Small Business | Forum « Keeping focus?

Keeping focus? (23 posts)

Topic tags: accountability partner, business plan, focus, social media management

Dea Irby said
1 year, 4 months ago:
How do you keep your focus? Do you strictly follow a business plan? Do you have a coach or accountability partner to keep you on track? What do you do when new tools and platforms (social media stuff) come along that were not included in the business plan? I’m trying to get focused on 2012 and prepared to “get ‘er dun.”
@deairby | # | Top
Rich Brooks said
1 year, 4 months ago:
@deairby
I’ve never had a business plan. I did use a coach for a while to point me in the right direction, but mostly I’m self-motivated.
In general I have a few lists of to-dos to get done. I love Basecamp for project management and Highrise for contact management (both from 37 signals.)
I also keep a notepad and every day I rewrite my to-dos in two columns, one for urgent, one for important.
Hope that helps!
@rich-brooks | # | Top
Dea Irby said
1 year, 4 months ago:
@rich-brooks How do you get away with not writing a business plan? (Secretly I’m shouting yahoos because I haven’t written one!) I like the way you make lists and where can I find 37 signals?
@deairby | # | Top
Robin Carlisle said
1 year, 4 months ago:

@deairby @rich-brooks
I just love Basecamp, but haven’t tried the other. Highly recommend the first. A web designer I worked with handled all his projects, including me in Basecamp. Worked wonderfully for keeping clients involved in the work at hand.
@atlantarobin | # | Top
Lisa Schulteis said
1 year, 4 months ago:
@deairby – If it makes you feel any better, I don’t have a business plan either!
I use a few different tools. As mentioned in a different post, I am a highly visual person, so I still keep track of my different projects on a white board across the room. It is always in my line of site and keeps me on track.
I recently started using Evernote to keep track of things I want to come back to, notes for future blogs, and other things. I love that it auto syncs so whether I am on my phone, tablet or computer, I can keep track of everything.
Then there is the “To Review” file. When I come across a physical item I want to come back to (i.e. a magazine article) it gets put in that file. Then when I have some down time, I pull the file out and get caught up with a few things there.
It’s crazy how much info we now have to process and keep track of (don’t get me started on kids extra-curricular activities!)
@lisaschulteis | # | Top
Dea Irby said
1 year, 4 months ago:
@atlantarobin I’ll have to check out basecamp, can I just google to find it? I’m visual and a bit ADOS- Attention Deficit Ooooo Shiny.
@deairby | # | Top
Dea Irby said
1 year, 4 months ago:
@lisaschulteis Where can I find Evernote? And when exactly do find down time? My boxes (to file, to read) are overflowing.
@deairby | # | Top
Lisa Schulteis said
1 year, 4 months ago:
@deairby Evernote can be found on your mobile device as an app. On your computer, just go to Evernote and you can download it to your computer.
As for free time – I know. I try to take about 15 minutes out every day just to breathe and focus on other things. Also – I love my “quiet” time after the kids are in bed. That’s when I try to catch up. (or post on these clubs!)
@lisaschulteis | # | Top
Dea Irby said
1 year, 4 months ago:
@lisaschulteis Thanks, Lisa. Yep, this is the quiet time…..
@deairby | # | Top
Lisa Schulteis said
1 year, 4 months ago:
@deairby – You’re welcome! Enjoy your quiet!
@lisaschulteis | # | Top
Dea Irby said
1 year, 4 months ago:
@lisaschulteis I checked out Evernote. I like the idea. I may need to use it to have a place to put ideas (like Evernote) down to think through all the options. lol
@deairby | # | Top
Lisa Schulteis said
1 year, 4 months ago:
@deairby an Evernote for Evernote? Too funny!
One of the things I love to use it for now is with email. It added a nice little button in my Outlook account and now when I receive an email that I need to follow up with later, I can actually add it to Evernote with a quick click of the button, add the appropriate tags (i.e. lead, follow up, etc) and then delete the email! This significantly helps with the size of my inbox!
@lisaschulteis | # | Top
Dea Irby said
1 year, 4 months ago:
@lisaschulteis Can you add the button on gmail? And, have you looked at Basecamp? Is Evernote free? Seems like it is from my quick perusal.
@deairby | # | Top
Lisa Schulteis said
1 year, 4 months ago:
@deairby Evernote is free. I have not used it in Gmail, but I am sure there is a way to sync it. I would have to check.
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Robin Carlisle said
1 year, 4 months ago:
Lisa do you know if Evernote works on a Mac?
@lisaschulteis
@atlantarobin | # | Top
Lisa Schulteis said
1 year, 4 months ago:
@atlantarobin It does. Go here… http://www.evernote.com/about/download/mac.php
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Dea Irby said
1 year, 4 months ago:
@lisaschulteis Lisa, you might just get us all organized…..woohoo
@deairby | # | Top
Amy Hall, Virtual Assistant for WordPress and MailChimp Help said
1 year, 4 months ago:
@lisaschulteis @deairby I love my Evernote! My husband and I work together and we share images and content back and forth on our projects. We also use it to keep a time sheet for each project.
I read a great E-book on Evernote http://www.degconsulting.net/evernote.html by a Lawyer, Daniel Gold that basically runs his practice and life out of Evernote. I learned about him and Evernote on the Getting Things Done Facebook Fan page and their podcasts.
@amyhallbiz | # | Top
Lisa Schulteis said
1 year, 4 months ago:
@deairby – I LOVE organization! Now if it only worked on my family too!
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Dea Irby said
1 year, 4 months ago:
@lisaschulteis step one complete: make an account and download evernote! thanks, hoping this helps
@deairby | # | Top
Rose Fields said
1 year, 4 months ago:
I love my smartphone – I keep a task list on there that tells me when to do virtually every thing from pay the bills to calling for appointments. The calendar app makes sure I get to where I need to be on the right day and time. And my shopping list app makes sure that I don’t forget anything when I’m in town which is highly important since I live 17 miles from the nearest town of 1,100 people and 30 miles from the nearest town of any real size.
@rosehaase | # | Top
Zoe Cairns said
1 year, 4 months ago:
The way I focus is having a weekly timetable, I block out sections in my day and list what I am going to focus on in that slot – it could be emails and phonecalls / email marketing session / 121 training sessions /bookeeping hour etc.
I will then turn everything off phone etc so I get no disruptions. At the end of each day I will then review what Ive done. If I havent maintained focus I will look at the siutation and analysis why.
Having a business plan, goals and a vision help so much in keeping focused. Along with these taking BIG action will get you to where you would like to be xx
@zoecairns | # | Top
Dea Irby said
1 year, 4 months ago:
@zoecairns @rosehaase what inspirations! thanks for the tips “plan your work and work your plan!”
@deairby | # | Top