Need more time!
Another week whizzed by. Absolutely chocka-block with work at the moment. If I had more time I’d be reading up on time management … and a bit of stress management thrown in. I’m working really hard at planning each day and week to keep on top of everything. I think it’s working to a certain extent, the job list is long but I don’t think it’s getting any longer, which must be a good sign.
The weekend is going to be spent catching up on coursework. Got the next instalment of my management course on Tuesday so need to do some stuff for that. Hope I’ll also have time to do a bit of actual management of our business - see what an impact our busyness is having, apart from making me work flat-out. Oh yes, and mustn’t forget to fit in a bit of relaxation.
Very satisfying day
For once I’m not going to complain about not having a productive day or not getting through as much as I’d wanted. Today was a good day! I planned out my day carefully, choosing A, B and C tasks for the day (A being essential, B desirable and C nice to get done) and worked through them. I think this is the first time that this has ever happened but I got through everything on the list and even made a start on some things I had earmarked for tomorrow. How satisfying is that?
I think the secret was that I’d estimated how long each task would take and planned 4 hours of billable work. I must be getting better at this because for once things took less than I’d estimated rather than more. So, even with interruptions I still managed to get through everything. I’ll have more days like that please!
Brilliant mind mapping tool
I made a real find yesterday morning and haven’t been able to stop playing with it since. It’s free mind mapping software. We were talking about mind mapping on the course on Tuesday and that inspired me to have a go, but not being that great with pen and paper (have lost the ability to write because I use the computer too much) I thought I’d see if there is a way of doing it on the computer. An lo and behold there is!
It’s a really quick download (just 8MB) and took literally seconds to install, so very lightweight. It basically works just like doing a mindmap on paper - you start with a central point and then work out, branching in whichever direction you want. If your map starts getting a bit on the big side (which my first one did) you can open and close the various ‘nodes’ (the bits branching off) so you can see everything or just the parent node. It’s fab. What I particularly liked about it was that I wasn’t limited to what would fit on a sheet of paper - if I’d tried to do my mind map on paper I would soon have run out of room, but this just lets you keep going. You can export in various formats (PDF, JPEG etc.) so that you can then use the resulting map in other documents.
So, having installed it for the first time yesterday morning I did a mind map of our business (that was a bigun), a mind map of what I needed to do that day (which I then kept up on the screen and ticked things off as I did them, lovely 
), and a couple of mind maps to work out the structure of client websites, one of which we PDFed and sent to the client to have a look at. Talk about being instantly useful!
Not the most productive day
Despite all my good intentions I didn’t have such a productive day as I hoped yesterday. I went to Penzance as planned, did the banking and picked up a few bits and pieces. Then back to the office for work. The morning went quite well, concentrated on getting the things done that definitely needed doing that day and also some of the quicker jobs to get them ticked off.
Then after lunch I decided to have a lie down for half an hour … 2 hours later a I woke up. Ooops. There went the best part of the afternoon. I guess it goes to show how tired I was but it wasn’t great for productivity. Means I’m going to have to work extra hard today to get through everything. I’m hoping to take tomorrow off but it’s not looking too likely at the moment.
Another full-on day
I survived another full-on day on the management course. 9-5 with very little let-up. Yesterday’s session was on problem solving and decision making. We went through some decision making models, which was interesting because I’d done some of that on another business course I did last year but most of the models we covered were different - actually seemed a lot more simplistic even though this course is supposed to be a higher level…
We’ve got an assignment to do for this module, which will count towards one of the qualifications. We have to take a problem we’re facing in our business, analyse it, work it through, choose the best solution and write an action plan for implementing it. I’m quite looking forward to tackling this one - hopefully it will be something that I can practically apply so will directly benefit the business.
So, with the course over and done with I can start bashing through some work again. Am heading into Penzance in a moment to do the banking and stock up on some office supplies then I’ll be chaining myself to my desk for the rest of the day.
Staying positive
I find myself starting this week with some trepidation. It just feels like there’s so much to get through and with me being out at my course all day tomorrow I’m not sure how I’m going to manage it. Got to stay positive and just work through it all as efficiently as I can.
I managed to polish off my course homework yesterday but not without a great deal of grumbling. I don’t know, it just seems to be asking an awful lot - it’s not that it’s particularly difficult, it’s just that there’s so much of it! I wish the course description had been clearer about what was involved. Oops, there I go grumbling again.
So, positive attitude! I’ve already planned out my day so it’s just a case of knuckling down and getting the work done. I’m sure once I get started I’ll be ticking the various jobs off in no time.
Definitely not in my comfort zone
Well that was quite a week. I’m pleased to say that the presentation went smoothly and we’ve already had a number of enquiries as a result of it so it’s really looking like it was worthwhile. It did rather dominate the week though. I spent the first part of the week frantically preparing for it and then the second part recovering from it. Well that’s what it felt like anyway. Friday was actually busy in its own right - one meeting, a hands-on session helping a do-it-yourselfer out with their website, and trying to catch up on the stuff that had been let slip because of the talk.
Now I’m not sure what I need most …. some time off to recharge my batteries or just some solid days of working so I can feel a bit more on top of things. Maybe a few days of solid work followed by some time off will do the trick. Not that I’m going to get either! Meetings, courses and a massive workload is what we’ve got waiting for us. Tuesday I’ve got the second session of my management course so today I really must get the great pile of homework polished off for that. Could really do without it! When I booked up the course a few months ago I had no idea we’d be so busy now. I really must concentrate on the benefits of it and stay positive.
That feeling of dread
Why does the thought of doing a presentation fill me with such dread? I know I’m not the only person in the world who’s not keen on public speaking but I wish I felt happier about it. I’ve done heaps of reading and given myself many pep talks but I still seize up at the very thought of it. I’d love to be one of those people who just stand up in front of a group and talk naturally, taking it all in their stride (though I guess they don’t necessarily feel as cool as they come across).
This topic has come up because we’re doing a talk on Thursday. We’re down for a full hour but the talk itself won’t need to be as long as that as we need to leave time for questions. Turns out I’m going to do the talky bit and my partner is going to control the powerpoint (if we manage to get hold of some equipment in time that is).
I forced myself to draft out the talk on Sunday and so am going to spend some time revising it today and preparing index cards so I’m not just reading it all out. Am feeling nervous even writing about it here. How pathetic am I?
I’m down to do a workshop in presentation skills in a few weeks, so hopefully that will help with my confidence. And this is something I definitely need help with!
Round-up of last week
Eek, I hadn’t realised it was so long since I last posted. My excuse is that it was an incredibly busy week last week. The management course on Tuesday turned out to be worth going to, despite being a bit too full-on. Turns out we’ll be working towards two qualifications and there’s a lot of paperwork involved in the process. I was a bit daunted by it but have been reassured that it won’t be as bad as it seems. The weird thing is that it feels just like going back to school - the course tutor’s style is very much that of teaching a class and there seems to be little acknowledgement of the fact that we’re all grown-ups running our own businesses and therefore very much have minds of our own. Still, what we’re learning is definitely going to be useful so I’ll concentrate on that and try not to revolt too much from the strict atmosphere.
On Thursday morning I went to an interesting workshop run by Helena of TrainingCornwall.com. It was a taster session to give an idea of what she does. I went along not really knowing what to expect but it was a brilliant couple of hours. Great fun and I learnt a lot. It turns out that I’m mostly blue but with a largish dose of red. Blue being cautious, precise, deliberate, questioning, formal and analytical, and red being competitive, demanding, determined, strong-willed, purposeful and a driver. Think it sums me up pretty well. The idea is that if you are more aware of your own traits and can recognise other people’s you can learn to communicate much better. Sounds good to me, will definitely be investigating this further.
Aside from courses and workshops the week was busy with client work, preparing quotes and meetings. I can’t believe how many maintenance jobs came in on Friday so am launching in to another busy week!
Off to another course
After a start to the week that was no less frantic than the end of last, I’m not sure whether I’m pleased to be out at a course all day today or wishing that I was able to stay in the office and keep on top of things. Last night I was seriously considering giving the course a miss but with my sister-in-law relying on me for a lift I would have felt a bit mean. So, I’m up bright and early this morning and getting myself ready for the drive over to Carnon Downs. I think a couple of the ladies from last week’s course are going to be there, so it will be good to catch up with them again.
Today’s course is ‘Management’ and it’s a mighty eight-day course. Luckily not eight days in a row but a more casual one day kind of every other week, apart from over Christmas when there’s a longer gap. Think it will be going until March, so it had better be good!
What I’m hoping to get out of it is to feel more confident in the day-to-day management of our business (and the high-level business development kind of management too for that matter). Something to boost my confidence in dealing with our clients and the freelancers we subcontract on some projects. And of course a few tips on project management wouldn’t go astray either!
Finger’s crossed it’s worth the day out of the office…
