Archive for the ‘Time Management’ Category
Friday, August 7th, 2009
We are so excited that our bridge line is nearly full for our Free call on Monday, August 10th called How We Get The Right Things Done (Without Going Crazy.)
Here is what we will share on the class:
- How we run multiple businesses, projects and streams of income (without going crazy).
- How we carve out time for what matters most.
- Our PERSONAL CHECKLIST of what YOU can do to take back your time, right now!
- How you can decide what is most important this and every week.
- We will also share the one action that has made a huge difference to our business and personal life.
Register here and let us know what you think after the call. We look forward to working with you!
Tags: A Red Bench, Angela Ploetz, Christa Patchen Wagner, Christa Wagner, Professional Organizer Courses, Professional Organizer Education, Professional Organizing Training, Red Bench, Red Bench Program, Teleclasses
Posted in Grow Your Business, Teleclasses, Time Management | No Comments »
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
We had a fantastic teleclass with fellow organizer and email expert, Lauren Halagarda, recently. It was called Dexox Your Inbox and one of the questions was whether she recommends using email folders for archiving. Now with all of our teleclasses you have to take the expert’s advise as just that – advice. You can take it or leave it, but do give it some thought. You have to listen to the teleclass to understand the entire context of her recommendation, but interestingly enough Lauren does not recommend archiving your emails using folders.
She says “saving email is only helpful if you can find the email and the folders become overwhelming and confusing.” Lauren recommends after processing your email, and she provides a process to do so on the teleclass, to archive emails in one folder. Then use search sofware to retrieve information quickly. She reviewed various search software tools on the call including her preferred software recommendation.
Now, I know for many of you this may be a big change and seem like and odd recommendation. I know for myself, I do like having a personal folder, a folder for my organizing company and one for A Red Bench. I can still use the search tool she recommends making retrieval easy. But as I was listening to her I started thinking about a recent client who is an attorney and has to save every client communication. Having one folder will help her tremendously, because right now she cannot stay on top of archiving them and the volume does not allow her to find anything.
Think of your own clients where this one folder recommendation, along with a search tool, could save them time and frustration. To purchase Detox Your Inbox, visit the Audio Recordings page of our website and consider attending a future A Red Bench Teleclass.
Tags: A Red Bench, Angela Ploetz, Christa Patchen Wagner, Christa Wagner, Detox Your Inbox, Email Overload, Lauren Halagarda, Reduce Email
Posted in Organizing Skills, Teleclasses, Time Management | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
I will be the first to admit that I was reluctant to get a Facebook account, but after a few friends (and you know who you are) peer pressured me into it, I took the plunge. It’s now been six months using this tool and I have to admit I really like it and am enjoying it. Now, just like anything else Facebook can take over your life and it has for many people. You have to monitor the amount of time you are dedicating to Facebook and have some idea as to why you’re using it. Is it just for fun? Are you using it for business too?
So we all know Facebook can kill productivity if you keep it open all day, so I’m not going to even go there. From an organizer’s perspective close FB when you’re not using it and use a timer to avoid overuse. On the flip side it has helped me in a few areas that I think are important to mention:
- It has greatly reduced my email. Thank goodness for small favors, something has decreased the amount of emails coming into my inbox. Of course I love to hear from friends via email, but who has time to email back and forth all the time. Using FB I can touch base with them as often as I want in a much more social way. I can comment on something they said and its appropriate to only say a few words rather than go on and on.
- I can check as often or as little as I want. With email, because its in my inbox, I feel obligated to respond to everything. Don’t you? Using FB, its not the same and I can check in and out with much less pressure.
- Staying in better touch with friends and family. Of course, this is obvious, but when you live as far away from home as I do it’s so nice to be able to connect with people on a regular basis. Just yesterday I was “IMing” with my cousin who is in New York. I can see what she’s up to for the summer and we started chatting. It was great and I feel connected to her and others in a much more genuine way.
Like anything else, FB can become one more thing to do so if you don’t enjoy it, don’t do it. If you want to learn to use Facebook more effectively, be on the lookout for the Audio Recording being released fro our Social Media TeleSummit. And if you are going to embark on this new phenomenon, keep a watchful eye on the clock. 10 minutes can turn into two hours in no time. Give yourself some guidelines and have fun with it!
Click here to find me on Facebook.
Tags: A Red Bench, Angela Ploetz, Christa Patchen Wagner, Christa Wagner, Facebook, social media
Posted in Marketing, Time Management | No Comments »
Thursday, June 4th, 2009
I hear people say all the time they wake up in 
the middle of the night and can’t fall back to sleep. When I ask them why, they tell me they have so much running through their heads and they just can’t relax their brain. I am sure this happens to your clients all the time and it happens to me too. Something that helps is to keep a notepad next to the bed and when you wake up you can write down what’s in you head. You might think this will activate your brain, but instead is allows you let go of the task knowing it’s there for you in the morning. You write it down to remember and allow your brain to forget.
Perhaps the next time a client tells you they didn’t sleep well because of so much swimming in their head; have them give this a try and get a good night’s sleep.
Tags: Angela Ploetz, Christa Wagner, Getting Things Done, Reduce Stress, Stress
Posted in Time Management | No Comments »
Thursday, May 21st, 2009
If you know me, or have read other my personal blog posts, then you know I am not a huge fan of email. Now, before you freak out of course I understand the benefits of email and do enjoy communicating using email on certain occasions. My problem with email is that you would never call me 10 different times, but you wouldn’t think twice about emailing me 10 times. As a business owner, I was overwhelmed by how much email I receive that I am supposed to deal with, right? I just could not keep up so I reviewed my email. What was I really getting? Much of the email I receive had no benefits to my life or business whatsoever. Its information, its an FYI, or even more fun, a series of Reply All’s from various group I belong to. (My personal favorite waste of time.)
So I have been conducting a little experiment. In an effort to reduce the amount of emails in my inbox, I have been trying to reduce the amount of emails I send. I read somewhere for every one email you send, you receive three back. And if you receive 100 emails each day and each takes 3 minutes to deal with, that’s five hours of your day. No wonder we can’t get anything done! So I send much less and am very aware of who I am sending to. I only respond if I must and delete aggressively. My goal by the end of the day in Zero Inbox, but usually I have around 10.
What I can tell you is it has be fantastic not to have that panic feeling of all the emails I have to read and deal with in my inbox. Just like everything else, you have to pick and choose; I choose to only respond to the most necessary, important emails. We are looking forward to much more information on this Email Overload on our July 8th Teleclass with Lauren Halagarda. Topic is DeTox Your Inbox. Register today!
Tags: Angela Ploetz, Christa Wagner, Detox Your Inbox, Email Overload, Lauren Halagarda, Reduce Email
Posted in Grow Your Business, Organizing Skills, Time Management | 1 Comment »
Monday, May 11th, 2009
Starting a business is overwhelming and it’s difficult to get it all done. Don’t re-create the wheel; use what is out there to help you build a solid foundation from day one. Our business forms are what you need to start working as a service professional. Our forms include:
- Initial call form
- Invoice
- Contract
- Consultation Questionnaire
- And a few more….
Price is $4.99 each for a limited time. Buy 3 or more and save $1.00 per book. When you purchase the forms, you can add your own logo and change the form in any way that reflects your needs. This simply gives you the foundation to get started. Remember as a business owner to focus on the right tasks and get help when you need it. Click here for more info or to purchase.
Tags: Angela Ploetz, Business Forms, Business Foundation, Christa Wagner, client contract, contract, Forms, initial call form, Red Bench Program
Posted in Grow Your Business, Marketing, Time Management | No Comments »
Monday, April 27th, 2009
We Bring the Experts To You and share what we have learned managing two successful businesses. Every day we are asked tough questions from business owners (like yourself) and we do our best to get those questions answered from a variety of sources. We continue to add more to products to make running your business easier, more efficient and more profitable. We have a few new products we wanted to make you aware of:
Booklets: Expanding Your Business with Information Products –Available May 1
Description: (downloadable PDF format)
Many business owners are interested in information products, but don’t know how to get started or have fears about the process. Complete the project from start to finish using our 6-Step Infopreneur Process found in this simple booklet. Start using information products as a way to broaden your revenue stream. Price is $4.99. Purchase here.
Business Forms:
Description: (downloadable PDF format)
Starting a business is overwhelming and its difficult to get it all done. Don’t re-create the wheel; use what is out there to help you build a solid foundation from day one. Our business forms are you what you need to start working as an organizing professional. Our forms include:
- Initial Call Form
- Action Plan or Pre-Client Contract
- Client Contract
- Invoice
- Progress Report
- Consultation Questionnaire
- Consultation Checklist
Price is $4.99 each or 3 for $15. When you purchase the forms, you can add your own logo and change the form in any way that reflects your needs. This simply gives you the foundation to get started. Remember as a business owner to focus on the right tasks and get help when you need it. Click here to purchase and start using our forms.
Tags: Angela Ploetz, Business tools, Christa Wagner, Expanding Your Business, Forms, Information Products, Managing a business, Red Bench Program
Posted in Grow Your Business, Time Management | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
We recently had a really fantastic A Red Bench teleclass and I was reminded of something very
valuable. Our guest expert was Jay Kimball of 8020 Vision and what he shared can really make a huge impact on how you spend your time. Did you know that 80% of your results come from 20% of your actions? This is referred to as the 80/20 Rule, or Pareto’s Principle. Likewise, in business, 80% of your sales come from 20% of your clients. High-performance people achieve more with less by constantly apply this principle.
Perhaps we know this, but are we putting it onto action? Probably not. In everything we do in life we have to decide what is most important and how we are going to spend our time. There is no question, people are over-committed and being honest with yourself and admitting you can only do so many things each day is vital. Jay recommended what he calls the ABC, 123 process.
I know there are things in my day that are filler; use the ABC, 123 process to priortize your time and start getting the right things done. If you want to listen, Click here for more info…. on purchasing the teleclass.
Tags: 80/20 Principle, Angela Ploetz, Christa Wagner, getting the right things done, Red Bench Program, saving time, Teleclasses, Time Management
Posted in Grow Your Business, Teleclasses, Time Management | No Comments »
Monday, February 16th, 2009
The most successful people plan their week and day. But do we plan to focus on the highest priorities? Not always. On our next A Red Bench teleclass
, Do More in Less Time, we will discuss applying the 80/20 Principle.
Did you know that 80% of your results come from 20% of your actions? This is referred to as the 80/20 Rule, or Pareto’s Principle. Likewise, 80% of your sales come from 20% of your clients. High-performance people and organizations achieve more with less by constantly apply this principle. Sounds great, but how do we get there? On this call, with Jay Kimball owner of 80/20 Vision, learn about the 80/20 Principle and how best to incorporate it into your small business – quickly, effectively, and enjoyably.
Click here for call details.
Tags: 80/20 Principle, Angela Ploetz, Christa Wagner, guest expert, Red Bench Program, saving time, Teleclasses
Posted in Grow Your Business, Time Management | No Comments »
