Just recently, I found myself lying in bed at 1:30 am with my iPhone in hand answering emails and responding to people who I missed on twitter and Facebook that day. After switching off the device I realized that I was then spending another hour laying there thinking about the next day and how I might be able to work on the issues, problems or ideas presented in the emails. This sounds somewhat absurd doesn't it? I mean it wasn't more than a few years ago that you shut down the computer and that was the end of your day. Now we have mobile devices following us around and I know that I am not the only one perpetuating this issue!

I suppose you think that the rest of the article is going to be tips on how to find balance. Well, maybe a bit of it will be but I would really love to poll the readers of the workshifting blog on how you find balance! As remote workers and workshifters it feels second nature to pick up your phone during dinner to check your email. It feels natural to want to check the status on a project when you're really supposed to be focused on your kids school play. So what gives? Do we need to start setting up rules for ourselves? Here are two things that I am trying to reclaim a bit of sanity and hopefully make me more efficient with the time I am spending working.

1. Morning and Evening Email Redux - I remember hearing advice years ago saying that the worst thing you can do to yourself is watch the news first thing in the morning and just before you turn in at night. After all there is rarely anything good or uplifting on the news so why inundate yourself with that energy to start and end your day. I am going to apply this advise to email and social networks for now on. My advise would be to spend 15 minutes in silence each morning. Maybe visualize your day and set your wheels on the right track to move forward. Maybe it is talking a brisk walk before the morning shower. Either way I recommend clearing the mind every morning to get aligned. For those evening email and social media stints I recommend a good book. Read something enjoyable that settles the mind and leaves you with positive feelings. If you find yourself grumbling about the world forces around you each day, change the forces!

2. Reclaim the Weekend - Ok, so not all of us can afford to ignore our work life all weekend and maybe some of us are even scheduled to be actively working on the weekends. For those of you in that situation this should be called Reclaim a Day. I love my job and I love what I do. That being said it's important to disconnect and recharge for a day a week. I find this helps me immensely. Every Sunday i turn off the computers and leave the mobile devices to play sweet tunes in my ears rather than being a email machine or work device. I can't give you specific to do's here as we are all different but after chatting with a friend recently about this topic I told him to rekindle a passion. We grew up together golfing and fishing on the weekends as kids. Why not revisit some of those things? There is always time for yard work and chores. Go rekindle a passion.

These are two of the things I am doing to keep me fresh and creative. I would love to hear your thoughts. Are you able to put away the technology for a bit or are you checking your email at 1:30 am each night? What rules or habits have you created to help you stay fresh?


Photo Credit: Jorge Quinteros

When I first started workshifting, I believed it was the best thing since sliced bread.  It gave me freedom, and it gave me flexibility.  Overall, I loved it.  Then, a funny thing started happening. Even though my total number of hours at the office were less, my total number of hours working were more.  A lot more.  I caught myself responding to e-mail on evenings and weekends.  I got sick, and while I didn't go into the office, I was still working from my sickbed.  I started answering my cell phone while out of the country.  In short, workshifting was taking away my freedom.

The worst part about all this was that no one had ever said to me, "We need you to be on call all day, everyday."  I had started doing this all by myself, simply because I could.  It started off innocently enough.  "Well, if I reply to this e-mail now, I won't need to reply when I get to work in the morning."  Every workshifter knows that train of thought.

But once that starts happening, workshifting becomes a cage.  It takes away freedom, and it makes you a prisoner of your own work habits.  Shouldn't the goal of workshifting be to do the exact opposite?

I understand that there are certain hours that need to be maintained.  Most people have jobs that require them to be available during the middle part of a day to take client calls, or troubleshoot with colleagues, etc.  However, very few of us have jobs that require us to be available all the time, and that's why workshifters need to learn how to fight the urge to work at any time, because more often that not, the prison is of our own making.

Once you start answering e-mails at 11pm or on a Sunday, it becomes expected that you will always be available.  The best way to avoid this is to never start, but if you're like most of us, and have already developed that bad habit, begin scaling it down.  I used to check work e-mails every day and on weekends.  Now I cut that back to checking e-mail only during work hours, and even then only at pre-determined times.  A few ways I've done this:

Separate work e-mail from personal e-mail.  I used to have all e-mail forwarded to one inbox. That was the easiest way to go from dropping a note to a buddy, to responding to a 2-page e-mail from a client or sales rep.

Realize that most e-mails are not urgent.  I believe that my work is important and that I'm helping people run their businesses successfully, but I also recognize that I'm not saving lives.  In my line of work, there is nothing that needs to get done right now.  Everything can wait a few hours, so there's no need to reply to every e-mail the moment it hits the inbox.  That's inefficient, and an easy way to start spiraling out of control.

Unplug damn it.  You know that blackberry that's sitting in your pocket dinging every thirty seconds?  Turn it off.  Everything will be okay, and the world will not end.  If you're worried about missing a call from your family because you turned your 'Berry off, just turn off the e-mail alerts, and leave the phone on. Or, better yet, have two numbers and two phones: one for work, and one personal.

Now that you've set your colleagues' and clients' expectations, there are a few more things you can do to make sure you work on your schedule, not a schedule that's been defined for you.

1. Less real-time meetings.  If you enjoy meetings, either there's something wrong with you, or you don't really have much real work to do.  Meetings are a the biggest productivity sink in the corporate world, and the bane of most knowledge workers' existence.  Luckily, there are alternatives.  Most meetings can be avoided by sending concise, well-written e-mails to the right people and asking for specific responses by a specific time.  Alternatively, there is software that allows people to post notes to a communal board, and you're free to respond when you can.  Google Wave can be used for this purpose (for all its over-hype, the tool works), or 37Signals' Basecamp, or a company Wiki could work.

2. Have something you'd rather be doing, and enjoy doing it.  Oftentimes, we check in with work because we're bored.  Well, if you have the freedom of a workshifter, you have the freedom to do whatever you want.  Pick something you'd rather be doing than working, and do it.  It doesn't matter if you're going for a 10-mile run, writing a manuscript, or whittling furniture.  If you're doing something you love, you won't be tempted to check in at work.

3. Go some place you can't possibly be disturbed.  If all else fails, find a place where you can't be disturbed.  Believe it or not, the whole world isn't connected... yet.  Usually, this is an issue for workshifters who can't find good wifi, but use it to your advantage.  Find a place with no wifi and no cell phone reception and shack up there.  Extreme?  Perhaps.  Effective?  Definitely.

4. Remember why you wanted to workshift in the first place. All workshifters turn to workshifting for one reason: freedom. When workshifting is imprisoning us rather than liberating us, we're doing something wrong. Take the hint, look at what you're doing and fix what's broken.  Reclaim your freedom.

What do you think? What have you done to make sure workshifting hasn't taken over your life?


Photo Credit: Rosh PR

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
 

I've been having some troubles with my laptop's wireless card over the past couple weeks that have resulted in many (painful) hours of support calls. As most of you Workshifters can attest, there's nothing more frustrating than having IT issues that prevent you from connecting with the rest of your team and getting your work done. It's an isolating, maddening experience that, in my case, often results in a series of "troubleshooting" solutions that features numerous restarts (maybe it will just go away if I restart?), lots of whining and plenty of phone calls to my unassuming coworkers, husband and anyone else I can think of. Since this approach rarely works, I've spent my fair share of time on IT support calls throughout the first year of my Workshifting experience.

As Workshifters, we have to be more adept at overcoming IT hiccups than our office counterparts. This can be a challenge for those of us who aren't particularly tech savvy. I'd like to believe that I've gotten a little better at handling these challenges over the past year.

Here are some things that have helped me along the way:

7 Tips for Keeping Your Cool During IT Support Calls

1. Chances are, you'll be asked to shut down and restart your machine at least once during your support call. This can be a time-consuming process since many of us have configured our machines to automatically launch numerous programs when the computer is started. I recommend reducing these programs to the bare minimum in order to speed up the process. This will reduce the amount of time you and the technician are sitting around in silence, twiddling your thumbs. On PCs you can do this through your Start Up folder.
    
   
2. Try and isolate the problem to a specific component, such as your modem, certain software or your wireless router. For example, if you can't connect to the Internet, you can try and determine if you're having the same issue on another computer or if it's isolated to your machine. This will prevent you from having to sit through a support call with one service provider, only to have them tell you that it's not their product that's causing the problem.
   
   
3. Make sure you ask your support representative if they keep a record of the issue on file. This will prevent you from having to re-explain the situation over and over again if you're working with more than one person. Most companies do this, but it can't hurt to double check.
   
   
4. Keep a record of who you're talking to and when you've contacted them - this can especially come in handy when you're trying to resolve a service-related issue.
   
   
5. Many computer problems are related to cabling and connections. Before you delve into the IT support world, make sure all cables are connected firmly. After all, that's probably one of the first questions you're going to get. (See Ian Fortey's hilarious post "Why tech support sucks: a look behind the scenes" for more on this).
   
   
6. Before you pick up the phone to call support, make a list of the things you've tried to do on your own to resolve the issue. Also, make note of any error messages that may have popped up. Share this information with your technician at the beginning of the call.
   
   
7. Also, Google the problem (especially if it's a software problem).  Who knows? You might get lucky..

What about you? Is there anything that has helped you make it through support calls without losing your cool?

Photo by: paloaltosoftware

Today we have a guest post from Sean Ryan.  Sean is an research analyst with IDC focused on mobile enterprise software. 

Ok, now that I have pegged myself for a Led Zeppelin fan with the title of this post, I can get to the second reason I had for choosing this particular title. We all experience those days (probably more often than we'd like) where the deluge of new projects and urgent requests come pouring in all at once on top of an already steady stream of deadlines, emails, chat sessions, and the rest.

Being an effective multi-tasker is a skill unto itself - it is an even more refined skill for those of us working remotely and/or traveling for business. In some ways the technology being used by mobile workers today makes it easier than ever to multi-task and deal with urgent tasks. However, the myriad of applications and devices we use can have the effect of overwhelming us and creating a hurricane of activity that can actually make us less productive.

In a recent NY Times article about using smartphones to get work done while driving, a communications professor at Stanford, Clifford Nass, noted that the brain is "fundamentally built to unitask." So, that being the case, mobile workers need to be even more disciplined about prioritizing tasks, setting short-term goals, delegating responsibility, and following through with tasks since the distractions are greater and the layers of abstraction are greater.

Below are some of my recommendations for coping with the rushes when the floodgates do burst open. I'd also be interested to know your strategies for dealing with the deluge.

• Use the tools at your disposal, don't let them use you. I keep my IM open most of the time for quick communication without having to pull away from what I am doing, but when I don't want to be disturbed, I put that in my status and am usually even more specific with something along the lines of "researching and writing" as an added qualifier. This helps filter out some of the not-so-urgent requests, or diverts them to email where I can deal with it later and won't forget the details. I do the same thing if I am at an event with my BlackBerry, noting that I am at an event and using my mobile device only. Again, the channel is open for urgent requests only (at least in theory).
  
  
• Mitigate the inevitable by triage and offload. Emails, from the vaguely important to the totally useless, can seriously clog up your inbox and bury important emails in a sea of  unopened messages. The same is true for minor tasks, from a quick email response to a five-minute phone call to a calendar entry. I will often take a couple minutes in the evening and a couple minutes in the morning to go through emails on my mobile device or my home computer, delete the ones that are just spam, move others to respective folders for later, and be mentally prepared to address more urgent matters when I get into the office or start my workday from home. For quick tasks, I try to address them right away, to avoid the death-by-a-thousand-cuts when I have a larger urgent matter to address and the smaller, but still important, jobs to be done are still there to distract me and stress me out (which makes for poorer quality work all around).
  
  
• Always have a "plan B" for accessing critical files. Having more than one way to get at critical files while away from the office is always a good idea. This could be a combination of higher- and lower-tech means. For instance, you could use a remote access solution and also keep important files on either a laptop, smartphone, or USB device. Additionally, you could keep the files on a shared corporate drive and have a point person who could email them to you in the event of an urgent request. I'd recommend one method that leverages secure access to corporate networks, and one that has files securely stored on a local device.
  
  
• Prioritize and set realistic goals. Invariably you'll be in the middle of a couple of other things when the "drop everything and deal with this now!" phone call comes in. I find it best to work backwards by making an educated guess about how long the new project will take and how I will weave that deadline in with that of the other projects I've begun. In this process, I also ask myself some important questions: Which deadlines can be extended and which cannot? Where can I delegate or ask for help from colleagues?
  
  
• Take a deep breath and assess the situation before diving in. There are few things worse than panicking and over-reacting to a crisis without all the relevant information. Unless you are a first responder, taking five to 10 minutes to assess the situation, gather more information, and set a game plan is a very good idea. This also helps take the emotion out of the response, thus avoiding sending flamograms to our bosses or locking on to the wrong details and running full speed in the wrong direction.
  
  For mobile workers, this dynamic also applies to your environment. Say you're racing down the highway at 80 mph; it's probably a good idea to wait until you can get to a rest stop, assess the situation, and then respond accordingly.
  
  For remote workers, it is also important to know who you need to turn to for the right information and expertise when the problem is bigger than what you can deal with on your own; also, to know the best methods to reach those individuals who themselves may be remote or on the road.
  

As a workshifter, how do you manage crisis situations?

Photo by: jereandreagan