Cathy Stucker - The Idea Lady

Attract Customers and Make Yourself Famous

Start Doing This TODAY

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do-it-todayAnytime you’re able to do what you want, what do you typically do? If you’re like most people, you do the thing that you find the most enjoyable, the least scary or the easiest.

Therein lies a MAJOR stumbling block to success – procrastination.

Sure, you need to finish that project, but first you’re going to spend a few minutes on Pinterest.

Yes, you need to get that blog post written and uploaded, but…are those dust bunnies under your desk? It won’t take long to run the dust mop around and then you will get right back to work.

And so it goes.
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How Multitasking Destroys Your Productivity

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cost-of-multitaskingYou can do it all, but you can’t do it all at once.

Many people like to brag about how busy they are and how many things they do at the same time. Maybe they would be less likely to take pride in that habit if they knew that it temporarily lowers their IQs by up to 15 points. That means that multitasking is harder on your cognitive abilities than smoking pot (and we all know how sharp pot makes people).

Although it may seem that you are getting more done by doing five things at once, in fact you are less productive. [Read more…]

Stop Waiting for Permission

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How do successful people become successful? They do things. Instead of sitting around waiting for the Permission Fairy to whack them upside the head with her magic wand, they just go out and do what they need to do.

I get a lot of questions from clients, students and others about how to do various things. Sometimes these questions are about the technical details of how to do something, but often the question is about how they go about getting permission to publish a book, become a consultant, create a course, etc. They want to know what course they need to complete, what group they need to join or who needs to give them a title before they can do what they want to do. While that is necessary if you want to be a doctor, in the world of entrepreneurs you do not need a license to succeed.

When someone is waiting for permission it is often because they do not have confidence in their ability to do something. The way to get that confidence is not to look to someone else. The way to get confidence in your ability to do something is to do it.

In the corporate world there are people who hand out titles and job duties. As an entrepreneur, you are the one who decides what your title is (if any) and what responsibilities you have. Want to be a published author? Write a book and get it published. Want to be a professional speaker? Get to the front of the room and start talking. Want to be a consultant? Start lining up clients you can help. It’s up to you.

There are people and educational resources to help with the things you do not know how to do or that you do not want to do on your own. However, there is no one who can give you permission. No one but you.

Want to become a professional speaker? The first time I gave a talk I was nervous and not all that good at it. But I gave myself permission to be a speaker. I decided I could get better with practice, so I practiced. I spoke to many local community groups. I taught a class for a local university. I participated in professional associations where I led meetings. Not only did I become a better speaker, I KNEW I was a better speaker because I had the experience to back it up. And how did I get that experience? That’s right, boys and girls, I just did it.

If you are waiting for someone to give you permission to be successful you may be in for a long wait. Stop waiting for others to tell you that you can do something and just do it.

Get Somewhere

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This week’s Monday Morning Message from Wm. H. Danforth, founder of Ralston Purina:
What is the Monday Morning Message?

A farmer stood fascinated before a merry-go-round. He changed a dollar into twenty nickels. He took a ride and then paid another nickel for another ride, until he had spent all twenty nickels.

“Aunty, wasn’t that great fun?” he asked a spinster lady who was waiting for him.

“Maybe so,” was her reply. “You’ve spent your money going round and round, but where’ve you been?”

Draw your own lesson.

Do you confuse movement with progress? It’s easy to do. We spend our days running from place to place and feeling busy, but we may not be accomplishing anything of value.

Try this exercise this week:

As you go through each day, note what you are doing. At the end of the day, look over your list. Were you doing “busy work” or accomplishing tasks that will move your business forward?

Although it may be almost impossible to get rid of all busy work, look for ways to minimize the amount of time you spend on it.

When you identify busy work first ask, “Is this something that really needs to be done?” It may be that you can stop doing it without any negative results.

If the task needs to be done ask, “Is this something that I should be doing, or could someone else do it?” Delegate or outsource anything that is not the best use of your time.

Taking action on those two questions may free up several hours a week. So how will you use those hours?

Determine what activities are the most productive and profitable for you, and focus your efforts there.

One reason we fill our days with activities that do not lead us closer to our goals is that we may not have a clear vision of those goals. When you know where you are going, you are less likely to spend your time going around in circles.

15 Ways to Find 15 Minutes

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I have written before about how to get things done in just 15 minutes. Here is how you can find the 15 minutes.

Have you ever noticed that tasks expand to fill the time allotted for them? If you have all day to do something, it will take you all day. However, if you have only 15 or 20 minutes, you will be surprised at how much you can accomplish in that time.

You may be saying, “But I don’t even have 15 minutes!” Sure you do. Here are 15 ways to find that extra 15 minutes you think you don’t have. They won’t all work for you, but if you do even one or two of them you will free up at least an hour or two a week (and possibly much more than that).
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