a personal note from Cairene

Let's face it - there's nothing better in hot weather than relaxing in your favorite, custom-dug, dirt-cooled hole while you watch the world go by (at least until your girl annoyingly interrupts by trying to photograph your cuteness).

Are you enjoying your summer this much? I sure hope so...

the get-in-gear newsletter goes weekly

Twice-a-month just isn't enough - I've got too much good stuff to share! News, announcements and unconventional wisdom from Third Hand Works will now arrive in your inbox at the beginning of every week.

teleseminars, workshops & events

did you know?

The last opportunity to take the full series at reduced tuition begins September 2. Participate in all four teleclasses, plus four Get-in-Gear sessions, for only $425 (or two payments of $215). Learn everything you need to know - step by step - to smooth the administration of your business. This is the last opportunity to take the full series this year, so register now and get ready to hit the ground running in 2009!

Teleclasses and workshops can be customized. If you would like to take a class (or the whole series) with a small group of colleagues, courses can be tailored to the challenges you share in common, on a schedule that works for your group. All it takes is four like-minded people. Interested? Please contact me for more information.

All teleclasses and workshops include individual support between classes, an online forum for participants and graduates, and private consultation with me following the course to address individual challenges - and results are guaranteed.

The True Discipline of Time Management
This workshop is for right-brainers who have used left-brained approaches to time management with more frustration than success. If you are tired of trying to force your activities into boxes on a calendar and “discipline” yourself to conform to a schedule, but still need a system that helps you stay organized and get things done, then this is the course for you. Learn how to work with your unique sense of time and create your own personalized time management system - one that is flexible and resilient, energizing and sustainable, synergistic and satisfying.

• 3-week teleclass begins September 2, 1-2pm - $95 [details & registration]

Growing Beyond Going It Alone
This workshop is for the solopreneur in transition. If you are on the cusp of your next stage of growth and have begun to realize you no longer will be able to do everything yourself, but don't know what to do to prepare (and it's all feeling a bit scary - maybe more than a bit), then this is the class for you. Learn to evaluate your schedule, activities and income - and the relationship between them - according to specific criteria, and how to use that information to plan your next steps. Gain the information and skills you need to move confidently through the changing administration of your business as it grows.

• 3-week hands-on workshop begins September 9, 4-5pm - $160 [details & registration]

Your Business Manual
Business Operations Manual: sounds awfully bureaucratic, doesn't it? But even creative solopreneurs need to document how they do business. Rather than making it all up as you go along (or continually reinventing the wheel), by outlining your procedures, policies and standards you will be more consistent and efficient in your actions, deliberate in your choices, and focused on your goals. A lifesaver in situations when you are unexpectedly unable to work, your business manual is also an indispensable tool when it comes time to delegate activities to others as your business grows.

• 3-week teleclass begins September 2, 7-8pm - $95 [details & registration]

Get-In-Gear Fridays
Finish what you've been putting off! Join GiGF and have some fun tackling the bottom of your to-do list. Whether doing away with your most odious tasks once and for all or devoting uninterrupted time to a special project, you will be propelled by the humor, support, accountability and momentum that comes from working with a group of like-minded people. Free yourself from the stubborn and neglected to-do's in your life and experience the resulting lightness of mind and heart - join a session soon!

• sessions offered every other Friday - $15 [details & registration]

get in gear > Are You "Unhelpable"?

In the course of our conversation, the woman across the table from me described not being able to accept an offer of help from someone because – to state it briefly – she was too disorganized.

She did her work on the fly from memory, didn't know where she had put all the related files, and couldn't begin to think through how she would explain this relatively routine task to another person.  So she had declined, yet with a degree of disbelief that she was passing up such a good opportunity.  The nagging feeling she had done something foolish came through in her voice.

I nodded as she told her story.  I've been there.  We've all been there.  We've all at one time or another made ourselves unhelpable.

Focused on getting things done - especially in the beginning when we are still experimenting with how best to get things done - we forget to document just what steps and elements we use once we've got it figured out.  And sooner or later it bites us in the behind one way or another.

Not documenting routine tasks has several negative consequences.

If you can't easily describe the steps of a routine task to someone from memory, you don't have a system, let alone one you use consistently – which means your output is inconsistent (probably not what you are after).  If you don't have a system you use consistently, then you are making it up as you go along, reinventing the wheel each time you perform the task – which is inefficient and means you are using more time than you need on routine administration.  If you are working from memory, you are also working without objectivity.  Without documentation, you are free to believe what you want about your processes and it can be difficult to evaluate the efficacy of your work.

And trying to hold all that information in your mind also takes mental energy you could put to better use – like your creative endeavors (your bread and butter, remember?).  Would you prefer to store passwords and procedures up there? Or would you rather have room for your ideas to move about?  [This is when I feel like Morpheus in The Matrix: “I am trying to free. your. mind.”  I know it's not nearly as sexy and thrilling as leaping from one tall building to another, but I promise that compiling a business manual is a good place to start.]

Lastly, as my opening story illustrates, lack of documented systems makes it very difficult to delegate, when it comes time to do so.  The seeming simplicity of a routine task you've done over and over again is belied by how difficult it can be to transfer that process to another person without step-by-step instructions.

Are you stonewalling?

When I help clients learn better time management skills, I begin by asking them to reflect on these questions as we work through other exercises:

What stories are you telling yourself about (your) time?  Are they true?  We say we want to better manage our time, but do we really? What would be the consequences of giving up some of your stories?  What would it mean to not have “busy” as an excuse?  What would you have to take responsibility for if you were not in overwhelm? What would happen if you said “no”? What if you can't do it all? Are you at all attached to the “out” embodied in the stereotype of the artist as something of a flake?

In this case of “system management,” think about what would it mean to not have “disorganized” as an excuse. What would you have to take responsibility for if you were not in chaos? What if it really wasn't easier to do it yourself?

A few years ago when I was working through a difficult period of “stuckness” with my coach, one particular filing project kept going unfinished, week after week.  It became clear this wasn't about lack of time or intention – it was about what I needed to do once it was finished.  I was pretty freaked out by the next step (it was a doozy), so I just kept putting off the filing – which was very much in the way, both physically and emotionally.  As long as I didn't deal with the filing, I didn't have to deal with my fear.

Eventually, I did get out of my own way and took care of the filing and the fear.  But it was a powerful lesson in how we can unconsciously put barriers in our path – especially stuff that looks nothing like a barrier.  If your next step is getting support for your business and that feels like a really big, scary leap (where do find the right people? what about the money? I'm not sure I even want to be a manager!), then ask yourself if your disorganization is something more.  Are you avoiding building your office manual because it's sort of boring? Or are you avoiding something bigger?

Steps you can take:

Developing a business manual doesn't have to be overwhelming, tedious, or even all that formal.  Just start with one routine task – how you invoice or pay bills, publish your newsletter or blog, how you file stuff, what your passwords are, the questions you typically ask a prospective client, etc. – and make some notes about it and tuck it into some sort of binder that can easily expand over time.  Just having a place for the information to go, a place where it belongs, will make the process much easier. Set a goal of documenting one new system each week. And don't worry about what it ideally should be, just write down what you do now. 

Put your manual-in-progress someplace where it is easily accessible and make a point of referring to it when doing work you've documented – a) to develop the habit of relying less on memory for routine tasks and b) to confirm the information is correct and complete (if not, jot down any necessary notes).

As your business manual grows over time, it will need occasional organization and revisions.  This is good.  It gives you the opportunity once or twice a year (at your annual company retreat of one?) to look at the big picture - to evaluate and fine tune how all your systems are working together (and maybe even decide what to delegate).

get in gear > make yourself helpable

Like my coffee companion, neglecting to document how you do things will keep you unhelpable and your business small.  However, documenting your systems for routine tasks keeps you consistent and efficient, boosts your creativity, makes delegation a breeze, and allows you to seize opportunities that will help your business to grow and succeed.

Wanting a helping hand? Get step-by-step instruction on how to document your standards, policies and procedures in my upcoming workshop Your Business Manual.  The teleclass begins September 2.

Are you thinking, "Is she nuts?! I don't have time to create a business manual!" Then join me for my upcoming workshop The True Discipline of Time Management and learn how to build your calendar around what is most important (like working on, not just in, your business). The teleclass begins September 2.

talk back

Like what you've read? Irked? Have a suggestion? Got a question?
I'd love to hear from you - send me a line.

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An archive of past issues of the Get In Gear newsletter can be browsed here.

Unless otherwise attributed, all material is written and edited by Cairene MacDonald.
© 2008 Cairene MacDonald, Third Hand Works. All rights reserved.

Cairene MacDonald
Third Hand Works
PO Box 31113
Portland, OR 97231
info@thirdhandworks.com

Third Hand Works | unconventional workflow strategies for unconventional people
administrative guidance for creatives who want to succeed in business and still be themselves