Change your focus! When life changes, so must you. Usually making some temporary changes are all we need.

This is particularly true if you need to create more income suddenly. Remove or reduce your admin tasks and focus on income producing activities. Cut out extra curricular and volunteer obligations.

Sometimes we just need to say, “No. I appreciate you thinking of me to head the XYZ-athon, but I’m in the middle of a large project right now.” Write it down and practice saying it if you find yourself saying “YES” too often for your own good (or your business’).

You’ll also need to know exactly how much you need to make in what length of time. Break it down into what you need to produce daily (or even hourly).

How many calls would you need to make? How many appointments or products would you need to sell?

Almost very client I work with privately has a stack of contacts from a networking event or a list of prospective clients. The trouble is that most have no formal flow chart plan of what to do with those leads. They become office clutter and create guilt.

Now’s the perfect time to decide how and when you will contact these leads and create new clients and unexpected income.

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We might as well accept the fact that “stuff” will happen and our well-organized plans will fall into a black abyss. The positive side of this is that we get to recognize what we can do to minimize the damage. Many of life’s crises are not avoidable, but they are things we can get ready for.

So SMARTcut #2 is to Prepare

“Be Prepared.” It’s the scout motto (Boys’ and Girls’ actually). One thing that’s easy to do is prepare for unexpected. Whether it’s dinner guests or calls to serve “meals on wheels” to another family, you can be ready in advance.

Have you noticed that these situations seem to come on the least opportune days? It’s always when I’m paddling to keep things going. To relieve potential stress (and costs) I have created my emergency meal plans and stocked my pantry to be ready. Sometimes just knowing ahead what you’ll do will stop the anxiety.

So today’s blog post is to encourage you to get prepared for the kinds of things that happen repeatedly and throw you off track. Think of what you can do to prepare yourself for that detour, then make a cup of tea an get on with your life.

What’s the best thing you’ve done to be prepared?

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The good news is that simple systems will function best. Great organization isn’t about having high tech, complex systems. In fact, the more basic the better.

Creative people are often very tactile. Although the electronic tools are helpful, don’t overlook good ole pencil and paper. You may feel more comfortable with a paper planner/calendar than a PDA. That’s fine.

It’s all about how your brain functions and accesses information. Be cautious about getting things too fancy or complex. Simple will get more done and done beats perfection every time!

Try creating some spread sheets to track or check progress. This is especially useful if you have work that follows a repeatable path. Example: Adding a new client or customer to your business, training a new team member, scheduling a guest speaker or interview.

Anything that can be 1,2,3 is an opportunity to simplify with a tracking sheet. Oh, and don’t overlook the simple checklist. This is especially useful for family members’ chores, school backpacks and sports equipment.

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Creative types like spontaneity, but having a flexible plan will serve you well. Dream up your ideal systems (I’ll help) so you have a path to move along.

The best way is to work backwards. Remember that goal poster/vision board? Just looking (and even touching) it daily can be very powerful to stimulate your subconscious mind to find the paths to create your dream vision.

When you start “seeing” some ideas popping into your head, jot them on sticky notes and begin arranging them on some workable order. Before you know it you’ll have a path to run right into your dream life!

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