I have been ensconced in this 5-day incredible event with mind-blowing geniuses around me every day.

2 weeks ago I wrote about how distraction = inefficiency.  This was just something I had observed in my own life, and wanted to pass on the ways that I figured out to try to be as efficient as possible. Many of you thanked me for these pearls of wisdom.  Well, you’re welcome!

So, yesterday I heard Eban Pagen speak about the very same thing.  He even went on to say that distraction and interruption are the #1 priorty in business these days -  both of these things = ineffeciency.

His suggestion is to get into a routine and do the same thing every day at the same time.
Make a schedule and stick to it.  There are times to answer emails, engage in social media, do sales calls, take meetings, do interviews, talk to your friends, eat, etc…  His experience is that ritual helps you focus. It takes away the need to wonder what you should do next that’s for sure!!

Eban suggests that the morning hours are the most productive hours to get the important work done.  I totally agree.   You have way less distractions, chance is on your side that there wasn’t time for too many things to go wrong yet, and you can concentrate and give the BEST part of your brain power to the most important stuff you need to work on.

We live in a world of information overload.  Our inboxes are full all the time, the phones are ringing off the hook, and unless you make a commitment to turn it all off to concentrate on the ONE thing at hand, you are going to get distracted and in turn, generate mediocre results or maybe no results.

Let’s make a pledge to each other to have the most result oriented week ever.  Send me your pledge and I will hold you accountable.

I pledge to turn off my email and phone every time I sit down at my computer to do anything other than answer email.

I pledge to write down my tasks, hour by hour on my calendar so I know what I am doing every minute.

I pledge to wake up at least 30 minutes before my children and take some time for myself every morning.

Popularity: 59% [?]

By Sarah Shaw

As an up and coming Entreprenette you are probably wearing many hats and often feeling overwhelmed. We all hope to walk into our office (or the dining room :O)) and hope to be able to cross everything off our to-do lists each day before it gets out of control …….right? I sure wish it was like that for me!! Obviously that’s not always a reality but here are a few tips to help you get closer to wiping the board clean and make the most of your time.

1. Power Hours: Assign hours or minutes to certain projects. Get a calendar going with times on it and really schedule yourself to get in a rhythm. Maybe you spend 1 hour 2x a day answering emails, 25 minutes on Social Media 2x a day, lunch, exercise, design, meetings, 5 minutes of stretching……you get the picture. Having power hours really gets the job done. Turn off everything else during that time and ONLY work on that. You will be amazed at how fast you can work when totally dedicated.

2. Realize your potential: Before you assign yourself a task, think about if you are the best person to do it or if it is something you can outsource. Even when the money is tight, sometimes outsourcing can free you up to do the things you really excel at and is a much better use of your time. Outsourcing is a great option if you really don’t enjoy the task or are just really bad at it.

3. Don’t assume; ask questions: When speaking to a prospective or current client, try to really understand what they are asking of you. Sometimes we just want to please and take on more that we can chew. You will waste a lot of time back tracking or trying to reinvent the wheel rather than just having listened well the first time and offering what was within your means or area of expertise.

4. Know when to go: Get off the phone as soon as possible. When a caller keeps you on the phone longer than necessary, gently prompt her to end the call. You could tell them that you have another call, that you are on a tight deadline or, if they have requested something, tell them that you want to get started on it immediately.

4a. Know when to listen: Get a voicemail ONLY system so you don’t have to answer the phone and can just check the messages a few times a day. You can always give special customers your cell number. I use Voicemail Depot for this myself and it works wonders for me and my team.

5. The desk makeover: Make your environment conducive to working. Organize your workstation to minimize wasted time searching for lost papers or files etc…This covers two areas: your actual work space and the area surrounding it. Take the time to clear your desk of any distractions - Think about the things you use on a regular basis and have those at the ready – everything else can go on a shelf waiting for its moment in time. You may want to find some storage type bins and or baskets you can use to help you be more organized and have easy access to the things you need to do your job.

6. Flex your muscles: Organize your files so you can find what you need quickly. I like to have files near my desk of things I am currently working on……Everything else is either on my laptop or in a filing cabinet.

7. Find your sweet spot: In retail they say, “Location, location, location.” The same is true in a home office. A desk located in a high-traffic area is as welcome as a marching band in a library. Try to find a quiet place to work so you can concentrate and be as efficient as possible. If this means on your bed then so be it….

8. Conserve gas: If you are in production mode or just have to travel a lot to visit with clients, stores or whatever else….try to plan out your week and group areas together to maximize your time. Most people are accustomed to waiting to be called upon, and will not feel like a day or two is neglectful of you. I think you will find you are more pleasant and happier to be there when you are not so rushed and trying to get more places than possible.

Popularity: 62% [?]

I learn so much watching my twins explore life. I got to thinking today as I watched Maddie pouring water down her arm over and over again today while playing in the pool, and how she marveled each time as it poured down under her arm like it was the very first time.  I started to question where that feeling of discovery and wonder goes as we get older.

How do we get back to that marveling phase?
How do we get back that feeling of experiencing something for the first time?
Is it even possible?

Children are so happy-go-lucky.  They don’t have an agenda.  Children are as honest as it gets. They just do as they feel inclined when the feeling hits them; run, jump, laugh, dance, cry, play, take, give, and kiss.  Their inhibitions are their greatest asset and they don’t even know it.  Children see the world in all of its glory and splendor.

As adults we are so overwhelmed with “adult responsibilities” that we mostly forget to wonder.  Life just happens around us and we get caught up in our daily routine, our jobs, and our families.  We don’t often let go and just start dancing when we feel like it, run around laughing, throw a fit, or just cry.

Launching a business and running one are more like a child’s life than you think.

• You are constantly worrying about the business and if you are doing things correctly.
• You have a HUGE to do list.
• You gave up honesty to create a story about yourself that sounds more interesting to the press and general public.
• Often you are experiencing something for the first time, but being a jaded adult, you are probably finding it annoying and just want to get through it.
• There are many reasons to jump for joy, laugh, and dance but you are probably so fixated on the next task that you just smile for a second and move on.
• We all know there are many opportunities to cry but usually it involves your manufacturer and you can’t let him see you cry or you might appear weak.
• You do take and give, but as a grownup it’s elevated to the status of advice and since you always take it, you aren’t sure any more what you give besides dinner.
• You still want to kiss but you’re working so hard your love life is suffering.

This week is about finding and rekindling the joy in your business.  Let’s get back to the wonder in our lives and try to look with fresh eyes at the tasks at hand.

• Try to notice and celebrate the good things that happen to you this week.
• They may not even be work related, just try to be receptive to what it feels like to accept the feeling of celebration.
• They may be small like a lovely email or a call from a friend.
• Or big like a lead on a sample maker or that you received a grant.
• All are reasons to celebrate.
• Try to make friends with the disappointments as well.
• You didn’t close the sale but you are going to implement some of Cindy’s techniques from Own the Room and try again.
• Your sample didn’t come out as well as you hoped, but it sparked a new idea.

These too are cause for celebration.  Think of disappointments as an opportunity to learn and improve your skills.  I have learned all my most savvy secrets from my mistakes along the way.
Have fun celebrating,

When in doubt, take the next step,

Popularity: 43% [?]

My friend Fern designed this bag and just gave me one as a gift.  Can I say how much I LOVE it? We are going to Colorado in a week and I am thrilled to have such a great travel bag.

Madbaggage is an eco-friendly vegan handbag line. Fashionable and green, the company is totally PVC-Free, made mostly of polyurethane with bamboo and coconut hardware. The MadBaggage mission is to make a difference with earth friendly choices. How awesome right?

Mine is the celery color with black patent trim and is super chic!

Popularity: 100% [?]

There’s No Time like Now
By Sarah Shaw

I hosted a Tele-call with Mike Michalowicz, Author of the The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, this past week and it really got me thinking about how much we put off in the hopes that we can do it better if we wait for our “circumstances” to improve.

What does this mean exactly?

• Are we waiting for the economy to improve?
• Are we waiting to learn some more “stuff” before we get going?
• Are we trying to find money to fund our project?
• Are we hoping to get someone’s “approval” to begin?
• Are we just scared?
• Are we waiting until our kids are toilet trained?
• Are we hoping it will all be perfect the first time?

How did we get to this point and what can we do about it?

First of all, as Entreprenettes trying to launch in general, we work harder than anyone else we know, usually logging in 16 hour days to get it all done.  We sweat over the smallest detail, worry about every penny and try to read as much as possible to get it done as close to right the first time.

Is this going to change if any of the above “circumstances” change?
NO WAY JOSE
None of those things on your list make a difference in when you decide to get your rear-end in gear.

As Mike reminded us all, it’s time to think outside of outside the box.

LET’S KICK THE EXCUSES TO THE CURB SHALL WE?

• The economy will improve and if you are ready to take advantage of it then you will come out on top.
• As you DO, you will learn more.
• Try to figure out how to get things for free.  An example is to go to a local college and try to get the business school to take on your business as a project.
• If you can’t find someone who likes your idea then it might not be a good one.
• Entreprenettes are scared all the time but keep going.
• No kid ever went to college in a diaper.
• You will probably want to update your idea from time to time so don’t worry about it being perfect now. It will probably never be perfect to you.

Here are some suggestions for taking just ONE step this week towards
making your “big idea” a reality.

• Make one call you have been putting off.
• Ask one question you need to know to move forward.
• Research one thing on line.
• Ask one person if they like your idea.
• Be thankful that you have an idea worth pursuing.

When in doubt, take the next step.

Popularity: 51% [?]

Started by a shrink and a stylist, Retail Therapy provides the latest in “feel good” apparel & accessories.  Their motto “take care of yourself, take care of the world” inspires us all to be organic, recycled, and earth-friendly in our products.

My twins have these tees and we just planted the hangtags in the garden.  I am so excited to see the flowers grow!

A LITTLE SOMETHING ABOUT THEIR COOL TEE SHIRTS…
• Tees made of organic cotton, recycled polyester & naturally occurring rayon
•  Tees made of 100% organic cotton
• Even our RT logo tag is organic cotton!
• “Feel good” shirts with positive messages
• Silk screened with non-toxic water based inks
• Prewashed so they are super soft & won’t shrink
• Individually rubbed with rocks to get that funky worn look
• Hang tags made of 100% post-consumer waste & embedded with flower seeds
• When tags are planted, wildflowers will grow… really, we’re not kidding!
• Hang tag string made from handmade recycled paper & tinted with vegetable dyes
• We donate a percentage of profits to charity
• Retail Therapy tees have already been seen on TV & are worn by celebs!

Popularity: 58% [?]

I just have to blow the horn for this awesome company. We just got the Safe Sippy™ cups for our 18 month old twins and they LOVE them. But most of all what I love is that they don’t leak or drip. We have tried countless brands - big famous ones - and they all leak or drip when the turn them over. And these look super mod.  How awesome is this?

Christina Aguilera with The Safe Sippy!girls

Kid Basix created The Safe Sippy™ drink cup in response to parents’ growing concerns about Bisphenol A and other harmful chemicals present in many plastic bottles. Now, we have expanded the “Safe” brand to include The Safe Starter™ stainless steel baby bottle and The Safe Sporter™ sports bottles to provide safe, reusable drink ware for the entire family.

Why go stainless when so many BPA-free plastic bottles are available now? We can give you 300 billion reasons. That’s the approximate number of plastic water bottles discarded around the world every year. Enough to power 12 million cars for an entire year. And that’s just the water bottles! It doesn’t include all the plastic bottles used for sodas, sports drinks, fruit juices and the like. All told, the plastic bottles we throw away each year would reach to the moon and back – 1500 times. So using reusable stainless steel bottles makes sense on every level: personal, local and global.

Popularity: 30% [?]

I wanted to include you in on a little secret….  A good friend of mine, Tara Marino put together an amazing guide for moms.  After reading “THE Sexy Mom Summer Survival Guide” I realized I had to get you a copy of it.

Consider this a FREE gift from me to you.  I am sure you will love it.  It is almost like a online magazine just for moms!  This 122 page EASY and FUN to read guide is packed with easy summer style tips, beauty tricks, ways to get slim, great things to do with the kid’s and much much more!

Click here to get this amazing guide for moms

If you are a busy mom who likes easy yet chic styles, and taking care of yourself this guide is for YOU.

I have already started to use many of these tips and ideas and I can’t believe how easy it is.

Here is your present.  You deserve it.

Have a beautiful summer,

xoxox
Sarah

Popularity: 22% [?]

I have been thinking a lot this week how hard it can be to decide to move forward with a new plan of action. The ladies in my current 26-week Tele-seminar are all moving forward with new ideas and it got me thinking about myself and what I am doing to move forward these days since I am not actually designing anything new right now. What I came to realize is that I wanted new solutions - fresh ideas and a new plan.

I too can get stuck and not know what to do next, or how to improve sales, attract new customers, or just feel stale about how I am doing things. I LOVE new ideas and try to always be coming up with something or some new way to do things – but no one is perfect right?

When I first started my handbag line I didn’t have plan of action. I just had an idea and thought it’d be fun to try to make it. As I progressed and my line started to take off, I realized how important a plan is, as well as a support team to help you execute it. Since I didn’t know the first thing about anything to do with manufacturing, selling, promoting or how to build a website I relied on people I met along the way to give me some advice and tried it all myself. I am a big believer in trying it all yourself first so you understand what needs to be done so you can know how to instruct the person helping you do the task.
I realized last week, that with everything I have going on in my life with work, my 17 month old twins, classes I am taking and teaching, that I had sort of let the delegating fall by the wayside – actually off the cliff the truth be told.

I recently met a very interesting man through a mastermind group I go to once a month at Ketchup in West Hollywood. I love this group. I find sitting with other entrepreneurs is so invigorating and gets your creative juices flowing. Anyway – this guy has a company that does market intelligence research to help you determine the best approach for your brand. He states “Information is the key to the market knowledge and success”. I was so taken by his presentation (and the fact that he thought he could really help me get a competitive edge going with my handbag hanger) that I hired him to consult for my Simply Sarah Company. I am so excited by the prospect of all the new information and the ideas he is going to bring me I don’t know how I am going to wait the 4 weeks for the full report! By just taking this ONE step, I feel totally reinvigorated and have a brand new excitement towards my own products.

I feel like I have a new plan of action and am looking forward to implementing it.

* What is your plan of action?
* What can you change about they way you are doing things this week?
* How can you take the first step towards realizing your ideas?
* Can you get something down on paper this week?

Here are a few simple steps to get your new ideas in motion:

Once you are armed with this information you may feel inspired to get an action plan and turn that “big idea” into a real product!

1. Write a description of your idea
2. How did you come up with this idea?
3. What does it look like?
4. How does it work?
5. Does it solve a problem for people?
6. What are the benefits?
7. Do you have a name for it?
8. What makes it unique
9. Who will buy it?
10. Where will you market it?

I want to hear from you – are you inspired?

Popularity: 30% [?]

Regina Brett’s 45 life lessons and 5 to grow on

by Regina Brett

To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.

It is the most-requested column I’ve ever written. My odometer rolls over to 50 this week, so here’s an update:

1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.

8. It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.

12. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don’t worry; God never blinks.

16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.

17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.

18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.

19. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Overprepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: “In five years, will this matter?”

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.

35. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.

36. Growing old beats the alternative - dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.

38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.

41. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

42. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.

43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

45. The best is yet to come.

46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

48. If you don’t ask, you don’t get.

49. Yield.

50. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.

To reach this Plain Dealer columnist:

rbrett@plaind.com or  216-999-6328

Popularity: 14% [?]