Day 27

I thought today was Saturday!!

How funny is it when you have no concept of what day / time it is? I then started to think about who decided the name of days and the 7-day cycle…which led me on to thinking about the 5-day work week. When you really start thinking about when we 'schedule' work and why we do so, it's really strange. I mean why do we spend most of our time at work? Why 8 hours of the best part of the day? Why not split the day, and have a break when it's sunny - or better yet condense the work so it is productive, in less hours of the day or a smaller amount of days in the week. 

I've been developing my small businesses for a year now. My dog training business (www.playfulpaws.com.au) from scratch. It has been an interesting and hard at times. To be solely responsible for publicity, paperwork, advertising, liaising, programs, classes, customer service and then the hands-on work, has really been a challenge. When I can I have been doing some professional development on how to run a business effectively. 

Day 27 photo-ish: My new business logo (Thank you Nathan and Theresa! I Love It!!)

I came across an interesting man called Jim Rohn (https://jimrohn.com/home). Through listening to him and reading some of his books, I learnt about how to use "part-time" to develop it into a success. How interesting is it to think that a "part time" job can be as successful - if not more, than a "full time" job, thereby allowing the BEST part of the day to do what you would like to. I also discovered that when you have a short time frame, you get HEAPS done, but if you have an ambiguous time frame it will take you forever. 

For example I needed to develop a new class curriculum for puppy and adult training. When I said, "oh I'll develop it" - it kept getting put to the bottom of the to-do list (hence I never got it done), then a week out from starting my classes I said "I have a week to develop a new curriculum" - still not a good enough motivator… The night before, yep I stayed up and developed it in around 2 hours. Having a time pressure was a motivator to get it done. 

However if you think about how much time in an average work day you waste i.e. emails, google, long phone calls, gossiping, talking with staff etc - you would be surprised how much it adds up to! If you were really productive for 2 hours, with no distractions, you would find you get a lot of your work completed and hence be more productive. This is where "part time" comes into it. If you use each minute of your work hour effectively, you do not need to be consumed by work, or have that frantic to-do feeling. 

I've heard of many different ways for no interruptions…put a sign on your door, phone on silent and message bank, disconnect the internet…really it's what works for you. What works for me? When I am developing something for my business, I like listening to relaxing music or putting on a 'chick flick' on tv or going to sit somewhere different and leave the phone in the car! When I am working with other people, I'm inclined to put ear phones in - or just say "I have to get this done! Don't distract me!" In a joking way. 

It's time (hehe) to put this into action. I know the past few days since I have been determined to get some of the lesser-fun paperwork side of my businesses done. And set myself a "time limit" such as "by the end of today I will have completed 2 handouts and made 4 phone calls". It works! Thus far I have completed the goals. (If you have ever been to Uni…you do your best essay the night before it's due?!) 

Some food for thought for you I hope!! :)

…Until Tomorrow xox