Today I am hosting our 2nd blog-a-thon for the members of www.helpdeskforcoaches.com. The participants of the 1st blog-a-thon got a lot out of it, including me.
We begin by getting on a call where the participants can ask me any blogging question they have. Then we share our ideas of what we are going to blog about and commit to writing at least one blog post in the hour that follows. We hang up and call back in an hour to let eachother know how we did and commit to another blog post for the following hour. Then we do it all over again.
Here’s what Nonprofit coach Alex Carter wrote about the blogathon: http://alexcarter.com/productivity/my-first-blog-a-thon/
If you like this post, please consider buying me a coffee.Written by Sandra De Freitas
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September 12th, 2008
You may be finding it a little tiring to schedule a client appointment via email or even over the phone. Not only is it difficult to schedule around meetings, kids and other appointments but throw in time zones and you just might have a nightmare on your hands. Ok so it’s not that bad 
But you may want a solution that takes you and your time out of the equation. You want your clients to schedule appointments with you while you are working with other clients, while you are creating new products and services, etc. Afterall, you have other things to do with your time.
Here’s what I’ve been using to book appointments with clients, members of my www.HelpDeskForCoaches.com and pote
ntial clients, www.web-appointments.com.
It allows you to set your schedule, your appointment types (ie. 30 min coaching call, 60 min coaching call, etc) and your days or times off.
If you like this post, please consider buying me a coffee.Written by Sandra De Freitas
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July 22nd, 2008
If you’ve read the “Four Hour Workweek” or you just want to be more productive, you may want to take a close look at how you spend your time. A task that you thought would take only “2 seconds” ends up consuming your whole afternoon as you end up researching something on the internet, you then remember to email a friend, call a client, check the balance on your account, . . . you know how it goes.
So here’s a cool tool that will time how long it does take you to complete a task. www.toggl.com allows you to enter all of your projects and tasks, then when you are ready to begin the timer, you simply click on the task and the timer begins. When you have completed the task click the “stop” button. Your tasks and times are saved for you to review.
It’s perfect for keeping you on track, organizing your time realistically and perfect for those who charge based on time.
If you like this post, please consider buying me a coffee.Written by Sandra De Freitas
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July 9th, 2008
Do you need to meet with your mastermind group but the phone is just not enough?
Do you want to meet with a client or groups of clients in an exciting way?
Do you want to share documents, view webpages or brainstorm on a virutal whiteboard?
Do you want a VOIP (voice over ip – talking over the internet) as well as a bridge line options?
Would you like to add video to your meetings so that you can see eachother or show off your latest products?
Well you can with this free web casting service from Adobe. You can check it out at http://www.adobe.com/acom/connectnow
The only draw back to this free service is that you can only conduct a meeting with 3 other people. But for some this is more than enough.
If you like this post, please consider buying me a coffee.Written by Sandra De Freitas
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June 17th, 2008
To be an entrepreneur with a home office has it’s advantages and it’s disadvantages. When we break away from our corporate jobs to the fabulous life of working in pjs and an escape from gas prices, we don’t think about the ugly stuff that comes with a home office.
What is the ugly stuff? Here’s a quick list:
- It’s so easy to sleep in (sometimes this isn’t on the ugly list!)
- It’s easy and tempting to work until 1am.
- Other’s think that if you own your own business you must be rich. It’s like the government hands you a fat check because you call yourself an entrepreneur.
- Other’s think that if you work from home you have time to pick them up from airport, babysit, keep an eye on the repair guy and keep up with Oprah.
- Other’s think you can take social phone calls during the day now that you don’t have a boss looking over your shoulder. Work hours are work hours.
- Time goes by much quicker in your home office than in your corporate office. Hmmmm….why is that?
- You realize how little gets done in a work day when you work for yourself.
So how can you stop the interruptions and get more done in a day?
Here’s a short list of what I do:
- I find that scheduled phone calls take up more time than is scheduled. It takes a few minutes to prepare before the call and a few minutes after the call are spent sending out an email, replying to emails that came through while you were on the call or other random things. So I schedule at least 1 day a week where no phone calls or appointments can be made. There are no interruptions and more gets done.
- I create a “to do” list. There is something satisfying about scratching off a task. Without a “to do” list it’s easy to fall into the “oh I don’t have anything pressing to do today, I might as well spend some time on youtube or facebook”. I use www.wrike.com to manage my “to do” list.
- Don’t answer the phone, unless it’s a close family member. This is the biggest interruption of them all. It easily distracts you from what you were focusing on and it’s even harder to regain your focus when you end the call. Voice mail was created for a reason, don’t feel guilty for using it!
How do you stop the interruptions and get more done in a day? Enter your suggestions in the comment box below.
If you like this post, please consider buying me a coffee.Written by Sandra De Freitas
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June 3rd, 2008
