Entrepreneurs - Boost Productivity and Manage Stress With These 5 Strategies

Manage Stress With These 5 Strategies

As a solo business owner, would you like to be more peaceful and productive? Do you sometimes feel like it takes too much time to complete a project because you're forever fending off interruptions and distractions? Does the notion of being both productive AND peaceful seem laughable or even impossible?

There was certainly a time in my life when I was stressed to the limit and less than productive. But over the years, I've learned how to de-stress and become more efficient with my time, so I can be more successful as a coach and writer.

Listed below are some strategies I've used over the years to help me become more peaceful and productive. Feel free to try these suggestions, or better yet, find some solutions that are a better fit for you:

• Avoid multitasking --For years, we were told that multi-tasking was the answer to our crazy busy lifestyle. Then, a couple years ago, some studies suggested that it was actually a symptom of our cultural craziness, and that multitasking, in fact, increases our stress levels and causes us to be less focused and efficient. So, instead of sending a frenzied email to a client while you're listening to a voicemail message, focus on one task at a time. You'll be more focused and attentive, which is never a bad thing when it comes to customer relations and building rapport with employees.
• Unplug to minimize electronic distractions -- If you're working on a project that requires serious concentration, the last thing you need is a slew of distractions. So turn off your cell phone. And if you're working on your computer, close down the software programs you don't need open, including your email. When I'm able to focus on the task at hand, without watching the email messages pile up in my inbox, I'm far less distracted.
• Stick to your schedule -- This strategy may sound obvious, but many of my clients find it challenging. My point is this: if you block off an hour for a project, move onto the next project at the appointed time. Because if you don't set limits, you'll suddenly notice that it's taken you two hours to complete a blog post, when you had only allotted half that time. If you're really having trouble staying focused, consider setting a timer to keep you on task.
• Set boundaries and enforce them -- If you work at home, you may need to remind your family that your office is off limits during certain hours of the day, or when you are trying to concentrate on a project. If you work in an office outside your home, you may need to close your door sometimes so you can meet a deadline or work intensely on a particular project. Keep in mind that it t may take awhile for your family and colleagues to get used to your new rules and you may need to remind them, in the beginning, of your new boundaries.
• Focus on the process not the product - Sometimes, we become so focused on the destination, that we forget to enjoy the journey. And when that happens, we twist ourselves into knots, worried that whatever we are working on may not measure up to our clients' standards or even our own. Of course, life flows more freely and easily when we relax and do our best without worrying about the future. And the best part is that when we focus on the process rather than the product, life is much more enjoyable.

If you choose to adopt one or more of these strategies, chances are good that you'll be more focused, peaceful and productive. Please let me know how it goes!

Reference:
Ellen H. Brown is a certified professional coach and the owner of Wellness Journeys, where she takes a holistic approach to coaching, helping solo business owners and busy professionals become more productive, profitable, and peaceful. She has also written about health and wellness for the past 15 years. As a result of working with Ellen, clients learn how to run successful businesses and lead more healthy, balanced lives. Because she strongly believes that you don't have to sacrifice your personal life for your business.

What the Best Bosses Do

What the Best Bosses Do?

Inspire Others to Peak Performance

A transformational leader is one who excites and inspires people to perform far beyond their own expectations of themselves. Transformational leaders practice certain behaviors that cause their people to feel stronger, happier, more confident and more committed.

Delegate Responsibility

The first of these behaviors is the delegation of high levels of responsibility for results. Transformational leaders pick the right people, match them to the right jobs, achieve mutual clarity on the desired results and then they get out of the way and leave the individual with maximum freedom to perform.

Let People Do Their Work

Lao-Tse, the great Chinese philosopher, had this idea when he wrote, "A leader is best when people barely know he exists... when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say, 'We did this ourselves.'"

In a recent study, thousands of people were asked to describe their best bosses. Over and over, the respondents said things like, "I hardly saw him" or "He left me alone" or "He gave me complete freedom to do the job."

Give Them Freedom

There is something liberating and empowering to know that you've been entrusted with a major responsibility and that you've been given the freedom to fulfill it. When the right person has been matched with the right job, the conditions for exceptional performance have been created.

Confidently Expect Success

Another behavior of transformational leaders is their confident attitude of positive expectations. They radiate a belief in themselves and in the ability of their subordinates to succeed. They know that the leader sets the psychological tone for the whole organization, so they consciously project a positive attitude no matter how distressing the external situation may appear. They are in complete control of themselves and their emotions.

Action Exercises

First, delegate complete responsibility for results to your subordinates. Discuss and agree on exactly what is to be done, when it is to be done and to what standard. Then, get out of the way and let them perform.

Second, express complete confidence in your subordinate's ability to do an excellent job. Radiate an attitude of confident expectations. Even if you have personal doubts, never let them be seen by others. This is the role of leadership.

Reference:
Brian Tracy

Learning Organisations...

Remember the Basics

It seems that whenever there's a new technology platform, learning organizations get so excited they end up forgetting the basics. As Second Life grows in popularity, companies cannot afford to make this mistake. As with any other training, you still must identify the purpose of the learning before developing a program so that purpose and design align.

"Our experience shows that when people complain about learning curve, [it's] not a complaint about learning curve, but a complaint about instructional design," said Alex Heiphetz, CEO of AHG Inc., which specializes in developing tools and simulations for training and education. "[Employees] do not walk into Second Life to learn how to walk [or] how to fly."

"They walk in to better their communication skills or to better their sales skills. You design [your training] to concentrate on the skills that people need in their workplace, not on the skills that people need to navigate in Second Life."

To flatten the learning curve in Second Life, provide your trainees with multiple ways of getting from one location to another. Eventually, through experience, trainees will pick up the basics for navigating in Second Life.

"If I walk into Second Life and I need to start a communication simulation, there are three ways I can get from here to there," Heiphetz said. "I can walk or I can fly - all things that require learning - or I can teleport there [by clicking a button]. You need to create simulations in such a manner that the instructional design will support the purposes of your training."

For example, in educating an employee about how to run an annual review, training should not focus on the basics of getting around in Second Life, but instead on that specific task.

"If you have an [employee] and you want to educate him or her about how to run an annual review, the training should not involve actions outside of how to talk to an employee, how to deal with difficult people or how to clam somebody down," Heiphetz said.

But there may be situations in which employees need to understand how Second Life works. And this is why it's important to identify the purpose of learning before creating a program.

"If the same employee is manning your recruitment center and there is a [prospective recruit], and your employee needs to talk to him and maybe show him something [in Second Life], Second Life skills would be much more important for your employee [to learn]," Heiphetz said. "You really need to concentrate on what you want to achieve."

Second Life has proven to be an invaluable resource for organizations such as IBM, Microsoft, Michelin and others.

"It's a fantastic platform for learning," Heiphetz said. "You can create simulations that immerse people in an environment, and the savings are enormous."

Reference:
Lindsay Edmonds Wickman
[About the Author: Lindsay Edmonds Wickman is an associate editor for Chief Learning Officer magazine.]