Work-Life balance is a myth. 

People who appear to be good at balancing their work and their personal lives are REALLY good at prioritizing.  Prioritizing is knowing what’s urgent and/or important at any given moment.  It is choosing to do one thing and choosing NOT to do another thing. This means that you sometimes choose work over your life and other times you choose life over your work.  These choices are all intentional.  And, when someone has good “work-life balance” it’s because they are good at making these choices.

Read the rest of the article here…

PICK the 5 MOST IMPORTANT and URGENT ITEMS that MUST get done TODAY.

That’s it!

JUST 5.

Here’s the deal…

When we get crazy busy, we build lists that are often full of important things.  At one time, we may have made a list with 10 very important things that needed to happen urgently.  But, over time, we start adding and adding to this list.  We’ve added things that are less important and less urgent – but nonetheless should happen.  Soon enough our lists become a crazy of hundreds of tasks: urgent, non-urgent, important, non-important, reminders, wishes, hopes, and random  thoughts.  It makes it nearly impossible to work from such a huge list – especially when we are very busy and possibly burned out.

On days when my list is humongous and overwhelming to the point where I can’t seem to tackle everything… I do this:

1. I read through every item on the list and star the important ones that absolutely MUST happen before the end of the day.
2. I re-write those ~5 items onto a NEW clean sheet.  (Sometimes the list is made of 3 tasks, sometimes it has 7.  The trick is to keep the list to a few manageable tasks.)
3. I keep the huge list of other tasks for the next day where I can refer back to it and start the process over, looking for the most important and most urgent tasks again.
4. Throughout the day, if any new tasks come up I ask myself: “does this NEED to happen today?”  If not, I add it to my long list.
5. I keep the long list outta site so it doesn’t weigh on me.  I only work from the list of 5 items on my clean sheet of paper.

Working from a list of 5 items is pretty magical.  It frees you up from the weight of so many obligations – even if just symbolically.  And, it gives you a sense of accomplishment to be able to complete everything on your shorter list.

Have you ever tried this?  Has it helped you out?

Image: Creative Commons License

This week we are discussing how much time you are putting into your wedding jobs.  On Tuesday, we discussed the importance of tracking your time and on Wednesday, I shared my favorite tools for tracking your time.  What happens when you discover that you are spending too much time on the average client and not earning enough? This is the scary conundrum that many wedding pros find themselves in when they actually start to look at their labor hours.

For example, if you charge $2000 and you work 300 hours, this is less than $7 per hour.  Wow.  Not fun.  (We haven’t even taken into consideration your costs and expenses!)  Not only are you being underpaid, but also you can’t possibly consider hiring someone to do this work.  Assuming it takes them the same amount of time to do the work (if not more time) you’ll never be able to get away with paying them so little.  This is where scalability comes into play in your business model.  Your business is NOT scalable.

If your hourly rate is too low:

Cut Your Time

Set a benchmark for what your jobs should entail in labor hours.  Let’s play with a hypothetical scenario.  You feel it would be fair to have a wage rate of $25/hour.  (This comes out to annual income of ~$52,000 for a full-time 40 hour/week “regular” job.)  Given the example above where your price on this job is $2000 the targeted hours would be 80 hours on this job.  80 hours becomes your benchmark.

Now, realistically, it’s probably impossible to cut the time you spend from 300 hours to 80 hours.  That’s a pretty drastic change.  But, let’s play with this reality.  How do you cut the time you are spending on a job?  Here are some recommendations:

• Cut out some services that you offer
  I see all sorts of ridiculous things being included in some wedding packages.  I’m talking about premium services such as managing RSVPs, if you are wedding planner.  This should be an add-on.  Take a look at what’s included in these 300 hours.  What should NOT be a part of this job?
• Streamline your systems
  Much of us waste time because we don’t have good systems in place.  We duplicate work.  We spin our wheels.  We make mistakes.  This is when it pays to have a good client management process in place.
• Manage expectations
  I see a lot of wedding pros who bend at the mercy of their client.  Client is king, yet there is nothing wrong with setting expectations.  Not doing so leads to 100s of emails at all hours of the day and night – and a bulk of excess time that is spent on a bridezilla or two.  Make sure to read our post that details 10 ways your client is managing you.
  

Raise Your Prices

What if you raised your prices by 20%? It’s incredible how small of an impact this makes on your prices; a change that your clients will hardly notice.  But the impact on your finances is pretty solid.  Most of us are under-priced in this industry and could use a boost.  Find a reasonable sweet spot for you and your business.  A 20% increase in the example given would be a price change from $2000 to $2400.  This isn’t momentous.  Now if you were to raise your prices to $7500 (which would be the result of assigning your hourly rate of $25/hour to 300 hours) then it may be a little risky.  It’s possible to make this jump to $7500… you just need to make sure that your services, reputation, experience, target market, and branding represent this new price.

Outsource

It is possible that you are spending more time on a process that could be outsourced.  For example, some photographers and videographers outsource their editing process.  They find that something that may take them 100 hours can be done by a post-processing service company.  The post-processing company has systems in place to streamline this process.  This is not an option for everyone.  You’ll have to do the math and figure out if outsourcing enables you to shave some time for a comparable cost.

So which one is the best for you? Chances are that you’ll make a combination of cutting your hours and raising your prices.  You sorta HAVE to if the time you spend on a wedding job doesn’t match up to your income.

What are your thoughts?  Have you had this experience?

timetrackerapp.com

Yesterday we discussed the importance of tracking the time you spend on each wedding job.  By tracking your time, you’ll be able to determine if:

• you are charging enough for your product or service
• you are spending too much time in certain areas that don’t bring you enough income
• how to price your product or service
• how to estimate and plan your time on future jobs

Today, I want to share my favorite tools for tracking time.  Let’s be real here: I don’t expect you to track every minute of your day. (If you do, that’s great!  I just can’t keep up with it.)  But, choose a few “random samples” and see how much time you spend on your projects.  A system is only as good as you use it.  Make sure you choose a tool that ensures you’ll use it!

Tools for Tracking Time:

Toggl

Toggl is a fabulous online tool which allows you to literally update your time with a quick click.  I love the iPhone/iPod app for this also.  You can also incorporate the “team module” which allows your team to track their time too.  I love the charts and graphs Toggl offers.  It really helps to see the visual cues for where your time is going.

Basecamp Time Tracking

I love the time tracking feature on Basecamp.  (We discussed Basecamp for client and project management a few months ago.)  This is a great tool because you are linking the time you spend to a specific project.  It can also be used with team members on multiple projects.  You can export the data to Excel and create all sorts of cool analytics.

TimeTracker

This is a cool little app called TimeTracker that is available for iPhone or iPod.  If you are attached to your phone, then this little app will ensure that you are logging your time.  It’s always within reach and you don’t have to open up a spreadsheet or jot notes on paper.

Excel

No recommendation for tracking anything would be complete without a nod to good ol’ Excel.  I love Excel because it’s easy and functional and you can add up details quickly.  Just create a tracking spreadsheet with the date and hours spent across the top columns.  List clients’ names down the first column. And voila!  You’re set!  You can also print this out and share with employees to track their time.  (By the way, you should have your employees filling out time sheets.  If you get audited, the IRS will want to see this.)

Here’s an easy-peasy tracking sheet for you: Sage Wedding Pros – Time Tracker.  (FREE!)

Quickbooks

Within Quickbooks’ Payroll module, there is a great tool for tracking time and linking it to your employees’ wages.  If you pay yourself thru an equity draw (most sole proprietors and LLCs do) then you won’t want to have this linked to actual payroll and checks.  But, you can still use the tool to see where your time is going.  This is best used if you already used the payroll function to pay hourly employees.

Good ol’ pen & paper

Why complicate things?  Grab a post-it and pen and start making notes!

Do you have any good tools for tracking time?  Please share!

Image: Creative Commons License

One of the mistakes we make as business owners is thinking that we have time on our side.  Many of us embraced entrepreneurialism because we wanted to manage our own time and have flexible schedules.  But what happens is that we let time get away.  And, we don’t always see time as the commodity that it is.

Time IS Money

This is an expression that is used over and over again, yet we don’t always live it.  We can be wasteful.  Because time is on our side, we often spend more time on a project than we should.  Or, we don’t even know where time goes.

The greatest offense in the spending of time is not tracking our time in relation to our work.

How much time does it REALLY take to do a wedding job?

Do you know how much it takes to plan an event if you are a wedding coordinator?  Do you know how much time it takes to shoot and edit an event if you are wedding photographer?  Do you know how much time it takes to design, print, and assemble wedding invites if you are an invitation designer?

In other words: do you know the cost of your labor?

We spend this all too freely without knowing exactly what our projects actually cost us.  If you were to place a value on your time, what would it cost?  If you were to replace yourself from the wedding job, what would it cost to replace you?

Tracking Time

I encourage wedding professionals to track their time on a “test basis”.  In a nutshell: choose one wedding and track your time.  If you offer a few different services or products (most of us do) take a “test” sample on 2-3 jobs.  Track your time for the entire job.  By tracking your time, you’ll be able to determine if:

• you are charging enough for your product or service
• you are spending too much time in certain areas that don’t bring you enough income
• how to price your product or service
• how to estimate and plan your time on future jobs

Come back tomorrow and I’ll share a few tools for tracking your time.

Do you stop occasionally to completely tune out from work (and the associated technology)?

This is so very challenging to do.  Our smartphones are so smart that we can do everything on them all at once.  But I’ve noticed that when I’m constantly looping in to check technology that I don’t give my mind the chance to rest.  And, I end up tired and burned out during the “work week”.  When I tune out technology and turn off my gadgets I come back to work rested, relaxed, and ready for action.  Believe me, it’s hard to shift gears like this. But, it’s worth it!

Here are some things I do to completely “unplug” myself:

• Focus on the task at hand.
  The “task” can be something as simple as watching TV.  I’m as guilty as the next person of tweeting while simultaneously watching TV.  But, at the end of the night I’ve missed half the show.  And, it could be my favorite show.  What a waste.
• Embrace a hobby.
  Idle hands are the devil’s playthings.  If I’m not busy doing something I totally enjoy doing, my hands are going to turn to my iPhone.  When I’m bored I do this.  And, without a hobby to embrace outside of my work, I get bored.
• Plan outings with friends.
  This one is a no-brainer…. but I’m going to mention it anyways.  I find that some weekends (or times that I should be relaxing) I am stuck in my technology because of the social aspects of it, namely social media.  In other words: I am wanting to interact with people. Facebook and twitter are only a few swipes away.  But, by doing this, I’m not unwinding the way I could be with a good real-life laugh with friends.
• Read a book – made of paper.
  I read all sorts of things on my gadgets: blog posts, newspapers, books, etc.  But, I’ve noticed that it’s not nearly quite as relaxing as a good old-fashioned book.  There is something about the pages that transports me to another world that feels quite decadent.  I think it’s the luxury of time to sit around and *just read* is the decadence itself.
• Commit to unplugging daily.
  I find that I’m much better at being tech-free on weekends if I can commit to it daily.  I try to avoid technology after 7pm weekly.  This gives me time to relax and time for my brain to rest.  It also preps me for the longer technology fast over the weekend.

How about you?  How do you unplug yourself from technology?

I’ve been thinking lately about how to make time.  How does one make time?  We all will make time for something we REALLY want.  (If you are really committed to exercising, you will prioritize it over anything else.)  But, deep down, we don’t always make time for the things that aren’t really in our hearts.  We choose other more important things.  (I know a lot of business owners that have piles of accounting waiting to be input into Quickbooks, for example.)

Making time is much more about opening our minds and hearts than actually scheduling something into our calendars.  What does that mean? This means that simply putting something into our calendar doesn’t mean it will happen.  We often have to change the way we think about something, see it as a meaningful and important.  When this happens we will prioritize it over other things.  Opening our minds involves getting rid of the noise in our heads and truly focusing on what we need to do.  Opening our hearts means making this thing a really important thing that we REALLY want.

I may tell myself I want to write a book… but are my head and my heart really there?  I may tell myself I want to become healthier but are my head and my heart really there?  I may tell myself I want to be on vacation but are my head and my heart really there?

Making time isn’t always a scheduling decision.  It’s more often about getting your head and your heart completely focused on committing to what you want.  It’s only when your head and heart are focused that you can truly make this a priority in your life.  When this is in place, making time isn’t as great of a challenge.

Image: Creative Commons License

There are days that the word insane doesn’t quite capture the madness that is your life.

Am I right or am I right?

When stress is on overload, you need a quick release.  Yes – a 30 minute nap or a walk around the block would be great.  But, when things get really crazy, you may not even be able to leave your desk.  So, I’m going to give you some quick tips for relieving stress.

3 QUICK WAYS to RELIEVE STRESS (from your desk):

1 – The Quick Should Roll

Close your eyes.  Sit up straight.  Roll your shoulders back while counting to 10.  Roll your shoulders forward while counting to 10.  Done.  This life-saver was given to me by a massage therapist friend of mine and it always puts me in a better place.  It’s fast and easy and is a mini substitute for a massage.

2 – 30 Seconds of Breathing

Close your eyes.  Slowly breathe in and out while concentrating on every breath.  Count your breaths for 10 in and 10 out (alternating).  Done.  Breathing is so simple and so incredibly therapeutic.  Many of us don’t take time in our day to breathe properly.

3 – Chair Dancing

This one requires that your in a good mood, in spite of the stress.  Find a song that pumps you up and rock it out!  We all have songs that energize us.  When things are super stressful, release all that tension with a good chair dance. Even better: get up and dance in your office.

How do you quickly relieve stress?

And, today, we arrive at my favorite part: the nerdy part!  I’m going to share with you a few of my favorite technologies for managing your projects.  This post could probably be 30 pages long because there are so many cool tools out there.  I’m just going to focus on a few favorites.  The others will have to wait until another post.

For managing sales, inquiries and conversations: 37signals’ Highrise

We are incredibly fortunate to be living in 2011.  In 2011, there is CRM software for EVERYONE! (CRM is “Client Relationship Management” in “corporate speak”.)  A CRM tool allows you to track all of those intimate details about your clients.

Highrise (from the company 37signals, purveyors of all sorts of cool technology) is my favorite CRM tool for small business onwers.  It’s an online site that enables you to track conversations with clients and potential clients.  It allows you to “tag” your contacts, assign tasks, file email conversations, and so on.  What I most love about it: It’s CRM for dummies.  (I know we are all SAGE individuals, but let’s not make things more complicated than they have to be.)

And get this: it allows you to track your “DEALS”.  A deal is a potential business venture with a client.  For example, when you send out that proposal to a potential client, you can open a “deal” and track all communication associated with that deal.  My favorite part is when I can mark it “WON”!

37signals offers a free trial for as long as you want.  (The free trial limits the number of contacts, cases, and deals you can have.)  But, I have to admit I didn’t really “get it” until I started using it actively in my business and started using the paid version which is totally worth it for $24/month.

Here’s a screen shot:

For project management: 37 signals’ Basecamp

Also from 37 signals, I love Basecamp for Project Management.  This is a great tool for managing all of your client’s events.  What I love is that I can access my “dashboard” and get a snapshot of where everyone of my client’s is at and what needs to be done.  Creating templates that have to-do lists is key to making this program work for you.  (You’ll want to revisit our post from yesterday on documenting your systems to make this easier on you.)  Like Highrise, there is a free trial for Basecamp and the paid version starts at $24/month.

Here’s a screen shot:

For photographer and videographer project management: ShootQ

ShootQ is an online program that enables photographers and videographers to manage their workflow.  It is similar to BaseCamp in that it allows you to streamline your projects.  However, it takes project management to the next level by incorporating templated contracts, emails, and so on.  This tool is incredibly robust.  (Pssstt… I know some wedding planners use this too and word on the street is that they are developing a version specifically tailored to planners.)  You will need to spend a good week setting up the templates, checklists, and so on.  (Again, you’ll want to revisit yesterday’s post on documenting your systems before you get started.)  They have a free 30-day trial that is worth checking out, tho once you get your workflow in place, you won’t be able to imagine life before ShootQ.

For managing computer documents, images, files, etc: Bento for MAC

Bento is project management software designed for Apple computers.  I love the ease of this tool!  I also love the visual aspects.  If you are managing a gazillion images for clients (swatches, samples, magazine clippings, blog posts, ideas and so on) this is a great tool because you can “see” what you’re working with.  You can also link documents that are stored elsewhere on your computer.  It doesn’t have the interactivity that an online tool (like Basecamp) has so you won’t be able to share anything with a client.  (It’s desktop software, not web-based.)  But, if you are only wanting to organize your files and track your projects, this is a great tool.

Check out the Bento informational video to better understand how it works.

For uncomplicated basics: Excel

The above-mentioned are all really fun and fancy tools that I’ve incorporated into my business over time and now love.  BUT – HERE’S THE TRUTH: while they are easy to use and simple to learn, there was a learning curve.  It took me a few hours (a few of them took days) of tweaking and fine-tuning until I go into the rhythm of using these and making them work for me (instead of the other way around).

Before I used these tools, I was pretty happy with good ol’ EXCEL!  YEP – there is nothing wrong with managing your projects using EXCEL!

Below is a VERY SIMPLE spreadsheet for managing your inquiries.  You can add columns based on your profession.  (There are a few added steps shown for a hypothetical invite design company.  This worksheet should be customized based on your systems.)  This is an AWESOME tool to have a quick snapshot of all your clients in one place.  For my clients management, I update this every few days and paste it to my wall so I could get a quick view of everything going.  This was also a great way for my staff to understand the status on everyone.

FREE DOWNLOAD: Project Management Schedule in Excel

These are just a few of my favorite client management tools.  What are yours?

Image: Creative Commons License

We so often are looking for the “MAGIC SOLUTION” to help us with organization and management of our projects.  We buy software, folders, to-do lists, etc.  But, we still end up overwhelmed with work.  How do we manage it all?  How do we keep our heads above water?  We are in the middle of a 5 part series on Client Management.

Before you can implement systems and tools for managing your projects, you need to lay a foundation for organization. And, you need to rethink the way you work.  Your “systems” (the software, folders, checklists, to-dos) aren’t any good if you don’t have an organized foundation in your business.

1) DECLUTTER & SETUP

The more “stuff” you have in your workspace, the less able you’ll be able to focus on getting your work done. If you are feeling out of control with your projects, chances are your workspace is also out of control. You’ll want to revisit our post on decluttering.  You’ll also want to revisit our post on setting yourself up for organizational success.

2) MANAGE YOUR TIME

Yesterday, we talked about managing your clients (as opposed to having your clients managing you). Learning to manage your time and DECIDING how to spend your time is key to solid project management. If you begin each day at the whim of your clients – or whatever last minute emergency arises – you aren’t managing your time well. DECIDE what to do with your time, instead of just allowing your day to happen as it unfolds.

3) BATCH YOUR TASKS

Batching is the idea that we “group” our repetitive tasks. For example, instead of checking email every 10 minutes allowing for one email to arrive every 10 minutes, we check email every two hours and respond to 12 emails in one sitting. I batch the majority of my tasks. If I have samples for clients, they usually get done on Thursdays. Client meetings happen on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

You want to batch your tasks because each time you “reset” yourself between tasks you lose focus.  (This is the peril of multitasking.) I know that when I have 3 appointments in the same afternoon, I am on a ROLL. I am a machine. I am focused and in my groove. But, when I have to stop what I’m doing 3 times for 3 separate appointments, it breaks up my flow. 3 appointments that may have taken 3-5 hours in one sitting have now taken all of my 8 hours of the day because the time between appointments has been lost. This is true for all tasks: email, production, phonecalls, and so on.

4) GET IN A GROOVE

When I first attempted to have an “empty decluttered desk” as part of my daily life, it was nearly impossible for me to maintain. The messiness habit was hard to break. But, I kept coming back to it during moments of panic and feeling out of control in my projects. Over time, I started craving the order. This is also true of batching my tasks. I used to hate the routine. But, over time I found it so liberating to not be checking email all day long. Once you get in a groove it feels good.

And… then… you are ready to begin implementing your client management systems…

JOIN US NEXT WEEK for more on this!