Wealthy Bag Lady Blog

Top 7 Ways to Create More Hours in Your Day

Crunched for Time?

Are you feeling like there aren't enough hours in the day for everything you have to do?

I don't know about you, but now I'm driven to make every minute count.

I check my Blackberry while I'm waiting in line at the store and I even bring my laptop to the beauty salon.

If you're time-crunched like me, here are my top 7 tips to let help you add more productive hours in your day and even take the time to...breathe.

Top 7 Ways to Create More Productive Hours in Your Day

1. Use the 80/20 rule. We all know that 80 percent of our results come from 20 percent of our efforts. Figure out what the top 20 percent of your activities are and concentrate on them. Delegate the other tasks or put them off until later.
   
   
2. Reduce the Time You Spend on Email. Set up electronic file folders and flag messages from clients and other key contacts. Avoid the urge to check your email every few minutes.
   
   
3. Put Fun Names On Your Daily Activities. According to Lisa Nichols, one of the teachers in the Secret Movie, we need to put fun names on our tasks. Instead of checking email, she calls it "Finding money." Instead of working out, she calls it, "Bringing sexy back."
   
   
4. Work with a Timer. Buy a kitchen timer and turn it on when you start a task. When I'm editing corporate sponsor proposals for my clients, I put the timer on for 20 minute intervals. Just knowing the timer is on, makes me more productive.
   
   
5. Take Frequent Breaks. Avoid working for hours on the phone or your computer with no breaks. Get up, stretch and walk around every hour. If you're in a home office, you could take a walk around the block. If not, you can just go outside. Breathing in fresh air and looking at nature will re-charge your battery.
   
   
6. Strive For Completion, Not Perfection. This is a favorite mantra that I use with my clients. Too many of them are perfectionists and it blocks them from completing tasks and moving on to the most important cash flow activities in their businesses.
   
   
7. Reward Yourself For Completing Tasks. I love chocolate, so after completing a task, I eat a piece of chocolate and savor the flavor. I eat the good quality chocolate, so I my hips haven't gone condo yet.

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What Are Your Time Management Tips?

I'd love to hear them and I'll publish the winners.

I wish you the best of luck in your business. Go for your greatness!

Are Business Owners Happier?

According to the Wall Street Journal, business owners outrank 10 other occupational groups in overall happiness and well-being.

Check out Roger Peugeot, who owns a plumbing company. He's had challenges. He's laid off workers and isn't getting as much work as he used to, but the guy is happy to come to work every day.

In hard times, he says, his fate is in his own hands, rather than those of a manager. "Even when things get tough, I'm still in control," says Roger the Plumber.

Business owners surpassed 10 other occupational groups on a composite measure of six criteria of contentment, including emotional and physical health, job satisfaction, healthy behavior, access to basic needs and self-reports of overall life quality.

The findings, psychologists say, reflect the importance of being free to choose the work you do and how you do it, the way you manage your time, and the way you respond to adversity. Regardless of occupational field, the survey suggests that seeking out enjoyable work and finding a way to do it on your own terms, with some control over both the process and the outcome, is likely for most people to fuel satisfaction and contentment.

"Despite the recession, it still pays to be your own boss," says Frank Newport, editor in chief of the Gallup Poll. The survey, adds John Howard, director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, "reaffirms my view that the more control you have over your work, the happier you are."

Is Facebook Scary?

I posted on Facebook about going to the Diana Krall Concert with my friend Diane at the Hollywood Bowl.

Within minutes, I got so many responses it was scary.

One man told me how to pack a great picnic including wine and cheese. Another woman let me know that she had fantastic box seats if I ever wanted to use them.

Power of Facebook

I knew that Facebook was powerful, but when I got so many immediate responses, I made the decision to learn more about social online media and how it will grow my business now.

What's the Most Important Part of Your Brand?

Your brand is more than a slogan, logo, or a cute character.

The most important part of your brand is your integrity.

We've all experienced  the failure of companies to deliver on integrity.

How often do you get excuses instead of performance?

How many times have you emailed a company with no reply? How many times have you left a voice mail with no call back?

You can spotlight your integrity with outstanding customer service.

If you can't get back to someone with quotes or information, let them know you're working on it and you haven't forgotten about them. Handle all complaints immediately. Complaints are actually an opportunity to highlight your integrity

When people know you have integrity, it will boost the trajectory of your success in business.

You'll increase your customer base, get more word of mouth, more frequent orders and more corporate sponsors.