Habits - the Lego™ Bricks of Success

When you live and love puns the way I do, finding a snappy title for a blog post can be a real pain.

Having thought of, and discarded, such gems as "You can Habit All" (trust me, that was one of the better ones), all I could think of was the well-know Lord of the Rings reference.*

...And then I trod on a certain toy and ...

Just like Lego bricks, habits start off small, piece together easily but take persistence to make into something worthwhile.

And just like Lego bricks, they can be flipping difficult to dismantle if you realise you've built the wrong thing. That can take a lot more effort than you put in at first.

One of my birthday decisions was to work through the Living Your Best Year Ever book, because it forces you to focus, set goals and keep a daily habit list which you then review every week.

It's already feeding in changes to my daily work pattern; I'm looking forward to my first 90 day review.

How are you feeding your habits?

*Tolkien is Hobbit-forming.

90-Day Plan: D-3 - Organisation - My OMG Moment

Me, organised? I can be. I just never seem to sustain it. My organisational capabilities flare up when required and then tend to subside just as quickly.

Part of the problem is a desire not to be seen as this hard-nosed, obsessive, managing control freak. Which is what I turn into every time I have a flurry of organisational activity. I need to change and when better than while implementing 90 days of new habits?

You're getting used to this by now - the hard facts can be found here; my pitiful attempts to live up to my own teachings are below:

1. Set up a dedicated email account, don't flood it with subscriptions.

Dedicated account set up. Unfortunately....

OK, fine, I will unsubscribe and change to RSS feeds where I can. This will have to be done in parallel with other activities as I've WAY too many subscriptions for comfort.

2. Email/Mail - Deal with it, dispose of it, decide what to do with it and when. Keep the inbox bare.

Easier said than done, but the more I try to do this, the better I'm getting at it. It's still going to take time to work through my 3,000 emails though. Yes, I know. You don't have to tell me...

3. File receipts as soon as you get them.

This is my biggest area of failure so far. My filing system at the moment is chronological and there are strata of unopened envelopes that were probably delivered by pterodactyls. I've spent an hour filing by year into manila folders. Next step, set up a proper filing system.

4. Set up a business bank account.

I've currently got a separate account for business purposes. Chalk one success up to the Kleenezelady.

5. Make sure you have all contact details available at all times for customers, team members and prospects.

I've ordered a daytimer (early Christmas present) and I will be transferring details to that as soon as I get it. Plus, my new mobile upgrade is a smartphone, which should help as well.

6. Set up activity tracking for all business activities.

Done. Getting into the habit of using the tracking will be the key, though. That, and not letting my laptop spontaneously combust again...

7. Ensure the family answers the phone in a professional manner or divert calls.

Call diversion is on. Enough said. Kleeneze provide a great voicemail system (and yes, I need to clear a backlog of messages on that as well....)

8. Use a whiteboard/family calendar to keep everybody updated on what you're doing.

Already doing this as well. It works really well, when my teenager isn't trying to be clever.

9. Invest in a cashbox and bank your takings before spending them.

That's a habit I need to get into.

10. Develop a routine so that your family, team and customers know what to expect.

And again, that's a key habit that I need to develop.

I'll be planning the next 90 days out tomorrow. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Time Management, Kleeneze Lady Style

As anybody involved in the early phases of their network marketing business will tell you, there comes a time when building your business assumes a greater mental priority than working on furthering your 9 to 5 job prospects.

My problem is, I get paid too much in my 9 to 5 job to just quit - I would need to have a turnover of around £10,000 per 4 week period to come close to my current salary. That means I need to build a good team.

However, as I've discovered over the past few months, making the transition from being a disorganised retailer to an organised team builder isn't easy. I've make two serious attempts at building a team after day job hours and all I've achieved so far is missing out on my Volume bonus.

It's time to get serious about working with spare moments within my day job.

I've now blocked out short periods of 15 to 30 minutes during my working day, during which time I will focus on my Kleeneze business activities. These blocks of time could correspond to company lunch breaks, tea breaks, etc. I'll be inputting orders, contacting prospective team members and catching up on paperwork.

The rest of my day will be used to ensure that I am ahead of my workload, which in turn could free up extra short blocks of time in which to contact more people.

I've revised my 90 day plan accordingly. I'll let you know how I get on.

90 Day Plan - Day 1 - Getting Organised

For years, I've shied away from being thought of as "managing". That one word always summed up visions of the headmistress at my all-girls' grammar school; think of a slim version of Margaret Rutherford (the original Miss Marple) crossed with one of Maggie Smith's less endearing characters, such as Constance, Countess of Trentham in Gosford Park, and you've got the idea.

Trouble is, that means I've also avoided being organised, and that's not a good thing when you're a single mum with a 105 minute commute, a full-time career and a minimal social life who is trying to build up her Kleeneze business.

I have bought Eat That Frog! and Getting Things Done: How to Achieve Stress-free Productivityand I'm working my way through both of them at the moment.

It has to be said, though, that the best thing I've done so far is set up my own CRM application. With a little self-discipline, I have all my customer and prospect documentation in one place, so that no matter where I am, I can access it easily. Not only that, but I have a 90 day plan drafted out. I'm putting the finishing touches to it tonight.

Next step, putting the plan into action. My enthusiasm's back, I'm fired up and ready to go!