First Word

Do you feel pressed for time? I do. I have multiple projects going on. I once read in the book The Secret that it’s all a matter of perspective. You always have enough time . We make time for things we prioritize. When it comes to keeping everything flowing and getting it all done I keep daily, weekly and monthly goals. I started this habit in college because I was taking up to 18 units and I needed to keep track of homework. Turned out this technique became invaluable to helping me to become an effective project manager. Another technique I apply is to keep in mind at all times I love what I do. I try to avoid feeling overwhelmed by just sitting down and getting things done one at a time. Even though I have work that is due all of the time I make it a top priority to make time enough to work on my own book The Abused . When it comes to ensuring that my precious time gets applied to my own work too I just do it . Here are some tips to help you effectively manag...

The work smarter not harder formula is a tough one to figure out. I think it's a balance between a few key areas: team work, responsibility, delegation of the right tasks, and (this is a bonus) passive revenue. The last item (passive revenue) is the entrepreneur's ultimate dream goal: make your product sell itself and bring in constant revenue based on previous work. I am a fan of passive revenue. One of the key things it provides is unexpected income (my kind of bonus). Breaking down the other areas it works like this: Team work -- you need a competent team of professionals who know their jobs. They don't need direct supervision that can suck up your management time. The more time you spend managing people resources the less time you have to work as a CEO. The CEO should never be bogged in minutia (what I call small details). The minute you spend too much time on the grains of sands, the less time you have on the beach :) (and that's a semi metaphor), but the beac...

I get regularly asked how I do so much. I can distill it down to one word: goals. My entire life and career I have been goal-oriented. The way to keep goals organized and stay on task is to write (not type) your daily, weekly and monthly goals. I have a desk calendar. When I was in college and had to travel from class to class, I had a binder calendar. I would write the homework assignments and deadlines on my calendar. I once had this condescending HR woman look at my calendar and make comments about "silly" calendar and neat penmanship. The only person who looked 'silly' was her. Truth is, I still to this day have a desk calendar with the same so-called neat penmanship, and I use a highlighter pen to put special emphasis on deadlines. My eye always goes right to the highlights so things do not go unforgotten. The trick to the workhorse abilities is to systematically go through your daily goals, accomplish the tasks, mark it off, and move to the next. A list keeps ...

As an entrepreneur and business owner, I have a lot of freedom. With great freedom though requires discipline. Some people need accountability to get their work done. People like myself do not need anyone ruling their schedules. My own drive and ambition rules my schedule. So how do you keep yourself on tasked and focused when there is no force behind you? Keep a routine. Routines help you define your activities for the day. For example, I get up and blog every morning. Then I do public relations activities, promotion and marketing. I like to edit and project manage in the afternoons. If I have a meeting this, of course breaks up the schedule and gives me some variety. Discipline . A routine actually helps maintain discipline since you know your schedule. You'll find many distractions and temptations, but maintain your discipline. Don't let the distractions, well distract. For me I go directly and get a cup of coffee and then go right to my desk and start my routines. Per...

3L Publishing's graphic artist Erin Molina used to say that to me. Over the years if there is one thing I've learned in publishing where you're dealing with deadlines is "don't bake the cake before it comes out of the oven." What does that really mean? Worrying, panicking and generally having heart failure over something that hasn't even happened is a true waste of perfectly good energy. The point is that whatever you're worrying or fretting over may never even happen -- and look at all the energy you expended in something that didn't come to fruition. As a project manager, the key tactic I've learned is to stay cool, use your head (know your stuff), problem solve, and then fix whatever is going on. A few useful tips for managers: Always get out ahead of the problem --this means if you see something brewing or you suspect something could happen, just take measures to ensure it either doesn't happen or make a preemptive strike so it never...

The exercise of the day: be Zen when your workload is ridiculous . We are such a society of worriers. I am guilty, too. My workload right now is huge, which is great on one hand and stressful on the other hand. How to keep up with the wheel that is turning faster than I can run? The art of not pulling your hair out when your need to pay your bills is more important than sleep? (I'm kidding ... sort of ...) First and foremost -- surrender ! You will not get it done in one day, so don't keep that as a goal (that is crazy and unreasonable). Quit fretting and thinking about it. Just let it go. Think of blowing a dandelion to the breeze. Second, think of it like biting an elephant one at a time . You can't swallow the whole elephant, right? Just get into what I like to call "task-orientation" -- one task, one step at a time. Then walk through each task, finish one, and move on. Daily, weekly and monthly goals work great . Don't look at the entire GOAL, but ra...

It's Friday morning ... coffee time. I decided this morning to pour my Joe into a "love" cup made by my nine-year-old daughter. A little morning jumpstart with some love ... works for me. So business here at 3L Publishing is booming. Now I am super, super happy and over the moon about the business. Now I have to deliver. You can't sell without delivering what you sell, right? With so much work coming in so fast, we're in a rapid growth curve. Now I could 1. panic 2. fret or 3. get organized. I choose #3. How do you manage a lot of work at once? I have some great tips to share with all you busy managers and executives. Here is why people ask me, "How do you get so much done?" Step 1 : Get real ! Yes, get real about what you CAN actually manage. Don't look at the moon, realize it's really thousands of stars, and then panic. Get real with your responsibilities and work load. Don't shirk those things that MUST be done to grow your company (i...