Your Complete Guide to Strategic Task Lists

Business, Goals and Business Planning, Strategic Thinking, Time Management

Your Complete Guide To Strategic Task Lists

Here’s the honest truth for entrepreneurs - your task list will NEVER be complete. There will always be more to do! So how can you manage everything without tasks or projects slipping through the cracks? Use strategic task lists.

Why You Should Use a Strategic Task List

A strategic task list is a list of tasks that can help you achieve your goals. It is a tool that can help you stay organized and focused on what you need to accomplish. It can be used for a variety of purposes and is one of the strongest time-management tools you can have in your arsenal.

Strategic Planning:

Use the list to organize your thoughts and plan out your agenda for the day or week with each item representing an action or project you want to complete.

Goal Setting:

The tasks on the list are those things that support your goals, making it easier to remember what needs to be accomplished in order to reach them.

Resource Management:

This type of task list is often used by people who need reminders about what’s happening at work so they know which meetings they need to attend, identify gaps, and maximize capacity.

Change Your Strategy by Having a Strategic Task List

If you have a task list, you are more likely to complete it within time limits which will lead you to accomplish your goals faster.

With a written strategic task list, you are less likely to be derailed or distracted by small tasks that may not seem urgent but actually are urgent. Being able to identify what needs immediate attention is important for an organization’s success.

When there is clarity about what needs to be accomplished time gaps are eliminated and you achieve maximum productivity levels.

Create the Perfect Strategic Task List

Creating the perfect strategic task is easier than you might think. Following these simple steps will ensure that your task list is effective:

First, do a brain dump! Using a pen and paper, set a timer for 15 minutes. Write down EVERYTHING that you need to do - business and personal. Do not assign deadlines, edit or prioritize yet. When the timer goes off, try to go for another 5 minutes.

Next, prioritize the tasks using the time management matrix:

Urgent + Important: Must do tasks with a clear deadline such as paying taxes, paying bills, completing work on a deadline. If this isn’t done - there is a clear consequence!

Urgent + NOT Important: Time-sensitive tasks that should get done such as replying to your emails, client communication, working with your team. This is an excellent area to automate and systemize.

NOT Urgent + NOT Important: These are tricky tasks because these are the ‘should do’ tasks we say yes to without determining if they really help us reach our goals. Learn to say NO to these tasks. Outsource to another to handle this area.

NOT Urgent + IMPORTANT: This is where you want to play! Focus your time and energy on important revenue-generating tasks such as marketing, sales, or developing new revenue streams.
Many of the tasks should be based on your goals. I find it helpful to keep a printed copy of my goals on my desk, usually in my day planner, for quick reference.

Finally, check your daily task list at night and prioritize the remaining tasks based on what you should be working on first. Create a fresh list every morning pulling forward the unfinished tasks from the day before.

It is important for any organization to have a strategic task list. Whether your company has 1 employee or 100 employees, using strategic lists will help them understand the steps needed to reach the end goal and thus, provide stability and consistency in your strategy.

To help you get started with your strategic goal planning, grab this FREE Goal Planner:

Are You Realistic About Your Goals?

Business, Goals and Business Planning, Strategic Thinking

Are Your Realistic About Your Goals?

People often struggle in both life and business with the process of goal-setting—more than likely, you’ve read a lot about creating SMART goals. SMART is an acronym for: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. SMART goals give direction and focus to your efforts. If your goal is without focus, or if you are unable to tell if it's working, odds are you'll be wasting time.

Let's Be Clear

If there’s one thing that keeps people stuck, it’s a lack of clarity.

You know you want to quit your soul-sucking day job in favor of the freedom of self-employment, but you aren’t clear on the steps to take. You want to take an exotic vacation, but you aren’t sure where to go—or how to make it happen. You want to grow your business but aren’t even sure what that means.

The truth is, with ambiguous “goals” such as these, in five or ten years, you’ll still be right where you’re at today. But with a little clarity, you can achieve any goal you can conceive. The first step is simple, visualize what you want.

Start With A Vision

A vision board is a planning tool that allows you to unleash your creativity and daydream in a tangible format. Vision boards can serve to keep you inspired when boredom strikes and remind you of why you’re working so hard when all you want to do is take a nap. Best of all, creating a vision board is easy—and fun!

Start by collecting images that represent your biggest goals. Gather pictures from magazines, photos from a favorite vacation, ads of products you want to have. I had a postcard from the New Yorker hotel I used to keep pinned on a board above my desk. I looked at it every day and knew I would be there one day. Four months later, I accepted a position at a start-up company in New York City!

Use images, graphics, photos that express what you want. Dollar signs, or a specific figure, to represent your desired bank account balance. Phrases and quotes that inspire you. Add it all to your new vision board.

Your vision board is a living document. Your dreams and goals will change. Some you will achieve and remove from your board to make room for bigger and better dreams. Some you will decide no longer matter, and you’ll trade them for some others. It’s your vision, and it’s entirely up to you what dreams you choose to follow.

Keep your vision board within sight; you’ll be better able to focus on the steps necessary to reach your goals. I keep mine hanging on my wall directly opposite my bed. It’s the first thing I see in the morning and the last thing I see before going to sleep.

Now, Create Your Goals

Using your vision board as your roadmap, create three SMART business goals and at least two SMART personal development goals. Quantitate each goal and include a deadline date. Write your goals out and keep them visible. If this is not feasible, make sure they are easily accessible.

Keep It Real

It’s fun to fantasize about becoming a millionaire or making a high six-figure salary while sitting on the beach. The problem with this is that it’s just not that realistic. It’s not to say that no one has ever done it, but more than likely, they already had tons of resources like money and contacts that allowed them to delegate while they were lying on the beach.

When you come up with a figure or a measure for your goal to track, you want the number to be realistic and not just pulled out of thin air.

To be accurate and realistic about how much you can earn, you need to figure out the order of operations at your business. How many hours will you have available for clients, and how many hours will be set aside for business administration? A typical 40-hour workweek will probably give you four or five hours billable in a day, and the rest of the time, you’ll need to work on marketing and other aspects of your business. If your billable rate is $40 an hour, that will provide a gross income of $1,000/week. Reduce that by business expenses and personal draw to reach your net income. Will that be enough to sustain and grow your business?

Perhaps you can find other ways to increase your billable hours, such as outsourcing or hiring full-time employees. The main thing is that you should not leave these numbers to chance. Design your entire day and determine what is realistic for your goals in each case. Don’t just pull a number out of the air. Think about the number and how it can happen or not happen before you put it in writing.

Personally Speaking

Use the same process for your personal development goals. Think about what skills you want to improve; how long will it take to develop? Are there classes you can take? A good freelance education source is Freelance University. You can find any skill development course in their extensive library. Now, create a SMART goal. For example, perhaps you want to become more efficient with Excel to maintain your financial plan or even automate some of your tasks. You could write, “By March 1 (or any date you choose), take an Excel course to increase efficiency with some of my business administration tasks.”

Review Your Goals

Now that you’ve taken the time to create some fantastic goals set up a schedule to evaluate your goals. I suggest reviewing your goals quarterly at a minimum. Assess where you are, is the goal progressing as anticipated; are you on track to complete as stated? Make any necessary alterations and note why the changes are required.

Planning and working towards your goals should not be a source of stress if you remember to think about what you want and how you will get there. This step helps clarify expectations and ensures that the goal is SMART and worthwhile.

To help you get started with your strategic goal planning, grab this FREE Goal Planner:

The Handwritten Letter

Business, Customer Care, Helpful Tips, Sales and Marketing

The Handwritten Letter

Letter writing seems to be a lost art in today's age of instant messaging and email. However, whether it's the power of the written word or the belief that a handwritten letter is more meaningful and unique, it is still alive and kicking as many people prefer to receive handwritten letters and cards.

I remember receiving my birthday card, or an encouraging note (on a notecard!) from the VP of our division, back in my Corporate life. I cannot express how I felt opening that card and reading the handwritten note from her. Even more amazing, was knowing that she took the time to write a personalized message in all the notes and cards she sent out, to all the employees. This is the same tradition my mother instilled in us girls, and I hope I have passed it on to my daughter. The handwritten letter or note is about as personal as you can get, and something I do in my business today.

The process of letter writing has changed over time as we moved more into a digitalized world. However, some people continue to put pen to paper because they believe that there is something more personal about it than other digital formats. Handwritten letters can be more personalized than an email because they can show personality in their words through the actual handwriting itself, or drawing pictures on the letter or card. This personality cannot be replicated in an email or text.

While some people may argue that handwritten letters are less efficient than paperless postcards or emails, there are many benefits to handwritten postcards and letters.

Surprise and delight your clients

Companies should not underestimate the power of handwritten letters. It can increase clients' enthusiasm and surprise them with a personal touch. A handwritten letter helps to form a bond with your client.

Improves your memory

Handwriting helps us remember things better. The act of writing by hand engages more of the brain than typing on a computer or using predictive text on your smartphone. It's easier for us to remember what we've written down if it's in our own handwriting.

Promotes mindfulness

The simple act of handwriting something generates a sense of calm and mindfulness that you can’t get from typing or even talking on the phone. This is the same sense of calm we feel when coloring. Some people use handwritten letters as an excuse to send snail mail – hand-written postcards, letters with drawings, thank you notes, etc. Others use them as a creative outlet – drawing doodles or little sketches on their envelopes for no reason at all.

Allows for reflection and a more thought-provoking message

Handwritten letters are deliberate, thought-provoking, and represent a deeper meaning than an email can. As we move deeper into the digital age and instantaneous writing with predictive text, we sometimes forget how important it is to be intentional with our words and expressions.

Sends the message that you care

Companies that use handwritten postcards or greeting cards for clients show that they have taken the time to personally put something together for them - which is an unexpected touch.

A handwritten letter is a time-honored tradition. It is the perfect way to show someone how much you care. Whether it's a heartfelt note, a long overdue apology, or even an invitation to be your date for the evening—a handwritten letter will express all of your feelings in just the right way.

Handwritten letters are not just about saying what you want to say—they are about who you are as well. Understandably, there are many things that people send by email these days that would have traditionally been sent by paper mail. But if you're looking for something personal and thoughtful, nothing beats the intimacy of the written word on paper!

Tips For A Smooth Return After The Holidays

Business, Helpful Tips, Self Care, Time Management

Tips For a Smooth Return After the Holidays

Taking some time off during the Holidays? Looking forward to enjoying some festivities, but dread the mountain of work you know will be waiting when you return? Make a few preparations now, before you leave, and follow some tips when you return, to help ease you back into a routine and maybe even stretch your relaxed and festive mood well into the first week or two of the new year!

Tips Before You Leave:

Automate Your Email

Create Rules to Filter Emails:

Setting up filters to determine which emails should receive priority upon your return is a huge time saver! Gmail allows you to mark which email type, or contact, as important or with a star. You can even color-code your stars in order of priority in the Settings section.

In Outlook, go to “Rules & Alerts”. There you can fully customize how you want your incoming messages to behave. Sending them to a folder or marking as high priority, are just a couple of timesaving filters.

Out of Office Automatic Reply:

First, take time right now to set up your Out-Of-Office and Voicemail message. These are probably the two most overlooked yet simplest tasks to quickly take care of. Outlook’s “Automatic Replies” and Gmail’s “Vacation Reply” will let you schedule the OOO in advance. Your message can be anything from “I’m outta here!” (not really recommended 🤭) to something more elaborate with information the sender may need. You can also decide if you want the automatic reply to go to everyone, even those outside your organization, or contact list only.

Most voicemails will let you schedule an outgoing message to run at a specific time, but if your phone system doesn’t allow for advance messaging, write the message out now and have it ready to quickly record.

Remember, the idea of advanced settings is so you don’t stress yourself unnecessarily by waiting until 5 minutes before you’re trying to get out the door!

Organize Your Calendar Now

Schedule Meetings Now:

That New Year staff meeting can wait until Tuesday afternoon – 2:30PM to be exact – after you return. A study by YouCanBookMe, shows this to be the very best time to schedule a meeting. Also, don’t forget to schedule a reminder, preferably with a scheduled email in addition to the popup reminder notification.

And, while you’re adding meetings to your calendar, I want you to schedule 3 lunches your first week back. As you ease your way back into the routine, time away becomes paramount. Schedule alternate days (I recommend this!), or consecutively, but do it in “ink” and do not allow yourself to cancel.

Make Time to Socialize:

Michael Kerr, an international business speaker and author of "The Humor Advantage,” recommends:

"If your work situation permits it, leave a day after you've 'officially' booked off and arrive a day before you've announced your official return. This buys you an extra distraction-free day at both ends of your vacation so that you leave feeling better prepared and more relaxed and return to work without feeling overwhelmed."

Another wiggle room tip is your catch-up time. Everyone wants to catch up, get the details of your holiday, whether they stop by your desk, or catch you in the Zoom meeting, these quick “water cooler” chats can quickly morph into a time vampire! Block about 30 minutes of “catch up” time to socialize and catch up with your office pals. Scheduling this time will help avoid unnecessary interruptions and keep you focused.

Prioritize Your Task List:

Make a complete list of all the projects you are working on. Are there any projects that have been on a backburner for over a year, take a good look at it – are you really going to work on them? Can they be delegated or even discarded? Take a few minutes to prioritize everything – use the Eisenhower Matrix to help organize these projects. Your “vacation brain” will thank you when it’s time to jump back into things.

The Eisenhower Decision Matrix

Set up your return task list now for at least the first two days back. When adding tasks, keep it real! Don’t set unrealistic deadlines for your first day back and don’t try to do everything on that first day, this will only leave you overwhelmed, underproductive, and put you behind in your work.

The first day should be sorting through and answering priority emails, just dip your toe in the water, no cannonballs on this day!

Day two should consist of your top three priorities, in order of deadline dates.

Schedule Social Media Posts

Schedule your Holiday messages now using programs such as Hootsuite and Sendible. You can also schedule posts directly on your Facebook and Instagram business pages using Publishing Tools.

If you have a lot of customer interaction, you could hire a Virtual Assistant to reply to comments and private messages, and keep the engagement going.

Communicate

Get in touch with your clients and let them know you’ll be away. If you’re able, have a backup contact for them in case any urgent needs arise. Clients will appreciate the high-touch service.

Kerr says:

"Contact any high-priority clients before going to make sure you've answered any questions and addressed their needs before heading out. It's not only a great customer service habit to get into, it will give you greater peace of mind. It also gives you a simple but legitimate excuse to reach out to clients you may not have talked to in a while."

If you work with a team, make sure everyone is aware of your travel plans and how to reach you in case of an emergency.

Clean Up Your Desk

About 20 minutes before the end of your day, take some time to clean up your desk. Put away the files you’ve been working on, put books back where they belong, straighten up the supplies. Take one last look at your Task list. Are there any projects that have been on a backburner for over a year – are you really going to work on them? Can they be delegated or even discarded?

Tips For Your Return:

Stealth Mode

Try to stay in a selective stealth mode the first few days back, giving those that “need to know” a heads up about your return. Break up the first few days into little chunks. For example, take care of emails and phone calls on the first day, and review reports on day two.

Do Not Stay Late

As tempting as it might be, slowly easing back into that full “work late” schedule will help you be more focused and productive.

Part of the lure of a vacation is that you're free to do as you please. Work often seems like the end of the fun part of your vacation. Nonetheless, with a bit of strategic planning, and following a few return tips, you can help relieve the stress of the return and harness the excitement and happiness of your vacation.

Happy Holidays!

7 Strategies For More Productivity

Accountants, Accounting Firms, Bookkeeping, Business, Goals and Business Planning, Helpful Tips, Time Management

7 Strategies For More Productivity (and why they work!)

One of the most difficult things about planning your day effectively is prioritizing your daily goals. With so many things that we want to accomplish each day, it can be tough to decide where to start. I’ve put together eight different strategies and why they work. Choose the best one for you, or mix them up. There is no right or wrong way as long as you make the most of your time and achieve your goals!

The Warren Buffet Strategy

This strategy has three steps:

Step 1: Write down your top twenty-five goals. These could be career goals, personal goals, weekly goals, annual goals, etc.)

Step 2: Go over your list and circle your top 5 goals. Make sure to take some time with this part; don’t rush it!

STOP – Do NOT proceed to Step 3 until you have first done the two steps above.

Step 3: Now you essentially have two lists: the circled items are List A, and the remaining items are List B. So logically, the next thing to do is start on your most important tasks. Well, not exactly. Here’s the catch – Buffet says this, “Everything you didn’t circle just became your Avoid-At-All-Costs list. No matter what, these things get no attention from you until you’ve succeeded with your Top 5.” For Step 3, you only want to focus on working on the items on List A.

Why it works:

Eliminating things you care about is the most difficult part of this productivity method. Those twenty items on List B are things you care about, just like the items on List A. They are tasks that important to you for one reason or another. It’s super easy to tell yourself that you’re being productive while spending time on those twenty tasks. But when you hold them up to your top five goals, those other tasks are simply distractions from your biggest goals. Spending your limited time on secondary priorities may just be the reason you still have twenty half-completed projects instead of five finished ones.

The Ivy Lee Strategy

Step 1: At the end of each day, jot down the six most important tasks you must accomplish the next day. ONLY six. Don’t write more than that. These can be work or personal tasks. (You could actually do a separate list for both!)

Step 2: Prioritize those six tasks in order of how important they are and how much they will impact your end goals.

Step 3: The next day, when you start working, focus ONLY on the first task. Work on it until it is finished before you move on to the next item on the list.

Step 4: Continue down the list, marking off each item as you complete it. Remember, you prioritized this list yesterday, so there’s no need to jump around between tasks – stick with the priority order you already lined up.

Step 5: At the end of the day, move any tasks you didn’t complete to a new list of six tasks for the next day. This is also a good time to re-evaluate each item and decide if it’s really one of the most important tasks you need to complete.

Step 6: Repeat this process every day (or every working day)

Why does it work?

Simply put, it works because it’s simple. This strategy requires you to make hard decisions. Trimming the fat is one of the best things you can do when your brain is full of ideas or you feel overwhelmed by your to-do list. It forces you to get really serious with yourself when you focus on eliminating those tasks that aren’t absolutely necessary. We all have a myriad of things we’d like to do, and we may even consider many of those things to be tasks we must do. But the truth is that imposing limits on yourself can make you a more productive person. If you try to do everything, you usually get nothing meaningful accomplished.

This strategy also eliminates the friction of starting. For most people, getting started is the biggest hurdle! Creating your prioritized list the day before allows you just to sit down and get to work the next day without spending hours waffling back and forth about what to work on. Just getting started is as important to your success as finishing.

Finally, effective productivity strategies require focus, and this strategy works because it gets rid of multi-tasking. As much as people like to think they are multi-tasking machines that can accomplish all the things at once, science says otherwise. Multi-tasking has been shown repeatedly to be inefficient. You can’t do great on the task when your attention is divided a million ways.

The Anthony Trollope Strategy

This strategy is even more simple than the others. Trollope simply did the following:

Step 1: Set a timer for 15 minutes.

Step 2: Write 250 words before the timer goes off.

Step 3: Repeat 12 times throughout the day for a total of 3 hours.

With this simple method, Trollope completed 47 novels, 18 non-fiction books, 12 short stories, and 2 plays, in addition to multiple articles and letters.

“This division of time allowed me to produce over ten pages of an ordinary novel volume a day, and if kept up through ten months, would have given as its results three novels of three volumes each in the year…” —Anthony Trollope

Why does it work?

Anthony Trollope was an author (obviously), and writing a book is a pretty big project. It’s impossible to complete in one sitting, much less one day. So instead of tracking progress by how many books or chapters he wrote, Trollope simply aimed for 250 words in 15 minutes, multiple times a day. This made him feel accomplished and successful each day because, even though he wasn’t writing an ENTIRE book that day, he was completing 3,000 words towards the overall project daily.

Measuring progress in smaller increments helps you to keep the momentum going throughout a bigger task. And more momentum means more progress, which means even more tasks will get completed overall. This strategy applies to any big projects, not just writing ones. Think about how you can break your tasks out into highly productive, 15-minute segments throughout the day.

The quicker you finish a task and check it off of your to-do list, the faster you will feel like you are being productive and effective each day. This early win can be a crucial part of keeping your attitude upbeat, and your drive going as you complete the remainder of your tasks throughout the day.

Simply put, Anthony Trollope’s strategy allows you to get the immediate payoff of finishing a task quickly and the long-term value of working on your most important goals.

The Eisenhower Matrix Strategy

The Eisenhower Matrix strategy uses a decision matrix to help you prioritize the tasks on your to-do list. There are four different categories: urgent and important, important but not urgent, urgent but not important, and neither urgent nor important.

Urgent and important – these are tasks you need to do right away

Important, but not urgent – these are tasks you should schedule to do later

Urgent, but not important – these are tasks you can (and should!) delegate to someone else

Neither urgent nor important – these are tasks that you should just remove from your to-do list completely

As you start each day, it’s important to look back at the previous day’s matrix to see what urgent and important tasks you didn’t complete. Those need to either be at the top of your list for the day or decide if you can delegate them right away. Or they aren’t as urgent as you initially thought, and you can move them to the section of the matrix for later scheduling. Remember, urgent tasks are those you need to react to or take action on right away, whereas important tasks help you reach your long-term goals.

Why does it work?

One of the best things about the Eisenhower Matrix is that you can use more than one for bigger plans (weekly, monthly, etc.) and for smaller daily tasks as well. The other great thing about it is that you can use it to help you make decisions and prioritize over and over.

But what really makes it shine? The Eisenhower Matrix requires you to make tough decisions about your goals and all the tasks on your plate. The secret is the fourth quadrant of the matrix, the tasks that are not important or urgent.

Too often, we equate busyness with productivity, and that is not the case. In fact, the fastest way to get something “done” is to eliminate it entirely. This strategy allows you to regularly evaluate each task and ask yourself, “Do I really need to be doing this?” It takes a little more thought and effort, but the time and energy you save on those eliminated tasks will be well worth it!

The Essentialism Strategy

Essentialism, at its core, is about discernment in how you make decisions – with a slow, carefully considered “yes” or a quick, decisive “no.” It’s about recognizing all of your responsibilities and homing in on what is most essential to you. Being more intentional about your choices will give you more control over your daily life and, therefore, more time and energy available for productivity.

Step 1: Write each task down on a separate piece of paper (like a sticky note).

Step 2: Look at everything you have written before you and ask yourself, “If I could only keep one of these, which would it be?” Place the chosen task’s paper face down.

Step 3: Repeat Step 2 again with the remaining tasks. Once you’ve selected one, place it face down on top of the first task you selected.

Step 4: Repeat until all the papers are in one stack.

Step 5: Flip the stack over and work from the top, as you’ve just prioritized your to-do list!

Why does it work?

Saying “yes” to everything (or making no decision at all) means giving up your choice and losing control. Your purpose is greater than just being someone else’s workhorse. When you don’t make your own choices, you can’t work towards where you want to be, in either work or life. This often results in being overextended, stressed, frustrated, and less effective. Practicing discernment and saying “no” more frequently can take some work, but it gets easier as you go.

Personal Kanban Strategy

Personal Kanban is a system based on Lean manufacturing principles but applied on a personal level. Personal Kanban only has two rules: make your list visual and limit your work-in-progress (WIP). It’s a strategy that anyone can use, regardless of their situation, age, or learning style. Its visual nature is also great for those struggling with figuring out where to begin working on daily tasks.

Step 1: Create a board or poster with three columns: To-Do, In Progress, and Complete.

Step 2: Make a sticky note (also called a “card”) for each thing you need to complete.

Step 3: Add each sticky note to the To-Do column.

Step 4: Label each sticky note task as high, medium, or low priority

Step 5: Choose 2-3 tasks, place them in the In Progress column, and get to work.

Step 6: Move it to the Complete column as you complete each task. Then take another task from the To-Do column and move it over to In Progress.

Step 7: Rinse and repeat.

Why does it work?

Personal Kanban gives you a visual system to prioritize your tasks to promote balance and productivity. People often overextend themselves or bounce between unfinished products, so having a visual reminder of the In Progress tasks helps keep you on track and focused. Make sure to always move a new task into the In Progress column as you complete other tasks. This ensures that you will have a steady flow of tasks, which leads to increased productivity and effectiveness. It’s also a great way to keep you focused on only 2-3 tasks at any given time, helping prevent overwhelm and burnout.

The Attention Span & Energy Strategy

This strategy utilizes block scheduling to maximize your most productive times during the day. Your attention span and energy levels greatly impact productivity and distractibility. Focusing on harder and more time-consuming tasks during your most alert and productive hours will yield much better results.

Step 1: Evaluate your current calendar/schedule – Start by tracking how you spend your time for a week. Include every activity (even the mindless social media scrolling!) and how much time you spend on each thing. Once you have a better idea of how you are spending your time, it will be much easier to create a new, more efficient schedule.

Step 2: Look for patterns – Review your activities from the previous week and group the tasks into categories such as meetings, creative work, email, social media, household tasks, family time, etc. Alternatively, you can categorize tasks based on how you feel while doing them or how they impact your energy levels on a scale from 1 to 10. Any method will work; it’s all about what makes the most sense for you.

Step 3: Organize your time blocks – Use the categorization in Step 2 to help you lay out blocks of time throughout the day. Be sure to plan the most intensive tasks during your high-energy times. You may have to play around with the schedule to find what works best for you, but here’s an example for inspiration:

8:00-9:00 am – Check and respond to emails
9:00-10:00 am – Marketing tasks
10:00-10:15 am – Snack/walk break
10:15 am-10:45 am – Fold laundry and clean bathrooms
10:45-11:45 am – Phone calls
11:45-12:15 pm – Lunch/walk break
12:15-1:00 pm – Prep things for dinner
1:00-2:00 pm – Outsourcing check-ins/assignments
2:00-2:30 pm – Customer support tasks
2:30-3:30 pm – Graphic design work
3:30-4:00 pm – Evaluate today’s progress and create a schedule for tomorrow

Bonus Tip: Create day themes – some people find that switching gears during the day causes them to get distracted and lose focus. If that’s the case for you, try day themes instead. Monday can be marketing day, Tuesday can be a creative workday, etc. If you choose to go this route, be sure to schedule in a family/rest day as well to rejuvenate yourself.

Why does it work?

Block scheduling can be a great tool to combat procrastination. When you know you only have 30 minutes to get something done, staying focused and on task is much easier. It’s also a good way to get a better grasp of how much time it takes you to complete different tasks. We tend to underestimate how long things will take to complete – using a block schedule for a few weeks will give you a better idea of how much time you really need to complete things. Finally, when your schedule doesn’t allow space for mindless tasks like chatting with friends or scrolling social media, you’ll find it much easier to pay attention to the task at hand.

And finally, Newton’s Third Law of Motion says,

“When one body exerts a force on a second body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction on the first body. (Equal and opposite forces.)”

Your typical productivity and efficiency level result from your life's productive and unproductive forces. Productive forces are things like focus, motivation, drive, and positivity. Unproductive forces include things such as poor sleep quality, stress, poor eating habits, and overextending yourself.

To become more productive and efficient, you must either increase your productive force or eliminate unproductive forces. Increasing your productive force is possible but often results in exhaustion and burnout. The better option is to work to remove unproductive forces from your life instead. You can do this by reducing stress, taking on fewer responsibilities, living a healthy lifestyle, setting appropriate boundaries, etc. It’s all about removing those obstacles that are holding you back.

Effective Daily Planning: Getting Things Done

Accountants, Accounting Firms, Business, Goals and Business Planning, Helpful Tips, Time Management

Effective Daily Planning: Getting Things Done

It's no secret that the world is a fast-paced place. We're constantly inundated with new information, technology, and change. For many Accountants and CPAs, this pace can be overwhelming. If you don't take the time to plan your days, you can easily lose focus and become less productive. This can lead to even more stress and anxiety as you try to play catch-up.

Not planning your day can lead to missed opportunities and goals and can hurt your client relationships.

Learning to be more productive in your everyday life is important to combat this. And while there are many different ways to increase productivity, one of the most important is learning how to effectively plan out each day.

First, you must define what "done" means to you and your staff if planning their day. Knowing your "done" will help you plan realistically (and stop when it's 'done' – no perfectionism allowed). This may mean setting a daily or weekly goal for what you want to achieve. For example, if your goal is to complete your continuing education plan, "done" could mean completing two hours daily. If your goal is to engage more with your followers on social media, "done" could mean posting and interacting three times a week. Once you clearly understand what "done" looks like, you can start to really plan your days.

Next, you must decide what end results would make the day a success for you and your team. This will help you focus on what's truly important and let go of anything that isn't. This step involves really thinking about what you want and need to achieve. If you don't know what results you want, it's pretty hard to plan your day effectively!

The next step is to break down those desired results into tasks - the actions you need to take to make the day a success. Be mindful of what you choose to prioritize, you don't want to waste time doing tasks that won't help you achieve your daily goals. This is also a great time to note any tasks that you can delegate to your virtual assistant to lighten your load.

Planning and Preparing

Now that you've decided what "done" looks like, selected your goals for the day, and broken them down into tasks, it's time to start planning and preparing.

What does that look like? For many, it involves planning out times throughout the day for specific prioritized tasks. Start with the most important tasks first.

Part of the planning process also involves preparing. Ensuring you have all the necessary resources is an important piece of the productivity puzzle. Try sketching out a general plan for the week in advance and list the resources you need to obtain or access for each task. Especially if it’s something you need from someone else or if you need to provide it to a staff member so they can do their task. Preparing in advance allows time for you to get all of those things together.

Another part of the process is to plan ahead. Use a weekly or monthly planner in addition to the daily plan. Planning ahead allows you to allocate your time appropriately to achieve your goals. If you want to complete a large number of work tasks, but you also have several doctor appointments, meetings, kids’ activities, etc., scheduled that week, you’ll quickly see that you do not have as much time as you thought and you can prioritize tasks accordingly.

Bonus tip: Publishing the company's weekly or monthly plan also helps your staff better plan their day!

You can also use productivity technology that's available to you to make your tasks easier. Many tools are available today that can automate processes or at least make them simpler or faster to complete. Digital planners, Google Calendar, productivity apps, AI tools, scheduling tools, etc., are all technology resources you can utilize to make your life (and work!) easier. Don’t get so caught up in finding the “perfect” technology to use either – the best tools are the ones you will use consistently.

If you are not as productive as you think you should be or if your staff hangs out more at the water cooler, using a strategy like the ones shared above can be an excellent way to get things done by focusing on the goals and tasks most important to your accounting firm. And finally, check your plans often to ensure they match your goals and adjust when necessary. What works in the summer months may not be realistic during Tax season.

What Is Your Time Vampire?

Accounting Firms, Business, Goals and Business Planning, Helpful Tips, Time Management

What Is Your Time Vampire?

Part I of our Time Management Series

One of our most valuable resources is time. In fact, in some ways, time is the only limited resource. Every person has the same time each day to accomplish whatever it is that they desire. On average, most people have approximately the same number of years of life to achieve all that they want too.

If that’s true, why do some people seem to get a fantastic amount accomplished, while others seem to lack time to do the same, even given the same time to get things done?

The truth is that many people sabotage themselves when it comes to being productive. They waste time without even thinking about it, in ways that do not notice, and then wonder how they’ll ever be successful with the limitations given to them.

The first thing to do to eliminate time wasters in your life is to recognize them for what they are and how they affect your life. Once you identify what is wasting your time, either delegate the task or item or eliminate it. That sounds easy, but some things may be more challenging to identify than others.

Grab a pen and paper, find a quiet place, turn off your phone – set up a no distraction zone, and find your time vampires.

Be Honest About How You're Spending Your Time

You’ll need to get real with yourself. It’s so easy to say that you don’t have time for things, but how much time are you really spending on Facebook, watching TV, surfing the Internet, gaming, and doing things that do not lead you toward meeting your responsibilities and realizing your life’s goals? Can you spend your time better? Absolutely!

What is a Timewaster?

For most people, time wasters are apparent. They consist of activities like watching TV, surfing social media, playing games, and doing things that get in the way of productivity haphazardly. For others, they may need to dig to figure out where they’re leaking time. For example, is a friend calling you every day and talking to you an hour or more? Does a co-worker stop by your desk for “one quick question” that turns into a 30-minute chat session?

Even things that seem significant on the surface, like talking to your co-worker, can end up becoming a time sucker if you are allowing it to get in the way of your overall schedule. Write down any item that you think might be a timewaster.

Do you procrastinate on this task?

Now let’s look at some tasks at which you tend to procrastinate. Make a list of them without any judgment. Right now, don’t deem them as timewasters or essential tasks. If you tend to put it off, or often don’t do it until the last possible minute, or even at all (even when it’s needed), write it down.

The truth is, most of the items you procrastinate about are going to be timewasters, but they might not be something you think of immediately as a timewaster. Of course, you must pay your bills, but if you put it off, pay them late, do it last minute, and aren’t scheduling and organizing, you’re wasting time someplace.

What Bottlenecks can you Identify?

Look at a day, or a week, of your life. Write down any times of the day that seem overwhelming in terms of the time you have available versus what you need to accomplish. For example, are you having trouble preparing healthy meals on practice nights? Are you missing deadlines to submit work to clients? Do you often feel rushed and overwhelmed? Write down each time that happens during the week that you monitor.

Each situation needs to be analyzed so that you can figure out how better to accomplish your tasks. For example, on practice nights, eat leftovers for dinner, such as leftover turkey wraps that can easily be thrown together in 15 minutes and eaten with the hands.

Are You Losing Track of Time? Why?

During some portions of your day, you may find that you’re losing track of time when you’re doing those things. For example, some people lose track of time while surfing on the internet, or social media. They’re looking for a 30-minute recipe to cook their favorite meal, but they get sucked into the internet, and it takes an hour or two to find the recipe.

Other things might be less noticeable. However, if you think something takes 30 minutes to do and it really ends up taking an hour or more to do, you’re either losing track of time for some reason, or it really takes longer, and you’ve scheduled incorrectly.

Can You Identify an Outside Source That's Distracting You?

Some timewasters almost seem as if they’re utterly uncontrollable because they come from outside sources. They can be family, friends, colleagues, and bosses, and others, causing the issue for you. Identify these issues for yourself. Once you realize what’s happening, start setting boundaries, or find a way to work around the person or thing distracting you.

People really cannot multitask/ Our brains are simply not wired for it; we just think we can. If you have set aside time to journal each night to become more thankful, you may be wasting time by keeping the television on while doing it. However, knitting a birthday sweater while you watch TV might work out great. The only way to know whether you’re more productive without multitasking or not is to try doing things without multitasking and time yourself.

What Is and What Is Not Getting Done?

Believe it or not, sometimes, the things that are getting done don’t even need to be done and get in the way of you getting important things done.

Make a list of things and tasks that are and are not getting done. What was the purpose of the tasks you completed? Were they a part of your plan, or did you get sidetracked? What about the tasks not getting done at all by you or anyone due to being overlooked. Put all these in order of importance. If you want them to get done, put them at the top of the list. If they don’t matter in the scheme of things, put them at the bottom, and then eliminate them.

Time Vampires

Let's talk about a few of the typical time vampires that you probably want to work on stopping right now. You'll likely find more as you work toward discovery in your situation, but most people can agree that the following are common time suckers that you should stop doing now.

Not Setting Goals

The very first thing you should do is to set goals based on your morals and values for your entire life. Set life goals for your life psychologically, physically, and spiritually in each area of your life, including personal, relationships, and work. For example, if you want to be healthy, you’ll need to set healthy eating goals, healthy exercise goals, and so forth, according to the results you desire.

Once you have set your goals, you need to look hard at the tasks you perform and ask yourself:

Does this task align with my goals?

If you feel any resentment at all about a task, it’s important to ask yourself questions about your goals and how the task helps or does not help.

What deliverable will result from doing this task?

When you do this task, what is the result of doing it?

Does doing this task move me closer to my goals? How?

All of us can be guilty of doing busy work in life. By asking how the task moves you nearer your goals, you will find you can eliminate most busy or filler work. If the task is not moving you toward your goals, and you can do it another way, you should examine that other way to figure out if it’ll work for you. A task that many can identify with is going to meetings. So many meetings are useless and time vampires.

Not Planning and Scheduling What’s Important to You

Once you have identified what’s important to you, it’s essential to create a plan and make a schedule of the steps in chronological order of what you need to do to get to success and reach your goals in the time frame you’ve set up for yourself. For example, if you believe it’s important to eat dinner with the family four nights out of seven, what are you doing to ensure it happens? Likewise, if you want to publish an 80,000-word novel by December, what do you need to do to get there?

Lack of Organization and Systemization

One reason people don’t reach their goals promptly has to do with not organizing based on the actual amount of time you have to do the tasks. If you want dinner on the table at 7:00 pm each night, plan the meal carefully, consider the time it takes for prepping, cooking, and setting the table.

Plus, not creating systems with automation in place is a huge time sucker. For example, there is no reason to spend hours paying bills each month when you can automate the process via your bank. You can even organize and systemize family dinner by assigning each person a task to do that ends up with dinner being on the table by 7:00 pm in a realistic manner.

Not Delegating and Always Doing Everything Yourself

Whether you’re a stay-at-home parent, a salary earner, or an entrepreneur, you can’t do everything yourself. It’s imperative to your future that you learn to delegate and stop trying to do everything yourself. There are people in your life that can help you, and if you don’t have those people yet, you can find them.

Ask yourself: What is the point of doing this task? What is the reason you’re doing it? Assess every task to decide whether you need to do it yourself, or you should let someone else do it.

Delegate any task that you do not need to do specifically. Underline any task that you can transfer, even if you don’t think you know who to ask or you don’t think you can afford it. Just note the ones that you can delegate.

Not Setting Boundaries and Saying Yes Without Thought

This is usually related to being a people pleaser, too. Some people call these people “yes” people. You see them in every single PTA, Church Group, Office, and volunteer opportunity. Some may see this person as the “go-for,” who gets things done for others. These people are often stressed, overwhelmed, and have low self-esteem.

Many people-pleasers say yes to every single ask of them without even thinking. This is a huge time vampire because there is no reason why you need to say yes to everything. First, weigh the things people ask you to determine if it’s worth being involved or not. An excellent way to decide is to have criteria for saying yes.

Ensure that doing this will get you closer toward your goals in each life area. Check your calendar to be sure that you do have the time available before saying yes. Say yes with enthusiasm or no without guilt.

Now take a look at your own life and start identifying time vampires. Only you can truly determine what a time sucker is and what is not. Spending five minutes on social media is a time suck for some people, but it might be how you schedule your downtime. It’s your time, so if you can reach the goals you set for yourself, you can choose what tasks you want to do and what responsibilities you don’t want to do.

Tell us what your Time Vampires are in the comments.

Use the workbook along with the other guides in this series to take control and manage your time.

TIME MANAGEMENT WORKBOOK

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Part I – What Is Your Time Vampire

Part II – 12 Steps to Vanquish Your Time Vampires

Part III – Improve Focus and Productivity for Better Time Management

Part IV – The Truth About Procrastinating

Anatomy of a Data Breach

Accountants, Accounting Firms, Business, Cybersecurity, Helpful Tips, Online Security, Tech and Security

Anatomy of a Data Breach

Arguably no phrase has dominated the tech world in the last 24 months more than the term "data breach." The past two years have been saturated by headlines of cybersecurity mishaps, from breaches that have impacted critical infrastructure like the Colonial Pipeline to hackers compromising healthcare records at UC San Diego Health. Yet, despite the prevalence of the breach-centric news cycle, many everyday individuals may not know what a data breach is, how they typically start, and why they occur.

According to IBM, the average time it takes to identify that a breach has occurred is 287 days, with the average time to contain a breach clocking in at 80 days. And with 81% of businesses experiencing a cyberattack during COVID, individuals must be familiar with the anatomy of a data breach to keep their data and their client's data safe.

With that in mind, here is some helpful background on data breaches and why they are so problematic.

What is a data breach?

While it may seem complex, a data breach is straightforward to explain once you clear away the jargon fog. According to Trend Micro, a data breach is "an incident where information is stolen or taken from a system without the knowledge or authorization of the system's owner." And while data breaches can result from a system or human error, a vast majority of data breaches result from cyber attacks, where a cybercriminal gains unlawful access to sensitive system data. For example, 92% of the data breaches in Q1 2022 resulted from cyberattacks.

What kind of data can be breached?

Unfortunately, cybercriminals look to get their hands on any information they can, ranging from more sensitive information such as social security numbers and credit card information to more obscure data like past purchase history.

What are some of the tactics used to execute data breaches?

Cybercrime is getting more sophisticated each day. However, cyberattack tactics do not have to be cutting-edge or advanced to be effective. Here are a few examples of popular tactics used by cybercriminals:

Phishing: Phishing is when a cybercriminal pretends to be a legitimate party in hopes of tricking an individual into giving them access to personal information. Phishing is one of the oldest tricks in the book for cybercriminals, but it is just as effective as ever. For example, 80% of security incidents and 90% of data breaches stem from phishing attempts.
Malware: Another tried-and-true method for cybercriminals is malware. Malware is malicious software that secretly installs itself on devices – often by a user engaging with fake links and content – and quietly gains access to the data on an individual's device or a business network.
Password Attack: Through password attacks, cybercriminals seek access to sensitive data and networks by "cracking" user passwords and using these credentials to get into networks and extract data from a given network.

The best way to stop a data breach is to stop it before it even starts. This includes taking steps from making sure passwords are long and complex to reporting all suspicious emails. If you suspect you have been the victim of a breach, immediately contact your IT department or device provider to notify them and follow subsequent protocols to help them scan, detect, and remediate any issues.

For more information on protecting your data, your client’s and your family, visit our Cybersecurity page.

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4 Easy Steps to Keep You Secure

Accountants, Accounting Firms, Business, Cybersecurity, Helpful Tips, Online Security

4 Easy Steps to Keep You Secure

Cybersecurity has become one of the biggest hot topics inside and outside technology circles over the last two years. From securing learning devices due to a rise in digital learning during the COVID-19 pandemic to coping with the fallout of high-profile breaches of national infrastructure such as the Colonial Pipeline, there is a seemingly endless news cycle dedicated to cybersecurity mishaps and concerns.

And with this onslaught of negative news, it can be easy for everyday individuals to become overwhelmed and feel powerless in the face of the “insurmountable” threats posed by cybersecurity. But in actuality, nothing could be further from the truth.

With all of the jargon that is typically thrown around about cybersecurity, there is a longstanding misperception that cybersecurity is beyond everyday people and that it should be left to professionals. Moreover, there is a prevailing sense among the public that breaches are simply a fact of life and that we should just learn to deal with them. But this just isn’t true. In fact, everyday people have a huge role to play in cybersecurity threat prevention, detection, and remediation. For example, according to IBM, 95% of breaches have human error as the main cause. Therefore, everyday technology users are very much the first line of defense when thwarting cybercrime. Unfortunately, many individuals are unaware of some of the best practices for boosting cybersecurity and how easy they are to use.

With that, here are a few key best practices that everyday people can implement today to enhance their own cybersecurity and create a more secure world for everyone.

Watch Out for Phishing

Phishing – when a cybercriminal poses as a legitimate party in hopes of getting individuals to engage with malicious content or links – remains one of the most popular tactics among cybercriminals today. In fact, 80% of cybersecurity incidents stem from a phishing attempt. However, while phishing has gotten more sophisticated, keeping an eye out for typos, poor graphics, and other suspicious characteristics can be a telltale sign that the content is potentially coming from a “phish.” In addition, if you think you have spotted a phishing attempt, report the incident so that internal IT teams and service providers can remediate the situation and prevent others from possibly becoming victims.

Update Your Passwords and Use a Password Manager

Having unique, long, and complex passwords is one of the best ways to immediately boost your cybersecurity. Yet, only 43% of the public say that they “always” or “very often” use strong passwords. Password cracking is one of the go-to tactics that cybercriminals use to access sensitive information. And if you are a “password repeater,” once a cybercriminal has hacked one of your accounts, they can easily do the same across all of your accounts.

One of the biggest reasons that individuals repeat passwords is that it can be tough to remember all of the passwords you have. Fortunately, by using a password manager, individuals can securely store all of their unique passwords in one place. Meaning, you only have to remember one password. In addition, password managers are incredibly easy to use and can automatically enter stored passwords when you visit a site.

Enable MFA

Enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA) – which prompts a user to input a second set of verifying information such as a secure code sent to a mobile device or to sign-in via an authenticator app – is a hugely effective measure that anyone can use to drastically reduce the chances of a cybersecurity breach. In fact, according to Microsoft, MFA is 99.9 percent effective in preventing breaches. Therefore, it is a must for any individual that is looking to secure their devices and accounts.

Activate Automatic Updates

Ensuring devices are always up-to-date with the most recent versions is essential to preventing cybersecurity issues from cropping up. Cybersecurity is an ongoing effort, and updates are hugely important in helping to address vulnerabilities that have been uncovered as well as in providing ongoing maintenance. Therefore, instead of trying to remember to check for updates or closing out of update notifications, enable automatic update installations whenever possible.

#BeCyberSmart - Click here to take our quiz and find out how cybersmart you are!

Outsourcing: The Key to Success

Accountants, Accounting Firms, Bookkeeping, Business, Goals and Business Planning, Real Estate Agents, Sales and Marketing, Social Media, Strategic Thinking, Time Management, Virtual Assistant News, Working From Home

Outsourcing: The Key to Success

Think back to when you first set out to build your accounting business. Do you remember what your “wants” were? For most, whether building a small business or becoming an entrepreneur, the first need, or “want,” was to have a successful business that provided the income you needed without overtaking your life. Working in the Corporate world was sucking your life away. Sure, you had an awesome career, maybe an excellent salary and title, but at what cost? You were missing out on the joy of life for long commutes and long hours. So you decided to take matters into your own hands.

Fast forward – six months? One year? Five years? Are you enjoying your business success and living that full and rich life, both professionally and personally? If you are, Congratulations! But I’d be willing to bet you are still overworked. So how do you build that successful business and get everything you want? The key is outsourcing.

My Story

My story is very similar to many independent contractors. I was in the Corporate world, living the dream. I had an excellent, well-established career, a fantastic salary and benefits, and a commute from hell. But I loved my job. Then my company had a corporation-wide restructuring, and I found myself without a job. Trying to land another job in an unstable and volatile employment outlook proved futile and frustrating, so I stopped looking and decided to build my own business. My first thought was, “what do I want to be when I grow up.” After careful deliberation, I knew what would make me happiest would be helping others. I thrived when I was employed as a secretary, an administrative assistant, and even an assistant manager. I was at my best in these positions because I was helping, I felt needed, and I knew I was making someone’s life a little bit easier.

So I did what makes sense to me, leveraged all my years of experience and skill set, and became a virtual assistant. Now I help accountants and CPAs like yourself with those annoying daily tasks, so you have the time to focus on growing that business you worked hard to build. This is the number one reason why virtual assistants exist and why we outsource our skills to you. Keep on reading to learn how outsourcing helps your business.

How Will Outsourcing Help My Business?

GROW
Outsourcing can improve your efficiency, cut costs, speed up product creation, and give you time to focus on the important planning and directing that a business owner must do, aside from doing the actual tasks in the business.

BOOST RESOURCES
Outsourcing adds key resources and skills to your arsenal. No need to learn how to manipulate Excel or take a coding class when you can hire someone to do it when you need it.

SAVE MONEY
Outsourcing means you pay your independent contractor only when they are working on your tasks, and you do not pay for non-productive hours.

REMOVE BOTTLENECKS
When you start to outsource tasks in your business, you’ll notice bottlenecks start to clear up, and tasks are being completed more efficiently. Because the truth is, in most small businesses, the bottleneck is the business owner.

FREE UP YOUR TIME
As a business owner, you have a lot to do, but you don’t have to do it all. You started your business to offer your expertise and your point of difference, not spend your day on mundane and overwhelming tasks. By hiring a virtual assistant, you focus your talent on doing things that only you can do.

IMPROVE CUSTOMER CARE
The truth is, someone else can probably do some things better than you. Because of that, if you outsource to the right people for the right things, you can improve your offers, thus improving your customer satisfaction dramatically.

How Do I Outsource Successfully?

Before you start the search, define what it is you want to have done. Being clear on the parameters of your project is half the battle. Here are seven tips to help you along:

Know What You Want – Prepare a detailed job or project description highlighting the expected deliverables, timetable, and budget.
Hire More Than One – Outsourcing based on the parts of a project, such as writing, editing, and formatting, may turn out a better product. And bonus, if one gets sick, the project doesn’t come to a halt or fall back on you.
Know Your Budget – This is a very important step. You need to know the range you are able to pay for the projects you’re trying to outsource.
Do Your Research – Visit their website, check out their social media pages, read their reviews and testimonials. Remember the saying, “if it’s too good to be true, it probably is.” Always check up on anyone you plan to work with, especially if they will be associated with your business name. You would do this if you were hiring an employee, and you should do it anytime you plan to have someone work for your company, no matter the status.
Respect Their Business – Chances are, your independent contract will not be exclusive to you as they are not your employee. How many active clients they have or how they produce your deliverables is not any of your concerns. Use a non-compete statement in your contract to protect your business and clients.
Communicate Regularly and Quickly – A regular touch base is important, especially with long-term projects or retainer bases services such as office admin and management. When your virtual assistant has questions, try to respond back as quickly as possible with the answers.
Pay on Time – This is probably the top three if not the number one complaint most virtual assistants and independent contractors have. If you promise to pay them a certain amount of money for their service, pay them according to your agreement. Don’t hire people if you don’t have the funds to pay at that moment.

Outsourcing is the biggest key to your freedom. Remember that many things you need to be done can be done by someone else. You really can hire experts remotely for a lot less than you think and increase the capabilities of your business fast.

Need a virtual assistant? Schedule a call with me personally! Let's talk about your business and how I can help you.

Not sure what you can outsource to a Virtual Assistant? Download my helpful checklist and discover all the tasks you shouldn't be doing!

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Don’t Rush Into Business! Slow Down and Do This First

Business, Goals and Business Planning, Helpful Tips, Sales and Marketing

Don't Rush Into Business!

Slow Down and Do This First

Everybody wants it now. We live in an instantaneous world – news reaches millions of people as it's happening. Gone are the days of waiting a week for a letter. I remember writing my cousin and then waiting for her return letter, which was always at least two weeks. Do you remember seeing something you had to have in a magazine and ordering it – 6 to 8 weeks delivery time! So be honest, with online ordering and same-day delivery options, we only begrudgingly accept delivery of over two weeks if that's the only option we can find. Many, myself included, will check Amazon first for our wonderful "Prime one day" shipping. I recently saw an ad for a cute animated pumpkin, and rather than go to their website, pay $15.99 shipping and handling, and have it take 2-4 weeks to deliver, I found it on Amazon, and my daughter received it two days later.

I do have a point to make. Many of today's start-up companies and existing businesses have the same mindset. We all want a successful, thriving business with clients lined up around the block, and we wanted it to happen yesterday. Let me pause this thought and tell you I have almost zero patience. I can probably think of over a hundred things that are longer than my patience, such as the time it takes for an embarrassing Tik Tok to trend! My mother would always tell me to have patience, "good things come to those who wait," and that brings me back to my point. A successful business, a trusted accounting firm, or a top dog Realtor does not happen overnight. It won't even happen in a week or 30 days, but if you work at it and start at the beginning, it will happen.

"If you build it, they will come."

I have had five businesses, of which only one is successful. I attribute that to my awesome coach, Tawnya Sutherland, who grabbed my reins and pulled me back. I wanted immediate success. I would get an idea in my head, and I wanted to see it come to fruition yesterday! That is the only reason my other businesses did not survive. I jumped right in without planning and went up the creek without a paddle. I almost did that with TASK Virtual Assistant! But I slowed down and worked on a five-year plan. Let me share some tips to help you build your plan:

Create a Business Blueprint

There are a TON of resources on business plans, business goals, start-ups, etc., so I will not get into the how's. But just like an architect needs blueprints before building a house, so do you before building your business.

Your blueprints should "draw" out:

Product and service development – What is it that you bring to your market? What purpose did you go into business to fulfill? Jennifer Todd, owner FutureView Advisory and FutureView CPA asks, "Are you selling the right thing?"

The definition of a business person is someone who solves problems for others at a profit.

Marketing and Sales - This is easily the most essential part of any successful business. You may have the most remarkable invention on the planet, but if you lack marketing and sales, you are setting yourself up to fail in business.

Learn About Your Target Audience and Industry

The more you understand who you are marketing to, the better you can convert them into paying or loyal customers. Interact with them on social media and ask for feedback after they purchase your products, services, or content.

Be Ready For Financial Setbacks

I was always told not to expect a profit in the first five years. Educate yourself regarding business finance. This includes paying yourself and the costs to create content, accounting systems, other tools, and much more. A poor grasp of finances is one of the most common reasons businesses fail, which is why you should set it up correctly and find the appropriate funding before you start.

Know Your Wants, and Don't Wants

You would think that with all of the opportunities, technology, and variety available in the world today, people would have an easy time defining what they want. Unfortunately, the opposite is actually true. Our world has become so fast-moving and hectic that many people have lost touch with themselves and what is important to them. When asked, many will quickly respond with a quick (and immediate) want: "I want my mortgage paid off."

List out a few wants and don't wants, then write out WHY next to each one. This exercise will help you when it comes time to create your mission and vision statements.

I cannot guarantee that by following these tips you will see a five-digit income or that your accounting firm will hit the Forbes Best Tax and Accounting Firms, but I do know that without a plan, you will not grow your business.

8 Tips To Keep The Vacation Mood Going

Business, Helpful Tips, Self Care

8 Tips To Keep The Vacation Mood Going

After a relaxing summer vacation, when it's time to get back into the swing of office life, it can be hard to get motivated. The days of fun in the sun seem long gone. My sister and I took a cruise a few years back and let me tell you, I could certainly become accustomed to that lifestyle. If I was hungry, food was there. If I wanted a drink, it magically appeared. We even got our beds turned down, and our towels turned into the cutest animals. Going back to the office wasn't an easy task. I remember trying to come up with one good reason why I should get off that ship! So, whether this summer found you enjoying the royal life, being waited on hand and foot, or family fun and relaxation, just because the vacation is over doesn't mean you can't continue to enjoy your life.

Follow these eight tips to ease back into the work week and keep that vacay feeling going for as long as possible:

Tip #1: Plan your time off

Just because you're back to work doesn't mean that you need to make your life all about work. You should still have plenty of free time that you can plan out and enjoy to the fullest. Plan a fun evening for yourself or your family. You can even plan for a weekend trip somewhere in the near future. Block out your time off on your calendar. And remember, make it a no-work zone – that means no cell phone or email checking!

Tip #2: Take it one day at a time

Sometimes, coming back to work can be overwhelming because there's so much to do. Your mind may race through all the things you'll need to accomplish over the next few weeks. That'll make your thoughts unbearable and you'll long for the vacation that just ended. Instead, focus on one day at a time or even one moment at a time. Your work will get done, no matter how overwhelming it seems. And there will still be time for fun, too.

Tip #3: Organize your life on the first day back

When you first get back to work, spend a day "spring cleaning." If you have a desk job, organize your computer files as well as your desk. Sort through your email and answer only the most important and urgent on your first day back. This can help you feel a sense of accomplishment, while also clearing the clutter.

Tip #4: Do a few half days if you can afford it

If you have a staff, you may be able to do a couple of half days to transition yourself back to work. This way, you can start slowly while getting back into the work mentality, and you'll have portions of your day that you can plan for yourself and your family.

Tip #5: Start planning your next trip early

Even if your next trip is far into the future, you can still dream about what it'll be like. There are many benefits to planning early. When you book a trip early, you can take advantage of early bird discounts. Those who know what they want early will be there to grab the best deals.

Tip #6: Go somewhere special for lunch

On your first day back, plan a special lunch for yourself. You don't have to delve immediately into the usual routine. Pack a special lunch or treat yourself to a meal at a restaurant you love.

Tip #7: Make a vacation scrapbook in your free time

Remember the good times you had on vacation by using your free time to make a scrapbook or write a memoir about your experiences. You can do this after work or on weekends. It's a great way to keep your vacation going in your mind.

Tip #8: Focus on what you love about what you do

If transitioning back to work is turning out to be more difficult than you thought it would be, it might be because you're focusing on the negative aspects of your job. Remember your “why.” Try to focus on the positive and on what you love most about what you do.

Vacation time will be here again before you know it. Learn to enjoy your life no matter what time of year it is. Make the most of each moment by seeking ways to sprinkle that vacation mentality into every ordinary day.