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Early Birds Rule the Worlds

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I am a morning person.  One of the ways that I generate the predictable cash flow that most Freelance consultants need as we wait for contracts to come in and invoices to be paid is teach fitness.  Five mornings a week,  I teach fitness and on three of those mornings I teach at 6:30 AM.  On the weekends I teach at 9:00 AM.

I despise getting out of bed at 5:00 AM when it is pitch black,  which unfortunately is the story of my life for about eight months of the year.  Yet I enjoy waking early to the bright dawns that the Summer Solstice brings.  At this time of year,  I have no need for the alarm clock.  Once I’ve taught my fitness class,  I am free to do my  “real”  work.  Pulling myself out of bed in early morning darkness is torture,  but getting an early start on the day is well worth the sacrifice.

Christoph Randler,  professor of biology at the University of Education in Heidelberg,  Germany says that people whose performance peaks in the morning are more proactive and more productive than those whose performance peaks in the evening.  As a result,  early risers typically excel in school and often do well in business.  “When it comes to business success,  morning people hold the important cards”,  says Professor Randler.

His research indicates that because morning people are more proactive,  they are more successful in their professionals lives.  Early risers are better at anticipating problems and devising solutions to minimize them.  The larks in Randler’s studies mostly agreed with the statements  “I feel in charge of making things happen”  and  “I spend time making long-range goals for myself”.  Morning types are more likely to take action and change a situation to their advantage.

Night owls who wake up when the sun has long since risen are not necessarily life’s losers,  however.  Some studies show that they’re smarter and more creative.  Still,  since ancient times,  early risers have been closely associated with higher productivity and success.  Aristotle said  “It is well to be up before daybreak,  for such habits contribute to health,  wealth and wisdom”.   I will add that we larks are a highly disciplined lot and as evidence I point not to myself,  who is paid to show up,  but to the fitness center members who take my 6:30 AM classes and also to those who arrive at 5:30 AM,  regardless of the weather.

Is it possible for an evening person to successfully become a morning person?  “Somewhat”,  says Professor Randler.  Much of the lark or owl tendency is genetic.  Before I began teaching fitness,  I was a fitness center member who for 15 years worked out in the evenings.  When a favorite instructor began teaching at 7:00 AM,  I decided to give it a try.  Lucky for me,  the change was made during the Spring schedule.  The days were getting longer and that eased my transition.  It would have been much more difficult to make the change if the days were getting shorter.

As I noted I’m a natural morning person,  but let me tell you that there is morning and then there is early  morning and the two are not interchangeable.  For those who claim that you “get used to it”  after a while,  I reply that for three months of the year,  when it is bright at 5:00 AM,  I prize the early morning.   But for most of the year,  waking up in darkness remains as difficult now as it was 12 years ago,  when I switched to early morning workouts.

But like the classic lark,  I am disciplined and I make long-range goals for myself.  The feeling I have when walking to the showers at 7:35 AM,  knowing that my moonlighting job  has been completed for that day,  is great.  The energy boost I get from the work-out puts me in the frame of mind to charge into the day and do business.  Together,  these  value-added benefits outweigh the unpleasantness of leaving my warm,  soft bed,  even on cold January mornings and give me the resolve to do it all over again the next day,  whatever the weather.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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Find the Time to Do What You Must Do

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It is not easy to stay focused and manage one’s time effectively,  especially when Freelancing.   Working from home presents so many opportunities for distraction,  from the laundry,  to the vacuuming,  to the suddenly gross- looking bathroom sink.  How can you avoid letting the household chores fester and still successfully complete an in-house project,  keep an eye open for potential new assignments,  create additional revenue streams that sustain financially during the inevitable gaps in contracts or client slow-pay situations and somehow find time for professional development and networking?  Fear not,  Freelancer friend,  there is a way to keep those plates in the air.

The secret is to prioritize and be resolute about it.  Learn to value yourself and your time.   Allow yourself  to acknowledge and honor those things that you Must Do and things that you Want To Do.  Equally important,   allow yourself to recognize low-priority tasks and have the courage to let them fall to the wayside. 

We all have obligations and preferred activities and we have about 16 waking hours each day in which to act upon them.   To manage time effectively,  become more productive and refrain from burning yourself out,  priorities must be made and adhered to.   Be brave.  Climb into the driver’s seat and decide which activities and people mean the most to you and let those choices guide how you allocate your time.

Where to begin? Start with work,  because that is how you earn money.   Make a time line for important projects and/or goals and create a what you Must Do manifesto.  Draw up an action plan to ensure that all deliverables are in hand by the desired date.  Identify important milestones along the way and reward yourself when they are reached.  This will help you to establish the right things to do and when to do them and that is the essence of prioritizing.

Next,  think about your personal life and what you Want To Do.   Are you married,  maybe with children,  or do you have someone special in your life with whom you want to spend quality time?  Refer back to your project/goal time line and brainstorm approaches to Must Do priorities that can increase the amount of Want To Do time.  You still may not show up at all of your son’s football games,  but you’ll be more likely to be at the important ones. 

 When on a serious deadline you’ll probably be basically unavailable while the pressure’s on,  but with careful planning you’ll meet most obligations  (buy take-out food and consider hiring a cleaning service to get you and the family over the hump during a crazy-busy period).   You might even be able to have the occasional quiet dinner with the family or that special someone,  which will give you some much-needed relaxation and battery-charging.  You might be able to accept an invitation to a good party,  too.

Other aspects of your personal life involve only you and those needs should likewise be honored,  because they are what you Want To Do.   One way to get more things done  is to get out of bed earlier,  so consider going to the gym at 6:00 AM or 7:00 AM.   If you’re really busy,  exercise will help you to stay strong,  focused,  creative and in reasonably good humor.  If necessary,  limit work-outs to 30 – 45 minutes,  so that you’ll stay on your time line,  checking off the boxes of what you Must Do.

Along the way,   it will be necessary to recognize which activities and unfortunately,  people,  are time-wasters and limit or eliminate your exposure.  Toxic and/or time-wasting people should be diplomatically ushered to the door.  You have no time available to indulge  nonsense. 

Social media is yet another potential time-waster.  Limit social media activity  to 30 minutes two to four times a week.  Even if your custom has been to spend  lots of time on Twitter because it could be good for business,   ask yourself if you need to post every day? If the verdict is that you must,  then limit tweet  time to 15 minutes/day.

Finally,  learn to forgive yourself if a few things don’t get done.  Do what is necessary to achieve what you Must Do and Want To Do and maybe let the vacuuming wait a few days.  Celebrate your progress and remember to find time to relax and enjoy time with yourself,  family,  friends and special someone.  Give yourself the gift of work – life balance.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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It’s Time to Stop Procrastinating

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It’s December 13.  Have you sent out your Christmas cards yet?  Well,  neither have I  (but I will).  I’m disciplined and organized and you know that to be true,  because I’ve faithfully published this blog every Tuesday morning since June 2009.  I enjoy writing this blog and I enjoy receiving cards from friends and colleagues every year,  but getting into the mood to write my cards takes some effort.  I will do it as always.  But first,  I’ll write this week’s post…

According to psychiatrist Ned Hallowell,   author of  “Driven to Distraction” (1995),  we mostly put things off because we are busy.  Most of us are working harder and longer these days.  Second,  we are prone to avoid what we consider to be drudgery.  But as we all eventually learn,  procrastination does not pay.  Avoiding the thing we hate does not make it go away.  It hangs like the sword of Damocles until the required work has been done.

The experts say that what we procrastinators need to do while we’re busy doing everything except what needs to be done is to understand why we’re avoiding the inevitable.  Research demonstrates that it basically breaks down into two categories:

1.   You’re faced with a task you despise and you’re unable to face it,  or

2.   You don’t know how to do what you need to do,  so you’re afraid to get started

We all put off doing what we dislike,  but procrastination cannot be allowed to rule one’s life.  To be a productive and responsible citizen,  to maintain positive work and family relationships,  we must train ourselves to put shoulder to the wheel and plow through onerous tasks when necessary.  Consider it character-building.

We can help ourselves by being honest about the kinds of tasks that we dislike and cause us to procrastinate and then figuring out which can be outsourced.  ( Would a virtual assistant write Christmas cards? )  You may want to hire someone to clean your apartment twice a month,  or send your laundry out,  or order your groceries online and arrange delivery.

Setting up a time table and schedule can help to get you started on what can’t be farmed out to someone else.  Use deadlines to motivate you to get cracking and get the job done.  Teresa Amabile,  co-author of  “The Progress Principle” (2011),  suggests breaking a project down into manageable segments and creating an achievable time table and deadlines for each.  These  “small wins”  make the project more manageable and less intimidating.  When faced with a task you have a history of avoiding,  put it in your calendar to tackle segments of it,  to ensure that you get the job done on schedule.  Post-it notes on your computer screen can work,  too.

It’s helpful to give yourself rewards for completing projects.  When segments of your project are completed,  maybe treat yourself to a nice hot chocolate and your favorite croissant at breakfast the next day.  When an especially important project is completed,  maybe a facial or a massage can be scheduled,  or perhaps even a weekend trip to a favorite place.

If your procrastination is caused by not knowing how to do something,  then get help.  Solicit advice from a trusted friend or colleague,  or do an internet search to get more information about how you can approach the project to learn what successful completion looks like and what you have to do to get there.  If you don’t have the required skill set,  recruit someone who does and make your project a team effort.

OK,  enough avoidance behaviour for me,  it’s time to face the music.  I bought a nice box of cards and holiday stamps back in November,  so I’m able to dive in and start writing.  My reward is a Christmas lunch party that’s in my calendar for December 14.  On my way to the party,  I’ll pass by the post office and mail the cards,  I promise.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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Take a Vacation

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It’s a counterintuitive approach,  but if you want to work smarter and be more productive,  then take a few days off and go away on vacation.  I realize that can be easier said than done for Freelancers and others in the billable hours universe.  Especially in a soft economy,  many of us are doing all we can to cover the monthly bills and the thought of slacking off on business pursuits is almost unthinkable.

Yet,  numerous researchers have demonstrated that vacations are comparable to a process improvement in your business,  resulting in increased productivity and efficiency.  Vacation does not mean that you no longer value the clients.  In order to avoid burnout and keep your batteries charged,  taking time off and traveling to a place that allows you to relax and unwind is a wise business strategy that pays personal and professional dividends. 

Every once in a while,  humans need to forget about work and relax and enjoy ourselves.  Recent research has shown that  a three to five day mini-vacation,  rather than the traditional two week time frame,  gives the most enjoyment.   As luck would have it,  that is exactly what fits well into a Freelancer’s often erratic project-based schedule.

A 2010 study by Jeroen Nawijn,  a lecturer at Breda University of applied Sciences in The Netherlands,  found that for most people,  the planning activities and anticipation provide more satisfaction than the actual vacation.  Nawijn suggests that if possible,  several three to five day trips should be scheduled throughout the year to reap the maximum benefits of the vacation experience,  starting with the fun we have doing the planning and enjoying the anticipation of the big adventure.  As further evidence,  psychologists Leigh Thompson of Northwestern University and Terence Mitchell of the University of Washington came to the same conclusion in their 1997 study of the psychological effects of vacations for workers.

Thompson and Mitchell suggest that vacationers participate in activities that completely absorb their attention.  Lolling on the beach and drinking pineapple rum punch is very nice,  but activities are more effective in helping us to disengage from work and business pressures and get the process of true relaxation underway.  That could be visiting museums,  touring the city,  hiking,  touring vineyards,  browsing at the bazaar,  or whatever else strikes your fancy.

It’s also recommended that you unplug your electronic toys and take a break from email and voicemail.  You might miss something,  but you’ll get over it.  In exchange,  you’ll receive the many benefits our brains and psyches derive from decreased stress.  A 2009 Boston Consulting Group study showed that taking time off results in improved communication skills,  decision-making ability and problem-solving ability,  plus decreased burnout and stress and higher productivity. 

I guess we can sum it up by saying that if we don’t take a few days off work every now and again,  we’ll just get tired and cranky and less effective.  We also won’t absorb information or learn as well,  which is why public schools give students 5 days off every three months or so.

I’m happy to tell all of you that I finally took a vacation myself,  after not taking any time off in about three years.  I spent 5 days on the coast of Maine.  I did not check email or voicemail.  I also missed my friend Jeremiah’s party (damn!),  but what can I say?  I had a great time soaking up sunshine,  drinking wine,  eating lobster,  visiting art galleries and taking in the sights.  I feel so much better!

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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Now is the Time to Take Control of Your Time

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The secret sauce of effective time management is discipline.  The cruel truth,  my child, is that if you want to get more things done,  you must have the discipline to get your ass out of bed,  often before the sun comes up.  This is a habit best established when the days are getting longer.

According to new research by Christoph Randler,  professor of biology at Heidelberg University in Germany,  morning people are more proactive and therefore more successful in their professional lives.  Morning people anticipate problems and try to minimize their impact;  spend time identifying long-range goals;  and feel in charge of making things happen.  So rise and shine, cupcake.

Another time management essential that you must have the discipline to incorporate into your schedule is transition time.  Whether moving from one task to another or traveling from one meeting to the next,  the only way to ensure that you will be efficient,  productive and get where you are going on time is to take into account each time consuming step of the process.

In other words,  be realistic about how long it takes to go places and do things and give yourself adequate preparation and execution time.  Avoid over-scheduling.  Build in little cushions of time where possible,  to better manage annoying,  schedule-destroying delays like lines at the post office.

The idea is to successfully roll through tasks and appointments and preserve your sanity,  if not your sense of humor, along the way.  Besides,  if there are fires to put out and you’re too tightly scheduled,  things will fall apart and you’ll be back where you started.

Oh , and manage your emails,  rather than letting them manage you.  Do not let them seize control of your day.  Particularly if you receive a huge volume,  assign 2-3 blocks of time each day for email read and respond.  Institute email triage.

If something time sensitive and high priority is on,  you may prefer to check for incoming messages throughout the day and decide what requires a faster response. While doing that,  delete the nonsense emails and lighten your load.  When answering emails,  respond first to the “short answer” messages and then tackle the “long answers”.

Some form of social media participation is now on every Freelancer’s schedule,  like it or not.  No one is sure what any of it does for business,  but very few feel confident enough to ignore it.  Keeping up with this stuff can siphon off much valuable time if you’re not careful.

Limit time spent on social media and while you’re at it,  think about the extent of your involvement and the ROI.  Do you really need FaceBook and Twitter?  Must you go through the LinkedIn Answers Forum every day?

Yet another source of time theft are manipulative,  controlling people.  You have no doubt encountered your share of those who feel entitled to dictate how you spend your time,  quickly  resorting to whining,  badgering and other forms of verbal arm wrestling to force you into doing their bidding.  They may be neighbors,  family members,  so-called friends  or clients.   Set good boundaries and be prepared for uncomfortable moments as you put a few people in their place.  Have the discipline to say “no” and stick to it.

Have the discipline to bring time management into your life.  Missed deadlines,  lost opportunities,  exhaustion and burn-out are not what we want.  Applying our skill set to work that we enjoy and generating an income that we deem satisfactory is what the Freelance life is all about.  Effective time management,  along with SMART goals and objectives—Specific,  Measurable,  Attainable,  Realistic, Timely— will help us get there.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

 

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The Time of Your Life

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Welcome back to reality!  Labor Day Weekend has come and gone and Summer has officially (although not technically) ended.  Like it or not,  we are in full business mode again.  Yet despite what the calendar indicates,  Summer’s slower pace may still cling to you like sand on your ankles and you might be having trouble getting up to speed.  Maybe some good time management tips will help you find your groove?

Freelancers are busy people.  Effective time management is important not only for our P & L bottom line,  but also for our spiritual and psychological health.  In addition to drumming up and working on billable hours,  it is equally important that we make time for our personal pursuits.

We owe it to ourselves to go to the gym or out for a bike ride,  participate in our children’s lives,  nurture our relationship with a special someone,  or recharge our batteries by maybe taking a nice walk.  Therefore,  it is imperative that we utilize our time efficiently,  so that important things get taken care of and we avoid running in circles,  which wastes precious time,  creates aggravation and eventually leads to burn-out.

But there is so much to do and it is easy to get overwhelmed.  On top of  billable hours,  we must network to remain visible,  attend certain conferences that help us build skills or prospect for new clients,  maybe prep for a speaking engagement,  keep up with social media and there are perhaps also board responsibilities that were taken on to demonstrate commitment to one’s community and expand one’s  skill set (and bring in a referral along the way,  we hope).

Then there are the administrative functions like invoicing,  paying bills,  calls and emails,  updating the website,  de-constructing the new health insurance options and planning and budgeting for next year’s marketing initiatives. 

Oh, and dare I mention housework,  laundry, cooking and grocery shopping?  Yikes! It’s enough to make you want to hide in the closet.  How can any one human being face this down? 

I suggest that Step One in getting your arms around all that you must do is to make a list and document major tasks and responsibilities,  so that you can visualize and make sense of your obligations.  Once your list is created,  separate business obligations from personal.  Red star all tasks that have a deadline  e.g.,  September 15 for filing third quarter taxes.

On the business side,  make separate categories for client billable time,  marketing/self promotion and administrative tasks.  On the personal side,  create categories for fitness,  household,  children, etc.  Next,  prioritize according to what must be done first and what brings (or can potentially bring) the best ROI to you.  Break responsibilities down into what must be done daily (emails),  weekly (children’s lessons/ sports),  monthly (networking/ board meetings) and quarterly (taxes). 

Block out corresponding time periods,  make calendar entries and build a daily to-do list schedule.  Examine your schedule and look for ways to be more efficient.  You may have always gone to the gym after work,  but might a time change be advantageous? Is there a Zumba class at 7:00 AM or Pilates at lunchtime? That change will free up time in the evening for other activities and will also ensure that you maintain your fitness regimen.  Or maybe now you’ll see that you can start one!

PDA electronic calendars and smart phone apps are now standard,  but I’ve found that posting on an office white board or old-fashioned desk calendar is especially helpful for remembering monthly and quarterly tasks.  It’s good to have it all there in your face,  a constant reminder of what you must do and when you must do it.

I’ll be back with more time management next week.  Thanks for reading.

Kim

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Bringing You Down: The Procrastination Blues

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We just hate to do certain things.  Some things are a headache to even think about,  let alone actually do.  So we conspire to ignore the irksome thing and pretend it will go away.  We promise ourselves,  our spouses,  our children and our friends that we will get to it…only not now.  We are busy now…

Admit it.  Those crafty avoidance schemes make us feel guilty.  We go into denial.  We are prone to get defensive and there might be an argument,  yet we continue to stonewall.  Oh, but we cannot hide forever.  Eventually,  we’ve gotta man up and do the deed. ç

Why do we do this?  Don’t we realize that allowing loose ends and evil-but-necessary tasks to pile up only makes it worse for us when we are finally forced to take them on?

Yes!  But everyone procrastinates once in a while.  It’s part of the human condition.  In fact, under certain circumstances,  what appears to be procrastination can serve us well.  Sometimes a problem or task needs to be pondered,  with more information about the cause,  implications and possible resolutions sought.  It may not be wise to quickly jump in with both feet.  Due diligence is not a sign of procrastination.

Other times,  it is best to wait for more favorable conditions before making a move and attempting resolution.  Timing is always important.  Or maybe this item really does deserve to be put off,  because there are more important issues pending that deserve your immediate attention.  Prioritization is not a sign of procrastination,  it is good time management.

So what makes us procrastinate?  Psychologists say that chronic  procrastination results from a fear of failure or success.  Either way,  it’s self-sabotage.  Fear prevents us from taking action and moving forward.  The experts have a few more theories:

1.  The Perfectionist.  If you cannot perform in a flawless fashion,  then you will do nothing at all.

2.  Poor Decision Maker.  You are trapped in analysis-paralysis quicksand and unable to settle on a course of action.

3.  The Overwhelmed.   You consider the task to be beyond your capabilities,  or you just hate doing the thing.

4.  The Disorganized.   You cannot get your act together.  You don’t know or have what is needed to complete the task and cannot focus on it.

You can tame the procrastination beast.  The easiest way,  if you’ve been persistently unable to make yourself tackle a certain job,  is to take the hint and outsource it.  Maybe you avoid doing this thing because doing it makes you miserable and you’re lousy at it anyway?  If you’re holding the cash,  call in a professional and stop the drama.

If you are not holding sufficient cash,  then you need an attack strategy.  You must bite the bullet and face down this demon,  because continuing to avoid your responsibilities kills your momentum and adds stress to your life.  Procrastination is bad for business and you cannot afford to wallow in it.

Break the beast down into manageable blocks and chip away a little at a time.  Devote 30-60 minutes each day to the job until it is completed.   Self-discipline builds  self-confidence and will keep you motivated to stay on track.  Reward yourself  handsomely once you’ve crossed the finish line.

Keep the procrastination beast at bay by setting reasonable goals for yourself.  Reaching for the stars is admirable,  but be realistic (and not pessimistic or self-limiting) in recognizing what you can achieve.

Finally,  always prioritize.  Time sensitive and other important tasks go to the top of your list and are preferably done early in the day,  to promote the likelihood of successful completion.  Lower priority tasks are done later.  If a project lands on your to-do list,  then it should be done within a reasonable time frame,  so don’t ignore it for six months.

Thanks for reading,

Kim