Karen Del’Marmol - Virtual Assistant

TAG! I’m it! So is Suzanne Evans!

TAG! You’re it, Tracey Lawton! And you’re it, Silvia Shields!

This ultimate guide to productivity meme was started by Ben Yoskovitz at Instigator Blog and Vickie Turley of A Balanced Alternative (transforming from Elite VAs) tagged me and Suzanne.

The question: what’s your secret to being productive?

Well, it’s not really a secret; it’s more of a practice. Some might even see it as being a bit on the obsessive-compulsive side. It’s the way I work best.

I believe in the old adage: a place for everything and everything in its place. My home, which contains me, a five-year-old boy, four cats and two fish, tends toward messiness. It also seems to generate things that prove the placard hanging in my kitchen: if the dustball moves, it’s probably a cat. The dustballs bug me, but I can coexist with them. I cannot coexist with disorder.

Like the rest of my home, my office is organized and ordered. My home is small and the office is a small alcove within the home. The operative word is small. If things are not where they belong - and it only takes a few things - small becomes smaller. I haven’t reached smallest yet . . .

Everything in my office is within reach. I can swivel my chair and put my hands on anything I need. This proves to be very efficient. I don’t get a lot of exercise, but that’s not the point. Efficiency breeds productivity and that’s the point. As something comes into the office, it’s dealt with immediately, even if that’s just putting it in its place. A piece of paper is put into a file/folder and the folder may be put into the bin. Or that piece of paper is put into the follow-up file with a corresponding entry on the calendar. The objective is two-fold. Keep the files complete and try to put my hands on a piece of paper as few times as possible.

So that’s my “secret.” Some might call it a disorder. I call it order; it’s organized, efficient and . . . productive.

Okay now - here are the rules of this project from Ben’s Instigator Blog forwarded to me by Vickie Turley:

1. Write a post on your best productivity tips. Challenge yourself by picking your single best productivity tip (although this isn’t a requirement; you can give us more if you want).
2. Include links to other people that have written posts, or include their tips in your post with proper attribution.
   

   Note: I’m not asking that you link to everyone in the group writing project meme; pick the ones you want to connect with. You certainly can link to everyone, but it’s not a requirement. I like leaving more decision making power in your hands so this isn’t just a link grab, but you’re thinking about what your audience & community wants to read about.

   A link back to this post is appreciated though, to help spread the word!

3. If you use Technorati Tags then tag your post “ultimate guide to productivity”.
4. Tag others in your post to spread the meme. Tag as many people as you like!
5. If you link back to Instigator Blog and email me at byosko@gmail.com, I’ll make sure to include at least 2 links back to you. But this isn’t a requirement, it just helps me keep track of what’s going on.

This morning I woke up after having fallen asleep on the couch AGAIN. It was 5:15 a.m. I quickly cued the program I was watching when I fell asleep, then watched the last seven minutes so I could erase it from the DVR. Still groggy, I set my cell phone’s alarm for 7:15 and climbed into bed to catch at least an hour of rest in a totally stretched-out position.

I dozed for about twenty minutes and woke thinking about my grandson. He’ll be in kindergarten next year. The pre-school he now attends decided to cancel next year’s kindergarten class. I know it was a difficult decision for the school to make; however, my plans for Jayden now have been dashed against the rocks of life. So who said life was fair, or easy, anyway? Not me.

I know God will provide a way for Jayden . . . and me.

Back to my waking thoughts. Jayden has grown so quickly - even more quickly than my daughter did. But that’s because I’m older. Because I’m older and am trying to get my business to soar, I tend to sit at my computer for too much of the day. The stress of the last six months has taken its toll on me in many ways — two of which are that I’ve spent even more time at the computer and I’ve gained more weight. I’m tired. And I’m sure it has nothing to do with falling asleep on the couch . . .

I’ve spent less time with my grandson.

As I was waking, I thought of what I could do with my grandson that would make him happy. I realized that there was something we could do today that we might not have the opportunity to do for too much longer. When he got out of his bed and came to mine, I asked him if he wanted to walk to school. His face lit up and he said, “Yeah!” The next thing I heard was him making his lunch for school. Imagine that - five years old and able to make his own lunch for school! I told you he’s growing up quickly.

I was excited to walk to school and to spend time with him. Not as excited as him, mind you, but excited. There’s something about walking together that insulates us from the outside world. It was just the two of us.

Today he’ll take a nap at school. Tomorrow, if it’s not raining, we’ll walk to school again.

Here’s one more reason to love the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce (VACOC): on a regular basis, usually monthly, an expert is scheduled for a free teleseminar. Yes, that’s right - it’s free! What’s even better is that it’s open not only to the members of the VACOC, but also to their colleagues, clients and other independent service providers.

This month’s guest expert is Jim Logan, a marketing consultant. The title of the teleseminar: How to Insulate Yourself from Your Competition, Protect the Price of Your Services and Avoid Becoming a Commodity.

Date: Thursday, May 17, 2007

Time: 5:00 p.m. PT/6:00 p.m. MT/7:00 p.m. CT/8:00 p.m. ET

The teleseminar is for one hour followed by questions and answers.

Some of what will be discussed:

• Three things prospective clients think when deciding to purchase your services
• The most important thing to highlight when describing your services
• Why the least valuable thing you have to offer your customer is your time
• How to increase your hourly rate without billing by the hour
• How to differentiate your service from your competition
• How to attract your ideal client

I’m looking forward to hearing Jim speak! As a business owner, I’m always looking for help on how to improve my company and my services. If you want the same for your business, then come! Please register at http://www.virtualassistantnetworking.com/teleclass-register.htm

If you’d like to learn more about Jim Logan, please visit http://www.jslogan.com/?page_id=2

When I initially joined the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce (VACOC - http://www.virtualassistantnetworking.com), I was very new to the “business owner” world. I only stayed for a short time and then resigned my membership. I just didn’t have time to correspond with the folks on the forums.

A few months later, I realized that I didn’t have time not to correspond with the folks on the forums. The wealth of information, wisdom, camaraderie, support and constructive criticism were essential to my company. Since I’ve returned to the VACOC, my business practices and procedures have improved. The image I project has improved. My business, on the whole, has improved.

I won’t say that I owe it all to the VACOC because that would be denigrating my abilities and talents; however, what I do owe to the VACOC is confidence to go forward. And if you don’t have confidence to go forward in your business, you might as well close the doors.