Online Marketers – Work Smart

   A long time ago I learned the expression,  “You can work hard or you can work smart.”  That expression appealed to me.  I am not opposed to working hard for what I want.  However, working hard can sometimes impede and slow down your path to success.  Sometimes you need to work smart not hard. 

The best way to put that statement in perspective is to think of the extreme.  Being lazy and working on and off is not the way to reach your goals in any quick amount of time.  You may get there but I doubt it.  You will probably loose interest along the way.  How long can you wait to reach your goal? 

Working on and off and being lazy probably means you are not goal oriented.  So it will be hit or miss for you.  Also you will have a difficult time reviewing where you are at, where you came from ,what you have accomplished and what still needs to be done.  If you need to change your path and plans it will also be hard to access that.  Lastly working on and off means you are lacking a plan and a formula.  You are really not into what you are doing.

Working hard will be involved on your path to success.  I know that for some people this is a turn off.  Sorry but I have to be truthful.  However, at some point you will be confronted with the choice to work hard or work smart. 

Working smart means you make a choice to do a task in an easier more efficient way. 

Here is an example.  You are going to write a report.  You spend time researching and writing that report.  You work hard.  You have someone review your report and they do not think it is on target.  You will have to re do most of the report. You are surprised and disappointed.  You worked hard on that report. But you did not work smart.

If you worked smart you would have taken some time to think about what you wanted to accomplish with the report.  You would have formulated what the point of the report is.  If you did that one step before writing you would be working smart.  The report would practically write itself because you know what you want to say.  And you would not need to re do the report. It would be done in on shot.

Another example is to use a product to automate what you are doing.   If you are going to do a repetitive task why do it over each time?  Why not get a system to do it for you?   Do it once and then it will be done for you over and over. 

Working smart also gives you added enthusiasm.  It allows you to increase your productivity.  It also allows you to increase your free time. The value to you is huge. 

Working smart means working less hours if you can streamline or automate a process.

Before you can work smart you need to find the areas where you can do this.  Can you hire someone to do some of these things?  That is working smart.  Can you purchase and use a product to help you work smart? 

Upon your review you will discover that there are many areas of your business as well as personal life where you can work smart instead of hard.

Online marketers you know exactly what I am talking about.  You spend many hours a day doing repetitive tasks.  You know your time could be better spent. You know you should be working smart.  You want to work smart. 

To get you on the path to working smart I have a software package  for you.  I have told you about the Marketing Maniac.  He may be a maniac but he knows how to work smart. 

WORK SMART

Marcia, Your Confidence Coach

You are the Boss

Before I started my work at home business I worked in an office.  I enjoyed working in an office but I knew that I could earn a substantially better income if I had my own business.   

Transitioning from an office based job to a work at home business was challenging.  In my office based job I had a series of tasks I was responsible for.  In my work at home business I was responsible for everything.  That was a huge change.   

If something did not go right I could not hold the boss or a co worker responsible.  IF something did not go right I was responsible.  When something did not go right I felt annoyed, disappointed, frustrated, discouraged, irritated, concerned.  I felt stressed out.   

Feeling stressed out will happen when you have a work at home business.  No one likes to feel stressed out.  It is not a pleasant feeling.  So what should you do when you feel stressed out?   

The answer is simple.  Take a break.  Do not take a break in your home office. Leave your home office.  Go into another room.   Give yourself five minutes to de stress.  Set a timer.  If you set a timer you will not focus on when your five minutes are up. You will have the whole five minutes to focus on de stressing.  Do whatever relaxes you.  Have a snack, daydream, do some breathing exercises,  listen to music, take a walk,  look out your window,  play with your pets, give yourself a mini massage, do some stretches, meditate,  light a scented candle,  have a laugh.   

When your five minutes are up go back to work.  Do not dawdle.  Go to it.  If there is one task that is still causing you stress put it aside.  Move on to another task.  The only rule here is you must tackle the task that is causing you stress by the end of your work day.   You can not put it off.  You may have to do it and feel stressed anyway.  You are the boss and that is what bosses have to do sometimes.  Here’s to your success at your work at home business. 

http://www.selfimprovementtoolshop.com 

Marcia, Your Confidence Coach

Organizing Your To Do List

Organizing Your to do List

Each day you need to prepare your daily to do list for your work at home business.  At the end of your day you should review your daily to do list.  When you do this you will notice that there are some tasks that you did not complete.  You will probably carry these over to the next day.  After a few days you will notice that there are certain tasks that you have not completed.  You have carried these tasks over for a few days and they are still incomplete, or untouched. 

This carry over of to do tasks can have two outcomes.  The first one is excellent.

FIRST OUTCOME

Now you have learned something about how to organize and prioritize your to do list and your day.  You have noticed that the to do tasks that you carry over are probably not important nor urgent.  They were not completed and things turned out fine.  They were not completed and things are still moving along.  You are succeeding at your work at home business.  This is exactly how you prioritize your list.  This is exactly how you learn what you must do and what you thought you had to do.

SECOND OUTCOME

Now you have learned something about how to organize and prioritize your to do list and your day.  You have noticed that the to do things that you carry over are probably VERY important and or urgent.  You have learned that you avoided doing the important things.  You have learned that doing the important things make you feel uncomfortable, queasy, and nervous.   You have learned that you procrastinated doing the important things.  Don’t worry and stress out over this.  You will conquer this and get back on to the path to work at home success. 

Here is the solution.  DO THE THINGS YOU AVOID FIRST EACH DAY.  Jot down some ideas on how to approach these tasks.  Mull over these ideas.  Practice and rehearse how you will approach these tasks.  Then do them.  Don’t worry if you feel uncomfortable, queasy and nervous doing these tasks.  Each time you do a task that is uncomfortable you will get better and better at it.  You will be back on your path to success at your work at home business.

Please leave a comment.  Let me know what you would like to hear about. 

Thanks, Marcia Your Confidence Coach

http://www.selfimprovementtoolshop.com