawkner

Email, sales letters, email, phone calls, J.O.B., email, kids, conference calls, mentoring and sponsoring, errands, personal time, email, website updating, writing articles, email, search engine positioning, ezine publishing, advertising, email. Oh, and sleep. And did I mention email? Sounds like your day, right? Yours and everyone else's who runs a business part-time around their REAL life.

There's always so much to do and so little time. Or so it seems. But is that really true? You may be surprised to find what you can really accomplish in a day if you were to take repparttar time to get organized. What do I mean by organized? Simply knowing how many hours a day you have available and allocating that time efficiently.

How many hours a day do you have available to you? Well, let's say you sleep for 8 hours. That leaves 16, right? OK, how do you makerepparttar 106634 best use of those 16 hours? By managing your time effectively. Here's how.

This is your Sunday night activity. Start with a grid (for those of you who are computer nerds, by all means use an Excel spreadsheet). Your grid is eight columns across and 30 rows down. Label your eight columns like this:

TimeMon. Tues. Wed. Thu. Fri. Sat. Sun.

Then, inrepparttar 106635 rows underrepparttar 106636 "Time" heading, enter half hour blocks of time starting at 6:00 am and ending at 10:00 pm (or whatever your "awake" time is). Your grid should look like this:

TimeMon. Tues. Wed. Thu. Fri. Sat. Sun.

6:00 - 6:30 am 6:30 - 7:00 am ... 9:00 - 9:30 pm 9:30 - 10:00 pm

Decide on a code for your grid - whether color-coding, letters, whatever, so you can see at a glance where your time is going.

Now, using your code, block off unavailable, non-discretionary time. This isrepparttar 106637 time you spend working at your J.O.B.,repparttar 106638 time you spend getting ready for work inrepparttar 106639 morning, commuting inrepparttar 106640 morning and evening, takingrepparttar 106641 kids to and from school/daycare, participating in conference calls hosted by your network marketing company, etc. This is any time that you have *no choice* about. Although you have to run errands, for example, you do have a choice about when to do them so this doesn't go in here.

Allrepparttar 106642 white space is time that you have available to you for discretionary activities. By "discretionary" I don't necessarily mean stuff you don't have to do at all if you don't want to, I mean stuff that you can schedule for a time of your choosing. For example, we must all shop for groceries and put gas in our cars once a week, but we have a choice when we do so.

Make a list of your discretionary activities. This includes weekly errands and chores,repparttar 106643 time you need to spend keeping your web site up to date, writing articles, search engine positioning, reading and responding to email, mentoring and sponsoring your downline, publishing your ezine, writing ads, etc. And don't forget to schedule recreation/family time and time for yourself to do what you want (even if that's absolutely nothing).

OK, now that you know what you have to do, andrepparttar 106644 time you have available to do it in, when is your peak concentration time? Are you an early morning person or a night owl?

Schedulerepparttar 106645 activities that requirerepparttar 106646 most concentration for these periods. Enter them into your grid. For most people, these will be things like writing articles and salesletters - activities that require thought, concentration and a reasonable amount of *uninterrupted* time.

Holiday Networking, Santa-Style

Written by Diana Ratliff


It's that special time of year again. Odds are that very soon you'll be mingling with people you barely know (or know all-too- well) at some sort of holiday get-together. Whether you're attending out of courtesy, tradition, or business desperation (it's been a tough year for many) doesn't matter. What DOES matter is that you understand how holiday networking differs fromrepparttar networking you'll be doing in January.

Holiday networking is less aggressive, slower-paced and more subtle. Think "market research" instead of "closerepparttar 106633 deal" and you'll haverepparttar 106634 right mindset. Yes, making connections that lead to sales is still a primary reason for attending social functions, but aroundrepparttar 106635 holidays it's less obvious. The social "dance" is longer.

So when preparing for your holiday party "performance," practicerepparttar 106636 role of Santa instead of Scrooge, and you'll do just fine.

How would Santa act at that lavish bash in your office building next week?

First, remember that Santa is friendly and approachable to EVERYONE. He's not a snob or someone who's solely focused on influential, powerful people. You'd do well to adopt that attitude yourself. You'll enjoy yourself more, feel less stressed, and who knows? You may meet someone with unexpected influence or connections.

If you're one ofrepparttar 106637 many people who'd rather have teeth pulled than talk to strangers, rehearse a few "safe" opening lines. "So how do you know (the host/hostess)?" or "Don't I know you from somewhere?" are non-threatening ways to begin a conversation, withrepparttar 106638 added benefit of allowing you to look for connections. And "How has your day been?" is much more likely to initiate small-talk thanrepparttar 106639 usual "How are you?" ("Fine, thanks.") exchange.

Second, Santa is a great listener who's really focused on other people's wants and needs and not his own. He invites confidences and listens more than he speaks. Can you imagine Santa thrusting his business card on someone he's barely met? (I DO have one of his cards, byrepparttar 106640 way. See it here.)

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