Numbers Are Life

Do your days rush past in a flurry of activity, only to leave you feeling disheveled at the end and with no sense of accomplishment?

Instead, imagine working through your day more productively and achieving your goals.

I love systems, and continually implement them for clients and myself. I see systems in process all the time – some are great, some not so great.

Implementing systems is fabulous, but some just stop there. There is so much more that can be done for continuous improvement. Let’s see where your systems could work better together:

As most of you know I love systems and wanted to share the systems I use in my business everyday. Below I outline the tools I use to manage myself, my time, my team and my business?

Managing myself

I use a iPhone, all of my email, calendaring & contacts runs through google apps which allows me to access all of this information through the online interface or my iPhone, iPad or Mac, no syncing required, it’s real time!

I’m also an information lover. I am constantly reading books, listening to mp3’s and coming across useful information on the internet. To keep track of it all, I use an online system called Evernote. It has many uses but I mainly use it as an electronic filing cabinet. There is a feature called “clip to Evernote” for your browser that allows you to “print” an interesting website page or part of a page to Evernote and then tag it appropriately.

How do you know if you’ve outgrown your system?

You love the new software system you implemented, but you are officially over the honeymoon phase. You’re now working with and using the system extensively and have figured out some of the quirks, but have also discovered some things you’d like it to do but are not a feature yet.

This system is ingrained in your daily activity, yet you’re beginning to get frustrated because you can’t do something with ease.

Are you lacking inspiration or enthusiasm for your business right now? It happens. Sometimes it can all feel like such a drudge that you wonder why you’re in business! It’s totally normal.

Some will say this feeling is leading to a breakdown of sorts, and once this occurs you can look forward to the breakthrough. I tend to believe this. Often running a business can become a drudge when we are totally overwhelmed, have too much to do and no one to help. It’s like a spiraling effect; there doesn’t seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel.

My attention has been diverted away from my own business of late, three months in fact. I have been so busy with existing clients – and new clients coming on board – that I have neglected my own business.

I have long been a proponent of structuring your week for the various functions of your business. For me that’s client days on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, Wednesday is business development day and Fridays are my follow up and admin days. This system has worked well for not only me, but for clients and readers of my material.

So last week I took a break from my business appointments. And I really mean a break – I made sure nothing was scheduled and I concentrated solely on the systems in my business.

Yes there were still calls to answer, but I took myself away from my desk and set up either on my kitchen table or my local cafe, whichever took my fancy. My goals for my “systems break” were to get a better handle on our new project management system and revisit some processes in the business.

A mentor of mine once said “you can’t actually manage your time, you can only manage yourself”. Wise and logical words. So what tools do I use to manage myself, my time, my team and my business? Managing myselfI use a Blackberry phone that synchronises with Microsoft Outlook on my laptop. This means I have [...]