How Do You Benefit?

So I was sitting in a bar last week, browsing my site analytics on my iPhone. When my friend came over, I mentioned my blog had 950 visits that day, the highest I’d ever had.

“Cool”, he said, “but how do you benefit?”

And it’s a good question. After all, it wasn’t as if I’d sold 950 copies of my book or won some new clients; I just had a new bunch of visitors to my blog. I wouldn’t see any revenues for that.

But there doesn’t need to be a ‘hard’ return on investment for everything; often it’s about a ‘softer’ ROI. Not £ or $ but satisfaction, recognition or just doing something you are passionate about. For small businesses like mine it’s important to recognise that they’ll be pockets of activities we get paid for, and pockets we don’t. And making choices accordingly.

Writing books, blogging, guest posts, doing video interviews are not motivated by money. I didn’t invest time - and money - in producing a video of Dave Stewart for a financial return (because I didn't get paid for it). I did it because I like telling stories, I enjoyed it. To answer my friend’s question: *that* is how I benefit.

So as you make your own choices, think about the return on investment. Whether soft, hard, measurable, immeasurable, whatever – that’s all that counts.

Work out how you benefit.

It’s All About Choices

There was a ‘handyman’ at my house yesterday doing some maintenance, minor repairs, decorating – all those things that have accumulated at the bottom of my to-do list. Most of that I could have attempted myself but you have to make choices about what you do, and what you don’t do.

Because, of course, it’s all about Time.

In managing time it’s all about decisions. Whether to read that blog post, whether to click on that link. You get bombarded with hundreds of choices every day, so you have to be ruthless. No more so than online, where you can spend (or is it ‘waste’?) hours on places like Tweetdeck. And the thing is there’s no sure-fire way of knowing what’s going to yield value. That blink-and-you’ll-miss-it tweet could change your fortunes in an instant, open your mind to something new, give you a business opportunity. Or not.

Similarly if you – like me – are one of the growing number of one-person business units, then you need to make judgement calls all our lives. Do we configure that wifi network ourselves, or outsource to an IT expert? Do we design that presentation template or hire a designer? Write that copy or hand to a copywriter?

Each of those choices has a cost implication, but like my outsourcing to the handyman, I may be a few hundred pounds poorer, but I’m richer in time. And whether that’s time to work, to play with my kids, or just to chill, it really doesn’t matter.

I made the choice.

When The Clock’s Ticking But Nobody’s Paying You

Last week I went to a meeting that was a ‘CWOT’. A Complete Waste Of Time.

Travel time + lost time = frustration.

If I was working as an executive at an organisation and on somebody else’s payroll, this would still be frustrating. But when you work for yourself, it’s more painful - after all, nobody pays you to turn up at meetings.

In ‘Juggle!’ I talk about the importance of managing time and getting value from *all* you do. I don’t just mean a hard financial return, I mean value: whether you took time out to enjoy a movie, or you enjoyed a coffee. That’s still value. But when you didn’t even enjoy the train ride, that’s a waste of time.

You won't always know in advance the relationships that will be fruitful and those that will just waste time. There’s no guaranteed criteria you can apply, no iPhone app that will work out the answer for you. Because where randomness and serendipity play such a role in growing your business, you never can tell it might be useful until you show up. You just have to trust your instinct; sometimes you’ll get right, others not.

So make sure you think about how you carve up your working day. Being self-employed in ‘biz dev’ mode is a bit like being a taxi driver but never sure whether your passenger will pay until you get to the destination...

Link Roundup

I’ve contributed a few guest posts to other blogs recently.

Here’s my article for Careershifters ‘If Big Change Is Not For You, Try Juggling’. Careershifters is a website and community for anyone making a major career change, run by people who have done it.

Here’s my short video post for Ian Aspin’s ‘Really Good Thinking blog’ on the importance of making tough choices when you’re managing time.

And here’s my contribution to Cath Duncan’s ‘Mine Your Resources’ blog with my take on goal setting: “I have goals but I have no plan for the journey I will take to reach them…"

Playing Where You Play Best: Part 2

I did a blog post last week about the importance of being ruthless in how you manage your time - focusing on what you enjoy & are good at in your job. I got some good comments back on Twitter and a question from @Leggetter, 'how do you persuade people to let you do that?'

He’s right. Focusing on ‘playing where you play best’ might be easy for jugglers like Gary Vaynerchuk and Kevin Roberts who are at the peak of success. But what if you'd love to apply this mantra to your own working life, but don't know where to start? Here are a couple of tips that I've learnt through my own career.

First, it's about communicating your talents to your boss, co-workers or clients. In my 20’s I joined a company at a junior level with aspirations to rise to the management team (a goal I realised a few years later). But I had to be proactive to get noticed. I displayed my appetite for management wherever I could, producing a monthly report, coming up with ideas, being visible and vocal in team meetings. Of course, alongside that I had to deal with all the stuff I didn’t enjoy so much, but it gave me a new focus. Suddenly people realised I had bigger potential and the organisation started to take me more seriously. I was able to get promoted to take on new responsibilities and focus on what I was good at (and what I enjoyed). Then - and only then - I could start to leave some of those other tasks behind. Success didn't happen over night, but by showing what I could achieve I'd got the opportunity top focus on my passions.

Second, it's about knowing what you're not so good at and communicating that too. It's about being honest and saying 'that's not for me, it's not my strength'. That can be tough in a competitive environment where everyone is looking to prove themselves, but success is not about blindly taking on every task, project and responsibility that gets thrown at you. It's about sticking to your strengths and also knowing your limitations. That honesty shows vision – your boss would rather give a task to someone who was passionate about it than someone who was indifferent. And I do the same in my business - you have to know when to delegate or outsource tasks to suppliers or other team members who can do the job better, or when to turn opportunities or clients down because you know you won’t enjoy them that much.

So start by proving your talents, then be honest about what's not your strength, and then you can focus on playing where you play best.

‘Why I Don’t Do The Garden’ & The Importance Of Time

I’m often asked what is the secret of juggling a portfolio of multiple interests and projects? Well, there's no big secret, it's all about recognising the importance of time. It’s about being ruthless in what you choose to do, and what you choose not too.

I was reminded of this recently as I sat reading the paper in our summerhouse at the weekend; the garden outside was demanding someone to weed it, tend to the vegetables and empty the slug traps. But I didn’t stress.

Because I don’t ‘do’ the garden: sure, it would be nice to get involved, but I'd made the decision not to. I realise I can’t do everything and also my wife is more passionate about it (and does a better job too). If I added gardening to my weekend t0-do list, I wouldn’t have time to write my books, read the paper or just play with my kids.

So sure, be confident about taking on a broad workload, but recognise you don’t want (or have time) to do everything. Whether in domestic or professional life, try and divide tasks with others, delegate or outsource stuff that you can afford to. Being an effective Juggler is about focusing on your passions and strengths.

It’s back to that mantra of ‘knowing where you play best and playing there all the time’. That should inform all your juggling. So yes, think broad, think plural. But know where to draw the line.

Bits of advice...

I was interviewed for an online article recently, 'Are you putting your job before you?' which is live on the Nicole Williams website here.

I was also interviewed a while back for the News Of The World 'Fabulous' magazine about time management and how to maximise your time, that piece is here (or click on the images above).

Build Your Sweat Equity (Whilst Avoiding Burnout)

I’ve been thinking a lot about how we’re all having to work harder than ever to survive and succeed. I was interviewed by a journalist on this subject this morning; considering how we avoid becoming workaholics as the job market gets tougher.

Of course, it’s a given that in order to be successful you have to excel at all you do; to over-deliver to your boss, your clients and organisation. There are no short cuts and putting your feet up is not an option.

Success is all down to what I call ‘hard graft, or what Gary Vaynerchuk has billed ‘sweat equity’, but whatever you call it, it’s about investing time and effort in your talent to ensure you’re a success. It’s like the local coffee shop owner who gets up early 7 days a week to open-up for their customers; it’s like the time I got up at 4am to get the first Eurostar of the day to Paris to interview Gary V. It’s what you have to do if you’re going to ‘hustle’!

But remember that sweat equity doesn’t have to be about being a slave to the corporation, working 12 hour days at your desk, 5 days a week. Instead it’s about the mental commitment to your job, having the right attitude and approach to all you do. It’s sweating to yield results: coming up with ideas, super-serving clients, leading teams, winning business, whatever.

But Sweat doesn’t mean your life, family or health has to suffer. Planet Juggle is not all-or-nothing territory: it’s about working hard but working smart. That might mean you’re checking emails or doing research at 10 o’clock at night but you can do that at home on your iPhone with a bottle of wine, once you’ve had dinner with your husband or read the bed-time story to your toddler. But when the pressure gets turned up, be prepared to get up at 5 am to attack that to-do list, get on that ‘plane to salvage that client relationship or to prepare for that key meeting.

How do you avoid burnout while you’re building sweat equity? Here’s 5 tips:

1) If you’re going to sweat, first make sure you love what you do. And if you don’t, reframe your work life so you do, because there is nothing worse than sweating over something that you hate.
2) Make sure you find time for ‘play’ when you are working hard, whether a run, the gym or just some fresh air at lunchtime.
3) Step back from the day-to-day once in a while for a reality check. Ask yourself if you are fulfilled, are you getting the results you want? If not, change tack.
4) Get some ‘me time’. Don’t spend all of your commute on the BlackBerry, pick up a novel or listen to a podcast once in a while. Spending every minute of every day obsessed with work will not consistently yield results. You have to stay fresh, so get stimulated from other sources.
5) You may be happy working 24x7 but what about your partner or family? Don’t get so narrow in your focus you forget those important people around you. Ask how they’re doing too.

Happy Juggling…….

'It's About Time'

What's that precious commodity we all have, that can make the difference between success and failure in how we go about business and how we perform our jobs?

There's more tactics for living 'The Juggle Lif'e in my new book.