Getting it Done

Count the Units of Output Instead of the Minutes of Input

Owners and managers tend to count the number of hours worked rather than the actual output produced...

Thinking Outside the Box

What is the box? Most likely, the box is filled with conventional wisdom and methods for doing things which may have evolved over time. Be sure you are indeed outside the box, and not just regurgitating stuff from inside the box...

Nothing Ventured - Nothing Gained

This refers more to your attitude than to your business planning...

Have a System for Converting Dreams into Accomplishments

Dreams are necessary visions for an entrepreneur, but a system is required to convert realizable dreams into accomplishments...

Perseverance is Power

Since childhood we are conditioned by the story of the tortoise and the hare where we learn the virtue that slow and steady wins the race...

If at First You Don't Succeed - Revise Your Plan

Remind yourself of all the fables, stories and biographies you've heard about people failing and trying again and again before success was achieved...

A Pint Container Can't Hold a Quart of Liquid

Visualize pouring a quart of liquid into a pint container. Can you see the resulting mess? Why do we often do this with tasks and time? A pint container can hold a pint of liquid and no more...

Purge Instead of Buy When Files Are Full

Your files are full and you or someone else considers buying new file cabinets. This is a good time to evaluate your filing capacities...

Hire Connie as Your Assistant

If you use the right hemisphere of your brain often, you are familiar with the wonderful resources hidden away from your conscious awareness. Connie is our friendly name for your sub-conscious mind...

Imagine Yourself to Success

Imagination need not remain in the creative world. Nor has it. Most successful business ventures began as an imaginative idea...

Reasons Don't Count - Results Do

When getting things done, reasons abound. Reasons are important, but results are what really matter...

Make Mistakes - That's Where You Learn

We're not suggesting you deliberately make mistakes just to create a learning session. However, you can take more calculated risks without the fear of making mistakes...

Knowledge Needs Problems and Goals for Focus

The search for knowledge can expand endlessly without problems and goals to focus upon. The small business manager enjoys the opportunity to be practical...

Sometimes Best Is Inefficient When Good Enough Is Sufficient

You, and others, will judge your capabilities as a manager by your ability to know WHEN to act swiftly and WHEN to proceed with due diligence...

Return to Top of Page

Have a Place for Everything

Have a place for everything and have everything in its place. This allows you to maintain better control over your data and instruments...

Build Travel Take Lists

Take Lists are reminders for trip preparations. They will reduce the stress of leaving things to the last minute and the stress of wondering if you have forgotten anything...

Paper Causes Inefficiencies

You don't realize how much inefficiency is caused by paperwork until you begin going 'electronic.' Shuffling, finding, moving, sorting...

Many Hands Make Light Work

The early pioneers applied the many-hands solution to individual homesteaders with barn raisings, working bees and the sharing of equipment. Why can't this concept be applied in the 21st Century?

Return to Top of Page

Apply Chunking to Major Sorting Tasks

There's a foot-high pile of papers that you estimate will require hours to sort. You are the only person that can make the sorting decisions and you don't have long periods of time for such a task. This is a situation where you need to apply chunking to the sorting task...

Take One Step at a Time

No matter what you are trying to accomplish, take one step at a time...

Return to Top of Page

Train Yourself to Make Better Decisions

One excellent habit is the ability to make good decisions. There are five basic steps to every decision, big or small. Start training yourself to make better decisions...

Develop Your Ability to Simplify

One way to develop your ability to simplify is to work diligently at re-writing your communications until they become as simplified as you can write them...

Action Marks the Winners

When you have the desire to do something and you have the knowledge for making it happen, make sure you follow through on your action plan...

Save the Word not the Page

You have a document in hand and their is a small bit of information you want to keep. Why clutter your desk or files with an entire document when all you need is a small piece of information...

Put Your Car Keys in the Freezer

You've heard of the American Express slogan "Don't leave home without it." This simple technique will help you avoid leaving your home or office without that important item...

Better to Have It and Not Need It...

... than to need it and not have it. This is a handy maxim for many simple business decisions...

Doing Lunch - Really

"Doing Lunch" is an effective method of one-on-one networking. Preparation and organization are essential if you wish to get things done...

When All Else Fails Read the Directions

How often have you been so excited to use a new product you proceed without reading the instructions? This can also occur when we rush into business ventures...

Strike While the Iron is Hot

How often do you get a good idea and say, "someday?" Winners are people who begin the planning phase almost immediately after they get an idea...

WORK! It's Included in Most Advice Lists

"Hard work" is usually at the top of how-to-be-successful lists. We soon learn that working long hours is not the only ingredient for success...

Think of Time as Analog and Actions as Digital

Despite our time-keeping devices ticking the seconds away, we tend to think of the passing of time in analog terms...

Return to Top of Page