Slowly but surely, a seismic shift is taking place in the way that we work. We are far more enlightened and aware of exactly what is possible, and we are beginning to question what working for a living actually imposes on us, our family and our private lives. We understand that we need to work to generate money that enables us to pay the mortgage, but increasingly we are looking for ways that do not place so many logistical challenges on us. This growing trend can be described in one word - workshifting.

While it's difficult to get real figures on just how many people workshift and who can already be classified as working from somewhere else other than their traditional "office", the respected analyst Forrester Research went so far as to estimate that up to half of the workforce could be teleworking by the year 2016. This is a good cause for optimism among those of us who crave more freedom and choice in how we work.

Workshifting doesn't necessarily dictate that you need to work from home; it could also mean working from hotel rooms, airport lounges, Internet cafés and other remote locations, wherever your work might take you.

Fundamentally, we will be casting away the chains that have up until now held us prisoner within the traditional "cubicle nation," and we can begin to use the wonders of technology and advanced communications to enable us to do our work well and still have time to play!

We've seen in recent years how more and more employees consider their home to be their primary place of work.  Will there be a wholesale adoption of teleworking by 2016 as Forrester suggests?

With the fast broadband, multiple Wi-Fi hotspots and the growing use of cloud computing, why on earth aren't we seeing a wholesale exodus or even a stampede toward workshifting? From the perspectives of both employee and employer, there's so much to be gained. Eliminating the operational costs of offices leads to a healthier bottom line. Surely, in this age of economic downturn, companies should be jumping at the chance to implement such a significant cost-cutting measure.

However, old habits die hard and organizations are used to relying on a management hierarchy that dictates physical oversight. In short, does our management culture actually "trust" wholesale workshifting, or will the boss keep an eye on us to ensure that we're doing what we're supposed to be doing?

The trend is interesting, and while it seems clear that it's getting up a full head of steam, it's likely that it will take some time to fully emerge as traditional cultures and perspectives slowly but surely fade into the distant past. In my opinion, the workshifting culture can't come soon enough!

Photo Credit: C.C. Chapman

According to the Telework Research Network, productivity increases by 27 percent among those who workshift. This statistic should be of great interest to employers everywhere, as productivity, or the lack thereof, is one of the biggest challenges they face today.

Whenever you are responsible for a workforce, you encounter many varied obstacles to motivating your team sufficiently towards your established goals. New employees may be enthusiastic and dedicated, but it invariably doesn't take long before a certain amount of lethargy sets in, and productivity starts to drop. If the employees share a common workspace, then what's the problem? Is this some kind of condition that permeates from one workstation to another?

Many books have been written over the years about how to motivate employees and manage effectively, but perhaps these books are missing the most significant chapters. It's possible that the solution to low productivity in traditional office workspaces is to actually remove the workspace altogether. This is where workshifting can slowly but surely come to the rescue of floundering organizations.

The same research network that suggests that employees are considerably more productive when workshifting also suggests that employers can save up to $20,000 per employee yearly by eliminating the workspace. The savings are obvious: no more direct and overhead costs associated with each and every workstation. Furthermore, if the employees themselves are happier and more productive in their new environments, turnover will be reduced, meaning less hiring and training expenditures.

Companies that embrace workshifting have shown that employee attrition can be lowered by as much as 25 percent. To top it off, the new, more educated and informed employee tends to look for organizations that offer this kind of flexibility in the first place.

The writing is on the wall when you look at all these figures collectively. It's time to change the culture of oversight by trusting employees to be as productive as, or even more productive than, they were before. Whether we like it or not, productivity is always going to suffer if the employee is not as inspired or motivated as they could be.

When an employer actually gives an employee the freedom to workshift, trust that may have been missing before is established. This can, in turn, exponentially improve the relationship between both parties - each side stands to gain.

Photo Credit: thorinside

"I've developed a new philosophy... I only dread one day at a time." - Charlie Brown (Charles Schulz)

Up to 90% of all visits to the doctor are for stress-related symptoms and the major cause of stress is worry. We all know that worrying serves no purpose, but that doesn't make it easy to stop a worry habit. Here are 9 techniques for worry busting:

Swap worrying time for thinking time

Nuroscientists have proven that worry is worse than useless when it comes to resolving big problems--it is counterproductive. Worry impairs our reasoning abilities. If you have a big worry, think about it instead. Get into problem solving mode. It helps enormously to talk to someone else while problem solving rather than to try to do so in your thoughts alone.

Walk down the memory lane of your previous worries.

Can you remember what you were worried about this time last year? If you can actually remember them, which were worth the worry? Remember the old saying: "Today is the tomorrow that we worried about yesterday."

Brainstorm all your worries

Brainstorm all your worries, big and little. Now for each worry write down what you can do about it. Don't just sit there worrying--do something about it!

Accept the worry

Accept the worry when it is beyond your control.

Write your worries down

Write your worries down and ask a friend to read each one out loud. As they do so, ask them to role-play the worry. They should act as if they are you, and you play the devil's advocate to challenge each worry. The aim of the game is for you to have the final say as the devil's advocate. The purpose of this is to retrain your mind into positive, solution-led thinking.

Play with your worry voice

Play with your worry voice. Give the voice a character with a life.

For the sake of illustration, I like to call mine Dobby (after the negative little house-elf from Harry Potter). Now try having a conversation with Dobby, who might start off like this:

"But master, what if the Dark Lord comes tonight?" Hear Dobby's high-pitched, little whiny voice, see his big ears and his wringing hands. He's a bit ridiculous, isn't he? How would Harry Potter respond to Dobby?

How will you respond to your Dobby equivalent? Give him a bloomin' good kicking, that's how. Kick that Dobby voice NOW!

Turn the volume up and down

Turn the volume on the worry voice up and down, change the pitch of the voice, get it to sing. How about getting the voice to sing its lyrics to the tune of Kylie Minogue's "I Should Be So Lucky"? Once you've had a good old play, go back to the volume and turn it right down until you can't hear that worry voice at all!

Halt the repetitive worry cycle

When your worries become almost mechanical, with a rhythm that goes on and on (when you're getting the same thoughts again and again), do something physical or just plain daft. Here are a few ideas:

• Run up and down the stairs.
  
  
• Snap an elastic band on your wrist--ouch!
  
  
• Sing the alphabet backwards in the style of Pavarotti.
  
  
• Touch your tongue to your nose, wiggle your ears, raise one eyebrow, try a handstand (best done at home rather than at work for this one). Just do something physical that requires some concentration. I bet you can't worry at the same time!

The possibilities are endless; the key is to get out of your own way!

Perform a worry autopsy

Write down what you are worried about in a notebook. What is the worst that could happen because of these worries?

• Think about how you would handle this worst-case scenario.
  
  
• Decide where you have control over this worry. What can you do to reduce the chances of this worry becoming a reality? Where can you take action?
  
  
• Look at the worrisome thoughts that you feel you can't take any action on. Which of these have you inflated or distorted? Which have little basis in reality?
  
  
• Write opposites or alternatives to the worrisome thoughts.
  
  
• Learn the alternatives by heart. Each time you catch yourself worrying replace the original worry with the new positive thought.

Photo Credit: Photo Plod

Welcome to 2011 and the new decade. Hurrah...a new start, spring will be here soon, it's time to strip away the old and open ourselves to new possibilities - and then return to the same old same old life as a workshifter. January, of course, is a time for making our New Year's Resolutions and then promptly begin breaking them.

The "78% will fail" statistic comes from research by Richard Wiseman, who does some interesting research debunking many of the claims made in the personal development field. According to Wiseman, many of the 78% in his research group failed because they had focused on what would happen if they didn't achieve their resolution and tried to do get there by willpower alone. Personally, I avoid being in the 78% category by not setting any resolutions!

Here's 3 reasons why people fail with New Year's Resolutions, and what works better:

Resolution Challenge #1: Cold Weather

January, for those in the Northern Hemisphere in particular, is a month of cold, grey, short days and one that follows a month of excess, merriment and celebrations. It's the prime "Cold Turkey" month - an image which conjures supreme acts of will in withdrawing from addictive substances, most of which will result in failure. Not really a proper environment to promote the best chances of success!

What works better: If you've already tried a resolution and failed already, shift your focus instead onto developing a Theme for the year ahead. Choose one word or a short phrase (up to 3 words) that represents the overall direction you want to take your life this year. My theme this year is "Simplify". I may not fully achieve it, but by having this one goal at the front of my consciousness, I'll strive to simplify daily and I'll be more aware (and, as a result, find it easier to make adjustments), when I over-complicate my life, which I tend to do on a frequent basis!

In short: Ditch the resolution and pick up a theme for 2011.

Resolution Challenge #2: Being Overambitious

People have a tendency to make large, difficult to achieve resolutions that don't afford the demands of everyday life. Remember that you don't live in a vacuum. For example, it's not easy to lose 2KGs weight when, like most people, you're probably leading a full and busy life. If you are a celebrity with a personal chef, then you're all sorted!

What works better: Look at your life and what's realistic and plan according to this. Break your resolution or goal into baby steps. One step at a time. And just because you stumble in your baby steps (as you will), it doesn't actually mean that you're doomed to failure! Just get up and try again!

In short: Be realistic, get support, take baby steps and keep on trying!

Resolution Challenge #3: Failing to Plan

Rarely do people plan how they will achieve our resolutions or goals. Nor do they consider "What might prevent me from succeeding in this resolution?" or "What might go wrong and what will I do if that happens?" and "What will I put in place to support me?"

What works better: Keep a diary of your goal progress. Ask yourself why you want to achieve this, what it will bring you and brainstorm as many ideas as you can of ways to get there. Don't make goals or resolutions with out thought! Ensure you've got good support and accountability structures in place (Coaches are good for this. There's one writing to you right now!).

In short: Treat your resolution or goal as a project, not just a sentence. Remember that boring old adage: "Failing to plan is planning to fail"!

Photo Credit: Jeff Hester

You might want to steer clear of this post if you were looking for procrastination busters! I'm in the mood for levity and fun, and having done a bit of self-observation this morning of how I've actively avoided doing all but one of the things on my to do list, I thought I'd take it a step further and share my slothful seven ways of procrastinating.

7 Procrastination Techniques as a Workshifter

1. Tarrying in Holiday Daydream Heaven
   There are cottage sites to search, skiing holidays to plan (and honestly, it's soooo complicated, getting all the childcare coordinated, the lift passes, the right chalet, comparing snow conditions in different resources: someone's gotta do it). I generally plan (but never book) a short break to Disneyland Paris about twice a year; this is a great way to waste at least 40 minutes or so. There's nothing quite like it for lifting the soul, especially on a gloomy, rainy November day like today. Hmmm, I wonder if there are any airline sales on at the moment?
   
   
2. Lingering around Twitter
   Actually, no, this doesn't count as procrastinating. As any self respecting workshifter knows, social media is an essential part of any decent 21st century marketing and business development toolkit, isn't it? So it's actually a productive use of my time and is bound to lead somewhere jolly profitable. Gosh, have you seen what @B_List_Celebrity_Bimbo has just tweeted?
   
   
3. Dilly-dallying in the kitchen
   There's something about making my kitchen look like a minimalist designer show home that is a critical part of my pre-writing ritual. I'm not quite sure why cleaning the kitchen surfaces nurtures the creative writing process, particularly as I don't write in the kitchen, but one mustn't stifle the creative process, must one?
   
   
4. Dawdling on eBay
   One tiny thought: "I need a slug trap" or "I wonder if I can find a pair of cashmere socks at a bargain price" and I'm off. The beauty of eBay is that I can spend hours researching the best slug trap, and then remember at the point of sale that we need a new roof rack for the car. There are endless things I need from eBay. So much stuff, so little time. Well, maybe just another 15 minutes.
   
   
5. Prolonged Email Culling
   No matter how many different systems I try to implement to deal like with emails, they always seem to conquer me. It's an endless war, and I rarely win a battle. I end up with a tonne of those emails that I'm not quite ready to answer, that I didn't know how to answer or that I know would just take too much brainpower, effort or finger tapping to answer. So I leave them.
   
   However, given the choice between the work I'm supposed to be doing and culling those emails, I'll get the email scythe out every time. After all, once I've culled the emails, I'll create so much mental energy and I'll be able to concentrate fully on the task that I've been putting off. Surely this works every time for you too?
   
   
6. Frittering away the day doing anything else
   Today I have been highly industrious and conscientious: I have researched and found a watch repairers that can fully refurbish my old Gucci watch at a reasonable price, packaged said watch and had a conversation with said watch repairer. I have packaged up 3 books that I'm swapping via the book swap site www.readitswapit.com (another highly recommended place for procrastinators, but do try to find people to swap with who have very LONG book lists) and turned the innards of the Hallowe'en pumpkin into a very nice pumpkin soup. Really impressive, eh! It's just unfortunate that my business is not as a soupmaker, a watch seller or a book reviewer. Getting everything else (ANYTHING ELSE) done is definitely one of the best procrastination techniques. At least with this one I'm doing something vaguely useful. At least if I'm not working on the business I can feel like a Domestic Goddess and Gold Star Homemaker.
   
   
7. Moseying around Amazon
   Those darned clever people at Amazon with their nifty tracking robots that know me SOOOO well. They have perfected the art of piquing my curiosity and greed for just the right book, CD or general household appliance that will definitely complement the book, CD or general household appliance that I bought from Amazon last week. Those dastardly Amazon emails with their siren calling "50% off these books that you might be interested in..." mesmerize me and compel me into clicking that alluring link into Amazontopia. And without doubt, that book on "Get it Done Now" currently on offer at 50% off is JUST the thing to stop me procrastinating....




When you're in a mood to procrastinate, what are your traps?

Photo Credit: Emilie Ogez

We know that we have 24 hours in each day and that this should be plenty of time for us to complete everything that we have to do, with ample time to spare. The dawn of each day should bring a fresh outlook to all of us and we should feel rejuvenated and ready to tackle anything that life has in store. However, for one reason or another it seems that we are always playing catch-up, despite what we might feel are our best intentions. When the sun has set and the hours are winding down, we often feel frustrated, as we have not had enough time to complete all those tasks. Here are seven ideas for "finding" that extra hour each day!

1. Set up your phone so that all calls are processed before they reach you. There are some great programs available these days, including Google Voice, which will help you to prioritise the calls that you really need to take and leave the time wasting calls. You can even block unwanted or troublesome calls through the system. By having your own, personal secretary in this way, you will not waste valuable minutes.

2.  Realise the value of outsourcing.  What is an hour of you time worth? If you haven't calculated it, do it now!  Chances are an hour of your time is NOT worth you spending it doing all the things that you find difficult, time-consuming and repetitive.  Make a list of all the things that suck up your time. Concentrate on what you excel at and start flexing your outsourcing muscle, perhaps initially by trying to outsource just one thing that is sucking up your time. That might mean finding a cleaner, engaging the services of a Virtual Assistant or finding someone who can do your ironing much faster than you can!

3. Explore time management software programmes.  Once you've experimented and found the one that works for you, learn how to use it and stick with it. It might seem a bit alien to you at first, but if you are really stringent, you will save a great deal of time each day by focusing your attention. I use an appointment scheduling system now for my clients (www.timedriver.com ) It took some getting used to, but it's saving so much time each week that I previously spent with emails and voicemails going to and fro trying to find mutually convenient times for calls!

4. When it comes to planning, make sure that you actually do it! If you have a rather muddled list of things that you have to accomplish in your head, you will bounce back and forth between these chores and not be efficient. Allocate time to plan ahead, whether this takes place during the prior evening, or when you first wake up.  Research has shown that an hour planning any project saves at least four hours. Block out time in your diary on a quarterly, monthly, weekly and daily basis to plan and you'll find that you avoid diary clashes and that you naturally become more focussed.

5. Allocate an hour for communication and "batch process" that communication time. This includes all those call-backs that you might have to make, the checking of e-mail, updating of Facebook or other social networks. You would be amazed how much time can be lost if you're constantly checking e-mails or taking phone calls without a structured plan.

6. When you're planning your time, include a "buffer" at appropriate intervals. This means that you should not plan one task after another within an unrealistic time frame. If you allocate a certain amount of "buffer," you will not get sidetracked, harried or fall off your schedule.

7. Combine your exercise time with "catching up" time. If you allocate, say 30 to 45 minutes a day for physical activity, combine this with your time to catch up on the news and current affairs. This could mean the installation of a television in your workout area, or this may now become the time to listen to a particular media channel or even to read updates through your electronic book reader.

What do you think?

Photo Credit:  Steve Grosbois

(from the girl who kissed a frog)

As a professional coach, if I was to write a job description for myself, one of the "essential" parts of the job that I would include would be this:  "Assist clients in making their dreams come true"

Recently, I took my sons to see Disney's new animated film, "The Princess and The Frog".  This was a film about making your dream come true, and it espoused some of the lessons that I teach my clients when helping them to define and achieve their own lifestyle dreams or goals.  The difference between a goal and a dream? Try this: A goal is a dream with a date on it.                 

I was enchanted by "The Princess and the Frog",  a modern day take on an old classic with the star an African American girl called Tiana from the poor end of town in New Orleans.  The messages within the movie were so delightfully presented and even better, they serve to illustrate my own three step process to achieving your lifestyle dreams.

Step one: "You gotta HAVE a dream!"
Tiana's dream is to own a restaurant.  She's had the vision since she was a little girl, helping her daddy to cook at home.  Tiana's father had a picture of a beautiful restaurant, full of smiling people and delicious looking food.  The restaurant is opulent, decorated with chandeliers, sweeping staircases and populated with smart besuited waiters.  He wrote on this picture "Tiana's Place".

Fast forward though the years and we see Tiana as a young woman.  She's still looking at that (now rather tattered) piece of paper with "Tiana's Place" written on it.  Every day when she comes home from work, she takes it out and looks at it and imagines how her restaurant will look.  With the help of Disney animation, we go off into Tiana's multi sensory experience of her dream - sights, sounds, smells.. We see what Tiana will be wearing, the food she'll be serving, the fame of the restaurant, the buzz of the place... it's VIVID.

I teach my clients to define their vision  i.e. their dream. You can do this in several ways.  Write "A day in the life of", collect pictures, write a vision statement out each morning and read it out.  The important thing is, like Tiana, to make your dream, your vision, as vivid as possible and to keep it in the forefront of your mind.  

You have to hold onto that vision, even when you don't believe you can achieve it.   On the hard days, you just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other. On the hard days, it's even more important that you read it/look at it/write it/imagine it, even if you're doing it "by rote"

Step two:  Do something
Nothing in life happens without you taking action. A dream without action will remain a dream.  I'm not from the school of thought that says that things just come along in life without putting some effort in.  I'm one of those old git types who bemoan the fact that so many youngsters these days believe that a life of fame and fortune awaits them if they just queue up for an audition on X Factor.  Don't get me started on that...

Anyway, back to hard work!  We all know deep down that those "overnight successes" we hear about aren't actually overnight successes.  The successful person will invariably have worked for many years and tried many different things in order to achieve that success.

In The Princess and the Frog, we follow Tiana over the years working day shifts and night shifts in different restaurants as waitress and cook. She saves all her tips for the down payment on the derelict building that features as the setting for her restaurant dream. We see her collapsing on her bed each night after looking at her precious picture of "Tiana's Place".  Whilst all of her friends are out having a good time, Tiana never stops working towards her dream, knowing that every shift at the diner, every cent in tips, is moving her closer towards that down payment.

Step three:  Let go
I preach balance in all things.  As Oscar Wilde said:"Everything in moderation, including moderation!" (Actually, that probably doesn't illustrate balance, but I love that quote and I've always wanted to use it!)

Tiana, as our heroine, has a fatal flaw (as all heroines must at some point in the story).  Her fatal flaw is that she doesn't work in moderation, she works to excess.  Tiana never lets her hair down, goes out with her friends or lets up from working towards her dream.

Then she meets her antithesis in Prince Naseem, who represents everything she's not: loucheness, extravagance, fun and drifting through life without any direction at all.  Naseem asks her to dance and she tells him that she can't dance; she's been too busy working hard to achieve her dream to learn to dance.

Naturally, as the movie nears its dénouement (I don't think I'll spoil the ending  here -it's Disney, so it's obviously not going to be a sad ending), Tiana has to give up on her dream and it looks as if it's all going to hell in a handcart.  As soon as she lets go of that neediness and that single minded drive towards her dream and accepts life as it is, that's when the Disney magic happens!  Tiana achieves her dream, of course.  To find out how and what happens to her along the way, you'll have to go and see the film yourself!

John Lennon said: "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans."  Too right John!  We have to live each moment of our lives now, and the more we can find happiness and joy in the life we are living today, the more space we create for the magic to happen to us.  


So, in summary, your three steps to achieving your dream, from the girl who kissed a frog, are:

1. Define your lifestyle dream in vivid Disney Technicolor and burn that image into your brain, your heart and your soul.
2. Make a plan to achieve your dream, no matter how far away or how impossible it may seem now.  Keep taking baby steps forward, just as Tiana saved her tips for many years.
3. In the meantime, live the life you have now, rejoice in it, enjoy each moment, kick off your shoes and dance with life.  Then, when you're least expecting it, the magic will happen!

What do you think?



Photo Credit: Krystn Palmer Photography

There are thousands of books to choose from about what makes a successful entrepreneur; how to become a master at time management and so on.  Each of these books come with many nuggets of wisdom to be gleaned from them.  But as a workshifter, you probably just don't have the time to read all of these books, let alone put into place what you learn from them.

The fact is, solopreneurs are supreme jugglers, but even the most accomplished jugglers drop a ball at some point!
 
Over almost seven years of coaching people to run profitable businesses without running themselves ragged, the top five complaints I hear most often are:
 

1. "I feel overwhelmed and exhausted with too much to do and too little time."
2. "I know that I need to work ON the business, but I'm so busy working IN the business."
3. "I know what I need to do to grow this business, but there is never enough time to do it all."
4. "The business is doing ok, but it feels as if I can't quite make that leap to the next level."
5. "I feel like I'm just not planning my time effectively as I could.  I'm constantly fighting fires."
   

It's not hard to spot the pattern here - lack of time!  Solopreneurs tend to berate themselves for not having completed all of their gargantuan "to do" list at the end of each day.  But most of the time they have simply set themselves 12 hours of tasks to complete within a 6 hour day!  I know this because, while I'm superb at getting my clients focused and helping them to set up project plans to make their own businesses more efficient, I often forget to "take my own medicine"!
 
Solopreneurs are notoriously bad at setting themselves impossible targets and beating themselves up for not having achieved "the impossible".  The following tips are nothing new and you won't be bowled over with a magic formula for getting it all done.  There is no clever solution here, just time-tested stuff that you have no doubt heard before.  But whether they are old news or cutting edge to you, those who cultivate the following seven habits will find that they are more in control of their time, have less episodes of overwhelm and build sustainable businesses.

Seven Habits for Time Pressed Solopreneurs





Habit No. 1 - Learn to Prioritize


It is a truism that time is our most precious commodity and we just don't have enough of it. It's ironic that when you're doing something that you don't enjoy, the minutes seem to drag relentlessly.  On the other hand, when we are busy, time appears to fly and unless we grasp that time management is fundamentally about managing priorities rather than time, we are likely to feel overwhelmed.  

Professional coaching experts will tell you that time management is rule number one, but as we all know, time cannot be managed:  We each have 24 hours in the day, seven days in the week and no amount of wishing will give us that extra two hours a day!
 
Try this exercise for a week:  Evaluate all that you have to do for the week and take time to jot it all down in a list. You will need to allocate a priority to each activity and collate them into a realistic timetable. When you embark on this exercise,  it can seem daunting!  However, if you persevere, this can really pay dividends as you will start to grasp how you under-estimate and the importance of prioritization.   

Habit No. 2 - Don't Forget About You!



Remember to think about yourself.  Without rewarding yourself and enjoying valuable "me" time you will quickly burn yourself out and be far less productive.  The buck really does stop with you when you are self-employed.  Most solopreneurs are running micro-businesses where they are the chief bottle washer and cook!

So make personal time a priority and understand that this is not about being selfish, but is in fact a vital investment in your business and your life.

Habit No. 3 - Make Friends with a Little Routine in Your Life


Setting up a routine is one of the best habits you can practice. They say that it takes a minimum of 14 attempts at something before a habit becomes ingrained, and we all seem to work better if we adopt a routine.

While you might not like to be too structured, I would be surprised if you do not benefit from incorporating some routine into part of your daily business management.
 

Habit No. 4 - Block Out Time without Distractions


Don't let the myriad of communication methods become the enemy of efficiency.  You have to block out time when you can turn off not only your phone, but perhaps all those time-depleting social networking sites.  Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, IM... the list goes on and on.  All of these new social media tools can be great networking and business generation tools, but more often than not, they can be great excuses for not doing the stuff that brings in the business.
 
So make use of time blocking or "do not disturb" time to focus on larger projects.  You can then allocate time to return calls once you've completed the tasks and projects that are essential to grow your business.

Habit No. 5  - Create Sacred Space to Work


Habit number five is about creating your own special and protected area. Many solopreneurs  run a business from their home. If you are a work at home entrepreneur, don't try balancing a laptop on the kitchen table and putting your file cabinet in your bedroom!
 
Wherever it is in your home, make your workspace sacred and ideally place it in its own room, off-limits to the kids when you are working. Design this room with efficiency and ergonomics in mind and don't use it for leisure purposes. If possible, have another computer set up elsewhere for personal use.

Habit No. 6 - Healthy Body, Healthy Business


If you don't look after your health, all the other habits will be difficult to maintain. Exercise and fitness must become a habit and you should plan on getting at least three exercise sessions in per week.
 
Do whatever is easiest for you to take on as a new exercise habit.  So if you don't live near a gym, it's unrealistic to plan to go to a gym three times a week, as you'll find that you don't have the time to travel to and fro.   Keep it simple - walking, running, cycling or dancing in front of an exercise DVD are all examples of keeping your body moving that are easy to adopt into your life as a mum.  And do what you enjoy - if you're not a sporty person, it's unlikely that you'll stick to a new habit of playing tennis each week.  One of my clients who hates the gym and all form of sports exercises keeps trim with her Wii each evening. 

Think laterally and do what works for you!  It doesn't matter what form of exercise you choose, providing you just get your body moving!

Habit No. 7 - Build a Superstar Success Team



You've heard the expression "no man is an island"?  None of us can run a business alone and we all need support in various guises.  Ask yourself what sort of support you need to become a highly successful solopreneurs and start to look for ways of building your "superstar success team".

But however you choose to build your team, don't try to do everything on your own as there is so much to be gained from seeking the wisdom of good friends, confidants, associates and professional experts. They can be superb sounding posts and linchpins to your business success!

Having read these seven habits, it's likely that you will go away and forget most of them!   So,  rather than trying to adopt all seven at once, thus dooming yourself to failure, choose just one habit, focus on it and practice and practice it until it truly does indeed become a habit (i.e something you do without even thinking).  Then, once you have adopted one habit, choose a second and so on.   


Easy does it - and remember to acknowledge each little achievement along the way!

About the author:

Amanda Alexander is a Professional Certified Coach who helps work at home professionals who long for more hours in the day.  Through her coaching programs and online coaching courses, Amanda helps people to create fulfilling and successful businesses.  Learn  more at www.amandaalexander.com

Photo Credit: derekGavey
 

Now that we're just about 5% of the way through 2010, you may be at that point where some of those New Year's resolutions you made just a few weeks ago are already starting to slip.  There is still time to recover and keep to those resolutions.  But, make sure we don't make the following mistakes or else you'll certainly derail yourself:

Ten surefire ways to fail your New Year's Resolutions!

1. Make huge, unrealistic and unsustainable resolutions like "Lose 6KGs in the next 4 weeks", "join gym and go every day" or "Go to bed at 9.30pm every night without fail"
   
   
2. Make sure you set the sort of resolutions that you think you should achieve, not those that really "pull" you towards them.  New Year's Resolutions have nothing to do with who you are and who you want to become.
   
   
3. Ensure that you make at least 5 New Year's Resolutions, preferably addressing every area of your life. That'll keep you busy for this first week of January!
   
   
4. Make New Year's resolutions into your one and only chance to change your life this year.   Keep telling yourself that if you fail now, you may as well give up and accept that you'll never make those positive changes.
   
   
5. Test your resolution at every opportunity. So for example, if you've resolved to give up smoking, hang around all your nicotine pals at every opportunity.  If you've resolved to be a calm parent when your children test you, make sure you are exhausted most of the time and that you haven't met your own needs first.
   
   
6. Remember that you must do it alone.  It's not up to any of your friends or family to support you in achieving your New Year's Resolutions.
   
   
7. If you've managed to keep your New Year's Resolution through to the end of January, don't give yourself a pat on the back. You have to keep on your toes, dammit!  Just because you've managed a month that doesn't mean you should reward yourself or acknowledge your so-called achievement in any way.
    
8. Ensure that  your New Year's Resolutions fill you with horror/dread/a sinking feeling every time you think about them (all ten of them). Nothing worth achieving was ever easy, was it? No pain no gain!
   
   
9. Compare yourself frequently with other people who appear to have achieved what you are trying to achieve with your resolutions.  Remember that whatever you achieve, there will always be someone who has achieved it faster and better than you.
   
   
10. Don't prepare for your resolutions at all.
    

Of course, I don't need to tell you that, in order to achieve your resolutions, the opposite of the above ten points apply!  However, let's get the positivity flowing for 2010, shall we.  Here are the ten tips that will increase your chances of success with your resolutions:

Ten Ways to increase your chances of succeeding in your New Year's Resolutions

1. Make small, achievable resolutions.  Instead of "Never lose my temper with my children again", try a resolution that addresses when and/or why you lose your temper.  It might be because you are tired, you are in a rush, and you've got too much on.  Which resolution might you choose that addresses one of the underlying causes of you losing your temper?  
Or try a more general resolution.  Try on "Be nice to me and my kids by ensuring I get my 8 hours sleep most nights".
   
   
2. Set resolutions that are a reflection of you and your values, not resolutions that reflect someone else's values.
   
   
3. This year, just try one or two resolutions.  Once you've achieved one (maybe you could set a realistic date), then try another.  Think quality resolutions rather than quantity.
   
   
4. You're bound to have days when you do less well in keeping your resolution than you'd hoped.  Don't define such days as failure. Instead use them to reflect and learn in order to do better tomorrow.
   
   
5. Just because you don't achieve 100%, it doesn't mean you've failed the test.  Treat your new year's resolutions in a similar way. Give yourself the best chances of success by keeping temptation out of reach. If this is impossible, then make a choice as to whether a tempting situation is going to mean that your resolution is not going to be kept on that particular occasion.  If you anticipate this and give yourself permission to "slip up", then you're more likely to keep with the resolution afterwards.
    
6. You're more likely to achieve your resolution if you get support from those who want you to succeed.  Note the careful wording there - choose your support team carefully and avoid the naysayers and false friends!
   
   
7. Build in celebratory milestones and acknowledge yourself for what you've achieved at each of those milestones.  I believe that people nowadays are starved of acknowledgement, and it's important that you learn to acknowledge yourself in all areas of your life, not just for your resolutions!
   
   
8. Choose resolutions that fill you with joy, peace or pleasure at the thought of achieving them.  Put each resolution through the joy/pleasure/peace filter. If they don't meet one, bin them!
   
   
9. Remember that comparison is the killer of creativity. This is your resolution - nobody else's!
   
   
10. Prepare!  The following questions WILL of course help you to prepare effectively for keeping your resolutions:
• "How can I give myself best chances of success?"
• "What must I do more of/start doing in order to keep this resolution?"
• "What must I do less of/start doing in order to keep this resolution?"
• "Will this bring me nearer to achieving this resolution or further away?"
  

Happy New Resolutions!

Photo Credit: beX out loud