5 Ways to Work Smarter

Ever feel like this? As a business woman, I admit that I sometimes do. Every once and a while I get the feeling that I’m surrounded by perfectly running businesses and I’m just not keeping up like I should. Times like that make me want to spin on my office chair and blow spit bubbles.

Crazy how we get into that mindset, isn’t it? We work and plan, and plan and work, and it just doesn’t seem to ever really get done. I mean…finished. I get done all right. I get done with projects, I get done with billing, I get done with tasks and errands; but I never get finished marketing. There’s always a better, newer, more persuasive way to get the message out there. It’s never ending.

You gotta’ love your job to live it, and I do. But how do those other companies make it look so easy?

The trick is, finding the easiest way to do the most in the least amount of time, and still build a quality empire. I’m a wife, mom, sister, and daughter–I don’t want to spend all my time working just to be like everyone else. So with that, here are 5 things I’ve learned to work smarter, and keep all my hair.

1. Use quality systems to aggregate. It’s never worth doing extra steps in any marketing strategy that you can do in just one. Consider using Ping.fm your social media updates, and AWeber for getting your small business email marketing campaign off the ground. This saves me TONS of time for pennies a day.
2. Give yourself permission to research competition, read about concerns, and update your brain files with new information. It may take longer than you think, but unless you put a priority on learning as an investment, you won’t be able to keep up with anything.
3. Remember, slow and steady wins the race. Getting up to speed fast is great if you have systems in place to keep up. If you don’t, take the time to set yourself up for success by simply inching toward your long term goals daily. Life is NOT about living in a squirrel cage.
4. Appreciate what the mentors in your market are teaching you, both by what they do, and how they do it. You can always learn the hard way, but isn’t it easier to learn from others’ mistakes rather than your own?
5. Go ahead and do something different, in a different way, and take that risk that you’ll regret not taking. If you never step out, you’ll never know what could have been. You have amazing ideas in your head that need to come out. Don’t mistake that adrenaline rush for fear you shouldn’t tackle. It could just be the turn on you needed to kick the competition’s butt!

That’s what works for me. How do you handle the occasional frustrations that stem from a busy environment? Do you ever feel caught up in the mundane while everyone else looks like they’ve accomplished their goals with ease? Hang in there!

Photo Credit: kevindooley on Flickr