Back when I was in my late teens – not all that long ago really – I vividly remember an occasion where I asked a simple question and didn’t get the answer I was expecting.
I was working in a licensing position where we regularly had to forward copies of permits to regional offices throughout the state and we would use post codes in order to determine which office to forward the documents to. It didn’t take long to learn most of the state’s post codes by heart, but whenever we didn’t know the post code for a particular area my co-workers and I would just ask out loud and someone else would surely know.
On this one occasion, I made the mistake of asking our supervisor for a post code. Her reply was a short, sharp, “Do I look like a post code booklet? Look it up!”
I was a little miffed at the time. After all, we were merely being efficient. Why waste an entire minute or so looking it up when someone could just tell you in a few seconds, while you continued working away?
However, miffed as I was, that was an incredibly powerful lesson for me. After that, I made it a policy to rarely ask for help unless I had first attempted to solve the problem myself.
This skill has served me well over the years, particularly when it comes to small business management skills.
There have been countless times when I didn’t know how to do something and could have phoned someone for help or submitted a support ticket. But by first striving to find the answer myself I have saved many, many hours of precious time by not having to submit the question and wait for a reply. More importantly, I have learnt so much more than I would have from just asking up front, not to mention understanding the process more by researching it myself.
And let’s face it, generally it can be a pretty good feeling when you’ve figured out how to do something for yourself.
So, what’s my favourite tool for problem solving these days?
Google!
(Or Yahoo or Bing or MSN)
While there are some areas where I probably wouldn’t trust information from the Internet, you can find answers to so much here, especially when it comes to business issues or how to do something with your computer or a specific software application.
Whenever I need to know how to do something now, I simply ‘Google it’.
Now, a handy hint here: it helps to be specific. I will generally type something like, “How do I do xyz in ABC?” In fact, it was by searching on, “How to add a custom header to WordPress Thesis theme” that I found this excellent blog post on how to add a banner image to your Thesis header – a post I’m so glad I found and have since recommended to others many times over.
If your original question brings up too many possible answers, try being more specific with what you search for. Or if you don’t get enough results, be a little broader in your search terms.
If you want something instructional, going direct to YouTube can be a good idea. Again, you can find out how to do so much by searching for it in YouTube.
Sometimes getting the best answers for problem solving comes down to asking the right questions. But then if all else fails … ask someone else for help
Lots of people have asked me how I manage to edit Go To Webinar and Go To Meeting recordings in Camtasia Studio … this is something that can be a challenge at first.
So I thought I’d make a video to show just how easy it is to do … when you know how
I get a lot of people asking me how they can watch online videos without them stopping and starting all the time.
First, it helps to understand why they stop and start. Depending on various factors, including your internet speed, it can take a while for videos to download. Often you’ll start to watch a video but you’re viewing it quicker than it can download.
So … simply press ‘play’, then pause and give it a minute or two (longer for very long videos) while it downloads.
Then press ‘play’ again and you should be able to watch it nice and smoothly.
If so, it’s time to organise your email system before it takes over your life!
Email is an extremely convenient mode of communication; perhaps too easy, as it seems to invite people to contact you for sometimes barely any reason at all. With all that email coming in needing attention, it can be hard to get anything else done. So how can you get a grip on your business emails before it gets its grip on you?
Gaining Control Of Email
Success in small business relies on discipline and good time management. Often, however, necessary tasks like checking, reading and responding to emails can start to overtake productive work time and decrease your productivity – and in turn, your profitability. That is why it’s important for you to be managing emails, rather than letting emails manage you. Here are some pointers from the experts:
Schedule time for checking emails; this can be once, twice, or three times daily at times that fit into your schedule. Block out time and when the time is up, move on to other pressing matters.
Do not use email for emergency contacts; inform clients and business associates that you are not available immediately via email, and that they should phone or contact you via instant message, etc, for pressing matters. This makes it possible for you to handle emails in chunks rather than constantly dealing with them throughout the day. Be careful who you give emergency contact information to, though, so that it is used for its intended purpose.
Turn off automatic alerts – both audio and visual – so that you are not tempted to immediately respond every time a new message comes in. This breaks into your productive work time.
Deal with emails during your ‘down time’; do not schedule your most creative and productive times of day for organising emails. Put email management into your schedule where it makes sense – those times of day when you need to slow down, or that do not take away from more complex activities.
Use tools for organising emails; get to know the features of your email client and use them to prioritise emails. For instance, use the ‘rules’ or ‘labels’ function to automatically separate emails into folders according to priority levels, clients, or subjects.
Respond to emails when read; many people will read all emails before responding, and then go back and start with the most important ones. But this only multiplies the time it takes to get through the lot. espond to emails as they are read, and you will not have to begin all over again sifting through them.
Separate business and personal emails; do not give out business email addresses to friends and family that do not have a business reason to contact you.
Email is a very useful and important business tool, but if you don’t learn how to efficiently manage your emails they will begin to take over your life.
Of course, everyone’s situation is going to be different and it may take a little while to find what works best for you, but if you start putting some of these tips into practise you’ll soon get control over your email. If not, perhaps it’s time to consider getting an assistant to help you respond to emails.
Why is it that some people can set goals and achieve them while others keep setting goals time and time again, but never seem to get any closer to reaching them?
There are many reasons for this, including lack of self-belief, setting goals that aren’t actually in line with your values or setting goals that are too unrealistic.
Andrea Jordan writes about breaking bad habits and her recent post about setting S.M.A.R.T. goals is worth reading, especially if you’re one of those who seems to have trouble reaching your goals.
A lot of people ask me for tips on how I manage to get so much done all the time. I’m more than happy to share my strategies, tips and ideas, but I thought it might make it easier for everyone if I wrote a guide about this very topic and gave it away freely.
So… introducing… Multi-Tasking Sucks! The High-Achiever’s Guide To Squeezing The Most Out Of Every Second.
I’ve also included lots of resources and tools that help me run my business efficiently.
If you’d like your copy of this brand new guide, go to Multi-Tasking Sucks! and simply enter your name and email address. Once you’ve verified that you’d like a copy of this, you’ll receive an email giving you the link to download it.
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– I vividly remember an occasion where I asked a simple question and didn’t get the answer I was expecting.
