a personal note from Cairene

a little self-reflection...

Yes or no. Here or there. Now or later. This or that. Choices are always a part of living, but last week seemed to pile on a little extra in the way of decision-making.

Whatever the anxiety of choosing, I always feel better once I've made my decision - clean, clear, relieved, refreshed. Not unlike the feeling I get from the rain we've had this morning, which is a welcome break from our recent high temperatures (plus I do enjoy the excitement of a little thunderstorm).

Also, I'm busy at work in the studio on a special project that I can hardly wait to share with you. Here's a hint. More to come this Fall.

events

Business Manual How-To Presentation September 18
Business operations manuals aren't just for big corporations. They are a tool that can significantly improve the success of any business, even a company of one. At next month's SECP meeting, I will be speaking about the why, what, where, when and how of creating your own manual. [Hint: It's not nearly as tedious or overwhelming as you imagine - dare I say fun? - and the benefits are huge.] I'm really excited to be offering this information and hope you can attend. Save the date - the evening of September 18 - details to follow soon.

workshops

The Complete Series
Learn - step by step - how to improve your administrative and organizational skills and become clear, focused, in command, and prepared for opportunity in your business. This is the last chance to take the full series this year, so register now and get ready to hit the ground running in 2009!

• series begins September 2, 1-2pm - $425 (or two payments of $215) [details & registration]

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 standards, policies and procedures, you will be more consistent and efficient in your actions, deliberate in your choices, and focused on your goals - plus boost your creativity. 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]

did you know?

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 who are ready to get to work. 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.

get in gear > make choices to make progress

In a scene in the movie High Fidelity, John Cusack's character looks into the camera and says, “I can see how I never really committed to Laura. I always had one foot out the door and that prevented me from doing a lot of things, like thinking about my future. I guess it made more sense to commit to nothing, to keep my options open - and that's suicide by tiny, tiny increments.”

Pursuing too many ideas, angles or directions in your business because you're not really sure which ones will work or you like best - or allowing yourself to be distracted by Bright Shiny Objects or Dull Rusty Trinkets - or saying “yes” to more than you can possibly accommodate in your schedule - will prevent you from focusing sufficient attention (professional or administrative) on any one thing to actually make it successful. What is true of relationships with people is also true of your relationship with your business: keeping your options open is suicide. [If you were your business, how would you respond to being in a relationship with someone with a constantly roving eye?]

With your attention that divided, nothing has a chance of working, let alone working really well. By committing to so many options, you have committed to none of them. All you have really committed to is maintaining a lot to choose from (and that's a job in itself).

the reality of capacity

The inclination to maintain options over other considerations can show up in areas of life besides your business - spending beyond your means, eating too much, or keeping more stuff than will fit in your home, for example. Whatever the case, it's about not wanting to choose (dinner and dessert, both pairs of shoes). It's also about not acknowledging limitation. Your money is limited, your body is limited, your space is limited, your time is limited. We are constantly faced with the reality of capacity, yet we so often refuse to accept it - and so we spend, eat, live and work beyond our limitations.  By exceeding our capacity in this way we become burdened by debt, obesity, clutter or overwhelm.

You know how burdensome not making choices can be if you have ever over-packed for a trip.  You couldn't decide what to bring, so you brought it all (using the large unwieldy duffel bag instead of the manageable backpack with wheels). You find yourself lugging and sweating and puffing your way through your travels (all the while cursing your indecision and swearing you'll never do this again), and end up so worn out, distracted and maybe even embarrassed by your baggage, you can't fully enjoy your destination.  Whatever pleasure you anticipated from having so many options available to you (at least half of which you haven't used or needed), has quickly turned into resentment of your #%@*! luggage.

making choices is emotional work

Like a suitcase, you have a limited capacity, so you have to make choices.  And you have to have the guts to make choices.  It's not enough to know what is important to you (although you can't skip that step) - you have to be willing to choose. Choosing one thing often means not choosing another - and that's the emotional work we so often avoid. It takes insight, courage, and sometimes even some grieving.

According to author and project manager Scott Berkun, “Prioritization is always more emotional than intellectual, despite what people say. Just like dieting to lose weight or budgeting to save money, eliminating things you want, but don't need, requires being disciplined, committed, and focused. Saying "exercise is important" is one thing, but ranking it against other important things is entirely different. Many people chicken out of this process. They hedge, delay and deny the tough choices, and the result is that they set up projects to fail. No tough choices means no progress. In the abstract, the word important means nothing.”

get in gear > make choices

We keep our options open and maintain choices because we think it will somehow increase our chances of success or happiness, when it is actually the opposite. As John Cusack's movie character learned, keeping our options open prevents us from doing things, and not being able to do things decreases our chances of success and happiness.

So be willing to make the tough choices. Pack light so you can enjoy the trip.

If running your business feels a lot like lugging around a large unwieldy duffel bag, join me for The True Discipline of Time Management and learn how to choose what you need for your journey and pack so it fits within the suitcase of your capacity.  Teleclass begins September 2.

next week: when admin thrives on routine, but you do not

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.

recently on the blog

• Get Your Art On | let your artist out to play
• Bright Shiny Object or Dull Rusty Trinket? | which is distracting you?
• Olympic Sized Focus | what audacious goals, clarity and concentration make possible
• Life is Good | when worries are erased by breathtaking beauty

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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