a personal note from Cairene

The rhythm of every business should include time away from it to rest and recharge. My weekend might best have been summarized with a picture of me napping on the couch. But lacking that, I offer instead a brief photo journal from our resident master of fun...

Swim-time at the river, snack-time at the farmer's market (that's a hand-crafted, lip-smacking-good pig's ear, in case you were wondering), and...

...ball-time in the backyard. Max's advice? "Get out out and play!"

events

SECP Meeting - September 18, 2008
Operating Instructions: Using A Manual To Simplify Your Business

Business Operations Manual: sounds awfully bureaucratic, doesn't it? But even creative solopreneurs need to document how they do business. With special attention to right-brain approaches, I will share how you can begin to compile your very own operating instructions (the book you wish had come in the box when you started your business).

Stop making it all up as you go along and learn how to clarify your standards, policies and procedures so you can streamline routine tasks, build and maintain momentum, evaluate the big picture, and focus on your creative ambitions. A lifesaver in situations when you are unexpectedly unable to work, your business manual is also an indispensable resource when it comes time to delegate activities to others as your business grows.

Pointless if never referenced, I will discuss how to make your manual a tool you will want to use - customized to your business and personality with all the information you need at your fingertips. A living document that will change as your business evolves, you will also learn easy ways to keep your manual up-to-date and relevant to your business so you keep on using and benefiting from it.

Running your business can feel like coming home from Ikea excited to assemble your new Flärke bookcase, only to discover the instructions are missing and that you're going to have to figure it out yourself. If you'd like a hand putting the pieces together, this is a presentation you won't want to miss.

Date: Thursday, September 18, 2008
Time: 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Place: The Oregon Stamp Society - 4828 NE 33rd Avenue, Portland, OR 97211
Cost: $10

I'm really excited to be offering this valuable information and I hope you can be there!

workshops

Please note new dates & times!

The Complete Series
Change your approach to your time and tasks and become clear, focused, in command, and ready for anything in your business. Register now and get ready to hit the ground running in 2009!
• afternoon series begins September 9 • evening series begins October 7 [details & registration]

The True Discipline of Time Management
Stop trying to force your activities into boxes on a calendar and “discipline” yourself to conform to a schedule. Learn how to create a flexible and synergistic calendar that helps you stay organized and get things done.
• 3-week teleclasses begin September 9 (3-4pm) and October 7 (7-8pm) [details & registration]

Your Business Manual
Sounds awfully bureaucratic, doesn't it? But even creative solopreneurs need to document how they do business. Learn why and how to establish standards, policies and procedures.
• 3-week teleclasses begin September 9 (7-8pm) and October 7 (3-4pm) [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.
• sessions offered monthly [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.

one-on-one coaching

Want more individualized attention than is available in a workshop? Need help with a specific area of your business or special project? I currently have two openings available for one-on-one coaching.

Whether it's making better use of your time or putting systems in place to streamline your business, gain the skills and information you need to succeed through individual training and support in the areas you want it most. [learn more]

get in gear > when admin thrives on routine, but you do not

Administration thrives on routine.  That is, it is most effective when tasks are carried out on a regular basis in the same way each time.

You, however, may not thrive on routine. Being a right-brained creative, you may dislike many forms of structure, schedules and repetition (and rightly so).

So how do you engage in the effective administration of your business if you don't like routine?

routine is keeping you alive

To keep you alive and well, your body is constantly engaged in functions that are carried out on a regular basis in the same way each time.  Your lungs fill and empty, your heart pumps blood, your digestive tract lets you know when to drink and eat and then expels the waste, you sleep and wake – just to name a few. And you probably don't give these functions much thought unless something goes wrong (e.g., choking, heart attack, food poisoning, insomnia).

Yet, if you are at all health-conscious and want these systems to continue to work in a routine manner, you do things like exercise to keep your heart strong, avoid smoking to keep your lungs healthy, eat nourishing food, and don't stay up watching late-night TV.  You know if you do these things your body will take care of the rest and keep on breathing and beating and digesting and dreaming as it should without you having to think about it.  You are free to do other things, like read this newsletter, without having to stop and remind yourself to inhale or exhale every few seconds.  As systems go, it's pretty brilliant that way.

working with our legs crossed

Like your body, your business is a living thing.  And administrative tasks are those background functions that keep your business alive and well.  If you establish effective administrative systems and do what is necessary to keep them healthy and functioning properly, you will be free to focus on your creative ambitions without having to think so much about the rest.

Yet many of us don't work this way. We would never consider putting off breathing until we had some free time, but that's exactly what we do in our businesses when we neglect filing, bookkeeping, computer maintenance, and the rest. We work as though we could binge on energy drinks, pull all-nighters, and hold our breath and our pee indefinitely. It's not clear how we expect to do our best work while dancing around with our legs crossed about to pass out...

Seriously, how long could you go without using the toilet? Without food? Without rest? Without oxygen? We know the serious consequences the absence of routine would have for our bodies.  Yet we resist the need for routine in our businesses as though it's not possible the same sorts of emergencies, accidents and illnesses could occur.  Yet they do occur.  I'll bet you've experienced at least one or two big scares (data disappeared, client walked, IRS inquired) among a host of other minor scrapes and sniffles.

get in gear > determine the heartbeat of your business

You no more exist to pump blood than your business exists to keep up with the paperwork. But just as you cannot fulfill your life's purpose if your heart stops beating, your businesses cannot succeed without consistent administrative activity.

So, given that routine is essential, how do you engage in the effective administration of your business if you don't like routine?

One thing the right brain is very good at is perceiving rhythms and patterns.  And you can use that trait in developing the administrative systems you use in your business. Our bodily functions are not so much routines predetermined by structured plans and schedules as natural rhythms and cycles. And that shift in perspective is the key.

Look for the actions you do over and over again and what regularly demands your attention. Like respiration, circulation or digestion, think about what needs to move in and out of your business (communication, money, ideas, people), how frequently (hourly, daily, weekly, monthly), and through what channels (email, post, phone, face-to-face). Establish repeatable patterns or cycles for those tasks, then figure out how often to repeat them. Choose the rhythms that best suit you, that are as comfortable as breathing.

Forget routine. Determine instead the heartbeat of your business.

Can't quite hear the rhythm on your own? Join my upcoming teleclass, Your Business Manual, and learn how to establish administrative systems that are as comfortable as breathing.

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

• The Easy Way Out (The Door) | in which I embrace the path of least resistance
• Signposts | can people find you and your business?
• Build Your Own TARDIS | on structures that are liberating
• Use What You've Got | your weaknesses are strengths
• Do the Hokey Pokey | that's what it's all about

subscription info

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