This is not another post for me to complain about my lack of sleep. No…I got to bed at 1am and got to sleep until almost 4am and was only woken up twice in that time. So this isn’t a post about lack of sleep. Not this time.

At 4:15 I put on the coffee pot, checked my email and started on a client project. I crossed a lot of items off my to-do list yesterday because I worked into the night on some of my own outstanding projects, so today I have a clear focus and I won’t have to work this weekend.

As I buckled down this morning and got into this project I realized it’s not exactly a fun project. It’s the type of thing I like to do because it breaks up the monotony of sitting at the computer - this is old school hands on stuff. But…I hadn’t been into it 15 minutes before I got distracted by my blog. I turned off my time tracking software and decided to post in case I don’t get back on here today.

I must admit I am guilty of procrastinating the odd time. Because I do tend to put things off (the odd time), I have found a couple of ways to help me stick to the plan and not veer off too much.

• Make a list - a REAL list on paper written down with a pen. My to-do list is an entity onto itself. It never really gets completed, but it gives me a starting point every day. I do start a new list every day, adding the items I didn’t finish yesterday. I itemize the list by client and add notes about what needs to be done for them. I prioritize items, highlight some things and I add Mann Made Time to that list just as if I were my own client. This helps me see what I really need to be doing and which items can be delegated or put off until tomorrow. My friend, fellow VA Sally Kuhlman wrote a good post on her blog about this very thing. Read it here.
• Change email settings. If I let my email send/receive every few minutes I would never get anything done. I change my settings to check every hour. It really does help.
• Make a schedule. Accounting for your time will make it harder to stray from the task at hand. If you have a schedule to stick to, start sticking to it. Of course there will be interruptions, life happens. However, a schedule will at least give you a plan for the day and you should add all extra-curricular activities to that schedule! Networking, checking online forums, watching TV, etc.

On that note - I better turn my time tracking back on and get back to that project!

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I had lunch today with my friend/client/marketing maven at the Urban Eatery - a hip new eating establishment in Charlottetown, PEI. If you live on PEI and haven’t yet checked out the former food court of the Confederation Court Mall - what are you waiting for?! Chef Gordon Bailey has done an outstanding job, offering a great variety of food items at great prices. I had two delicious beef skewers, a mountain of fries which I didn’t come near being able to finish and a bottle of 7-Up (don’t judge me it was a treat) for under $8.

The food was great, but that’s not what this post is about. Living in a small province, it’s rare to go to a public place like that and not run into someone you know. Today’s trip to the mall for lunch turned out to be a networking event! Two lovely gentlemen joined us for lunch - both friends of my lunch date, Moe. Two people to introduce the virtual assistance industry to! One was the editor of a local paper and the other a financial planner. When they left, I saw another of my clients having lunch and she came to talk with us on her way out. Turns out she recognized Moe from her former business and said she could use Moe’s new consultation services. That’s networking and I love it!

We don’t all live in such a small community, but as business people we should always be armed with business cards and an elevator speech (30 second pitch) whenever venturing out in public.

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It’s 4:26am. I just put way too much cream in my coffee. I’m awake and not wanting to be because my little girls each have their very first colds and it’s wreaking havoc in our lives! Don’t get me wrong - I’m grateful that they have never been sick a day and it’s only a cold and all the rest - but it is still a bummer when you are craving sleep and getting none.

What’s a ‘home based working mom’ to do when her days are filled with very unglamorous duties associated with caring for sick babies and her workload is massive because her business is absolutely thriving? Well, she enlists the help of her VAs, her in laws, her coffee and gets through it whenever and however she can.

I know without a doubt I’ll be pulled in a hundred directions today by my daughters (I know that’s their job - they’re 4 months and 28 months old), AND I have a lunch date which I’ve been looking forward to forever. I also have about 15 hours of billable work that needs to get done. It’s 4:31am. If I worked straight through today with no interruptions - which is impossible - I might be done by the girls’ bedtime. But I’m not going to do that. I’m a business owner and a mother. I have to balance both of those roles.

So here’s what I do:

• Get up at 4:00am, not because I want to but because both kids finally went to sleep and I can get 2-3 hours of billable time in before they wake up again. That means I’ll be less stressed today and can…
• Enjoy lunch at the Urban Eatery with my friend who happens to be a client.
• Make a detailed list of the client work I need to get done today and delegate as much as I an to my associate VAs.
• Do only the projects that will be fun for me to do, saving precious energy for later when I really need it.

If I didn’t have a team in place to help with my client workload I would be in big trouble today. I have projects coming from every direction and even though some of these things are items I want to do myself, I can have my VAs work on other things such as the documents I’ve been wanting created for my own business, checking my emails, internet research for myself and clients, etc.

It really is a wonderful feeling to have a skilled VA (or multiple skilled VAs) by your side when you’re a solo-preneur. I’m not alone. I might be up at 4:41am at my computer drinking coffee and writing a blog post because I’ll never get to it later today and wishing that my kids would sleep through the night for the sake of all that’s good and holy - but I’m not in it alone. I have help. I’ll get through the day.

What would I do if I didn’t have VAs to turn to? Well…I wouldn’t be this busy I suppose…so perhaps it wouldn’t be an issue…

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My husband and I watched a movie last night when the babies went to bed. We’ve been wanting to see it for a long time- “The Pursuit of Happyness“. I know…it has been out forever…unfortunately we’re quite behind on our moving watching.

If you haven’t seen it yet, go rent it. Today. Seriously. What a movie.

It’s based on a true story - about the life of Chris Gardner. It’s a rags to riches story, but it’s much more than that. Will Smith plays Gardner, and Will Smith’s real life son plays Gardner’s son in the film. This guy (Chris) was dealt a rotten hand in life. He was at his own rock bottom - a homeless single father. He was sleeping in bathrooms and subway trains with his son while he worked by day as an intern learning to become a stock broker.

It was such an inspirational story for anyone but especially a new business owner - today I feel like I can do absolutely anything I put my mind to.

Watch this movie. It’s extraordinary.

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I just got off the phone with a delightful woman - my newest client. I can hardly wait to get started working with her. We spoke for about an hour and I feel like we’re old friends!

Do you know how she found me? Why she called me out of all the other virtual assistants in the world? My website. She said it was nice to look at, well organized, and she was able to find information easily. Above and beyond that, she was so confident in my skills without ever having spoken with me before that she sent me money (in good faith) so I could start working for her right away. There wasn’t even really a consultation process. She’d decided already that I was the right VA for her. I’m absolutely thrilled because my site has just been redesigned, and I’m so glad that I made that investment.

I have another client, a Realtor, and he’s gotten business because his website stands out as well. Like it or not, people make very quick judgments when they’re surfing the ‘net. If you don’t capture their attention within a few seconds, they’re closing that window and moving on.

You might think your skills and credentials will speak for themselves. A potential client will choose to work with you for your reputation or some other reason. So I ask you this. Have you been told by a client that they wanted to work with you because of your website? If not, maybe you should take a good hard look at your site and consider making some improvements. Whether it’s your content, the navigation or the overall design.

In this day and age, almost everyone is searching for goods and services online. If you have a great website, you’re that much further ahead of your competition. Be unique. Be innovative. Be cool. Be fun. Be noticed.

If you want a complete site overhaul or a brand new site, Mann Made Time offers web design through our preferred partner, Signature Worx. Check out our packages. It will be worth the investment.

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