 We all have one of those tasks every now and then. The one that you know you've got to get done but every time you think about it your heart sinks and you try and think of a trillion other things to do instead.
You start off feeling motivated and then lose momentum... a little while later you're no further on and you know that the procrastination has to stop. For me, it's filing my Tax Self Assessment. Urgh, the thought of it just gives me shivers. Whatever it is for you, there are ways you can shake off the lack of focus and get that job done. Here are my top tips to finish what you start:
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 The world health organisation has officially identified “burnout” as an occupational phenomenon, describing it as a “syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed”
When running your own business, you may be putting your own needs at the bottom of your to-do list, as you are busy concentrating on building your brand. You need to be your number one priority, as at the end of the day, you’re your longest commitment and how you treat yourself, will eventually reflect in your business. There will be times when you feel powerless but the best thing you can do Is surrender to that feeling and take control of it. Be the cause not the effect. If you think you’re suffering from burnout, ask yourself the below;  The end of the school year is fast approaching... I'm not sure about you but I'm feeling a mixture of sadness, nostalgia, awe at how quickly another year has passed, and the burning question:
'But HOW am I going to entertain them for six weeks?' If you also have an overwhelming sense of dread and panic at how you're going to stop your business from skidding to a grinding halt, or even worse, disappointing clients or customers - fear not! I've pulled together a quick and easy read with some of my top tips to stop you from feeling as though you're being pulled in all directions and not actually achieving anything, and to help you stay productive but also be present:  If you’re reading this blog post, you’re 10 steps ahead of most business owners.
Most people don’t understand just how important words (aka copy) are for your business. But you know that even the most expensive websites won’t attract customers if your words aren’t working. And even the flashiest e-newsletters won’t get clicks if your copy isn’t catching your customers’ attention.  Can I start by saying: I bloody love working from home! I am a massive homebody and have loved the time working from home far more than when I was heading to an office every day.
We all know the positives: you work more efficiently as you're not distracted by your mate opposite asking if you watched Love Island last night, you can work around any commitments you may have, no more having to take a day's holiday while you wait for a delivery and the best bit - you get to work in PJ's and a face mask if you want! Of course, there are negative aspects too... it can be lonely, you need to make conscious trips out of the house so you don't become stir crazy, and for some it can be easy to become distracted. Being disciplined is the secret to making your business viable; and is also the key to making sure you don't end up working all hours. Some of the things I'm not good at are: draughts, making pancakes and poker. What I am good at is: poaching eggs perfectly, ten pin bowling and being a super efficient productivity ninja. So here are my tips to keep you effective, productive and in the zone when working from home...  Your business is growing (hooray!) but along with it, so is your To Do List. You've got so many ideas but not enough hours in the day to do them... sound familiar??
If you are just so swamped that you need some time to press pause on your mounting tasks and get back on track - just think how relieved you would feel knowing that you had an extra hour a day; the time to focus on projects that would really move your business forward?  Maintaining business social media profiles is hard work and pretty time consuming. Coming up with creative, diverse and relevant content and then creating a graphic sometimes feels very low on your list of priorities during a busy week.
But we also all know that social media is essential for your business to grow and thrive - being visible on social media is the number one marketing strategy that you must implement. As well as actually being there, you need to be consistent - educating and engaging your followers. Random and irregular posts don't give your potential clients the very best first impression of your fabulous business. So what happens during those weeks that you're on a deadline or working long hours? When posting to social media is the last thing that you want to do? I plan posting schedules for lots of different and diverse businesses and need a constant bank of inspiration. So I'm sharing with you some of my go to ideas for those times when you're having a bit of a creative block:  I'm always mentioning the apps that I couldn't live without over on my Instagram page, so I thought it might be useful for me to pull them together in one blog post - hope you find something here that makes your day that little bit easier!  If you are reaching the point where you are at your capacity, firstly, congratulations as things are obviously going very well for you in these uncertain times!
Now is probably the point that you are starting to consider having an extra pair of hands to delegate some of the time consuming tasks to, so that you can go back to what you do best and start winning new clients/customers. If you have been thinking of hiring an employee, but are worried about the cost, effort, and commitment, you may like to consider working with a Virtual Assistant. Certainly, employees are essential for some businesses - such as if you need on-site support, but there are several reasons to choose a virtual assistant the majority of the time.  If your inbox resembles a wasteland of lost emails that you vaguely remember seeing, and every morning sitting down at your desk fills you with dread thinking of all of the messages you need to reply to, keep reading!
As a born organiser, I break out into a cold sweat whenever my unread emails start to reach double figures, so have developed lots of strategies to keep on top of a busy inbox. I'm here to offer you some strategies to help manage your emails more effectively, and gain back valuable time, so that you are no longer a slave to your inbox. The sheer volume of electronic correspondence we receive daily and need to respond to can feel overwhelming, which is why we all need to employ strategies to manage our emails more effectively and stop being a slave to the inbox and get on with the real work at hand. I could spend hours here, so I will try and keep to my top tips which will really make an immediate impact for you...Keep in mind that these strategies may not work for everyone. So use your own best judgement when you think about how to manage your email.  Happy New Year! I can't believe it is 2019 already! I love the start of a new year, the chance to reset my goals and move forward with purpose and clarity of what I want to achieve in the next twelve months. As I know that a lot of people feel the same, I thought I would write a blog offering some tips on how to nail your social media strategy for 2019. As we all know, social media is now pretty much an essential marketing tool for all small businesses, and with this in mind, here are five great ways to be at the top of your social media game this year...  Often when I begin working with a new client, they are a bag of mixed emotions...a combination of feeling hesitant that they are doing the right thing spending valuable money on outsourcing, and being relieved that the tasks that they dread, or simply can't find the time for, will finally be gone from their To Do list so that they can focus on spending time working ON their business, rather than working IN their business.
 So often, I will start working with a client and evolve from helping with one aspect of their business to covering many more. Here are 20 tasks that I can help you with, so that you have more time to concentrate on growing your business...
 Are you feeling snowed under, with not enough hours in the day to focus on your goals that actually create new business opportunities and drive your business forward?
Many of the businesses I connect with don't realise that the service that I provide is available to them; and have concerns that working with a Virtual Assistant is expensive, not worth the hassle, or they don't have enough work to justify working with a VA. |
How I can make your life easier... |
Things you might want to know... |
The boring stuff... |
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