Yes, it’s tax season and this means we all have the best account of what we are doing with our businesses. Everything is broken down to what we are spending, saving and what programs are working.

One area I’ve been seriously lacking in the last two years is furthering my education. I’ve been ignoring it by using the “I don’t have time” excuse. Not pushing my businesses to the next level is a big waste of time and that goes against everything I believe in. I don’t have time to waste, so let’s see how some learning can get me using my time even more efficiently.

So where to start? That’s been an easy choice. Two people I follow and look to for a lot of information have come out with group coaching programs geared towards things I’d love to keep pushing ahead. I signed up for Nicole Dean’s Income CPR today. What are you getting with the program?

==> Immediate Access To The Monthly Lesson with Case Studies

==> Ask Nicole – Yep! You can email Nicole your questions about the lessons & she’ll answer them.

==> She’ll help recruit affiliates for you via her FreeAffiliateArticles.com site.

The opening price is way underpriced. Nicole charges $500 an hour for consulting. You’ll be getting access to how she’s built her business for only $10 a month. However, that will change at any time as the program fills up. So don’t wait.

No, that’s not just a big sales blurb of poo from me. Well it’s a sales blurb, but I’ve “known” Nicole for years through forums and I trust that this program will not waste my time in the least.  I’ve downloaded the first lesson and will be opening it up as soon as I hit publish here on the blog.

I’ll work on keeping more updates as I go along. I’m starting out with Nicole’s program and then adding another program this weekend or next week that I know will be a good one. But since I haven’t focused on learning in so long I don’t want to jump in over my head and not follow through. It’s all about the follow through.

So why not join me in the Income CPR program and we can both chat about our progress?

I’ve talked to friends about how certain games seem to be a waste of time because there is no real goal to the game, but if you stop and look at them, it’s ALL OF THEM! These are all never ending games and are meant to be that way. For a long time I was doing ok managing my time on them and it was a fun little outlet.

Last weekend I realized that I had let the facebook game time outweigh the work time. No kidding, that’s how bad it had gotten. I was spending more time checking my games than I was writing articles. It’s an embarrassing admission, but would be more embarrassing if I continued to let it happen! Last Monday, January 4th, at lunch was the last time I checked my games. Every single one of them.

I’ve had tons of game requests daily still and I’ve gone and deleted them without opening. I don’t want to see the number grow by the game request link so I’m tempted to play. I’ve gone cold turkey.

I’m happy to report I’m just fine. No withdrawals, no twitches and honestly I haven’t missed them once in the week I’ve pledged off of them.

I’m staying off of the games until Feb. 1st. We’ll see at that time if I go back and play again or not. Right now I’m very happy with how many blog posts and articles I’ve written. I’m not sure I can go back to wasting this “new” found time on the games again and obviously I can’t trust that I will just spend a little bit of time on the games.

Want to know the statement that went through my head and worked as my trigger to get off the facebook games? “How much money am I making by playing these games?” That simple statement.

I challenge you to evaluate your game time and just how much money you are making while playing!
photo credit: Tassidy Doyle

Going to the range and hanging out with hubby on Monday was just fine. Monday’s are not a day I hope to get much done online, I know this. But he surprised me by staying home so I didn’t even get back online after the kids went to school.

But then the power went out in a big windstorm. I went to bed on time since I didn’t want to drain my phone battery. Power was down for 13 hours and threw my morning for a loop obviously. There is another one right behind it so I have to get my act together. Plus get all this laundry done in case it goes out again. lol It also means that I better get ahead online in case I can’t get on for a while again.

Sadly my motivation was tossed to the curb and I’m scrambling to find it now. Obviously blogging is one of the steps I use to get back on track so that is always my number one for finding my mojo again.

Weirdly enough, cleaning was on the list today for getting back on track. I have found a direct correlation to how clean my house gets and my procrastination. It’s very easy to notice because I hate housework, so if my house is looking really clean and no company is coming over…I’m hiding out from work. Knowing this, I cleaned the bathroom first thing to see if I could get that bug out of the way immediately.

Shower was next. No amount of caffeine was going to get me moving today and I’m not supposed to be drinking it. It was one of those days I really needed to start off with a shower, but alas, no hot water will ruin that plan

Then I finally got to tackling that to do list. No I didn’t start with the most pressing task. I didn’t even start with a middle of the road task that needed to be completed. I went straight to the easiest and quickest.

I’ve found when I can’t get going, the act of getting something crossed off the list quickly gets me motivated again. It helps remind me that I’m over-thinking it and I need to just get going. Now this easiest thing can not be one of my daily tasks. Answering emails for example DOESN’T COUNT. That’s just yet another way to procrastinate and ignore work. So for today, my first task I grabbed was to finish uploading the new PLR packages. Not the rest of the things involved with getting them live, just to upload them to my hosting.

Everyone’s easy task will be different. Don’t grab anything that technically has you challenged. Grabbing any graphics or picture work for me would not have been an easy task. They frustrate me and take me longer than the average bear to work on. Uploading files is easy for me and may cause others frustration. It’s all about your personal comfort zones.

Grab something on your to-do list that is a no brainer and get it done. You’ll be amazed how crossing that first thing off your list will cause a chain reaction of work to get done!

But that aside, it’s always driven me nuts that I don’t know about any local big online events until the weekend of or after. WTF? I am not bragging when I say that I am a social media nut and I also include local media in hopes of finding out about stuff early. Hasn’t happened, so guess what, I’m deleting all of those biggies in my area because in 2 years I haven’t learned jack shit from them that I didn’t already know and I didn’t get early notice of any events. Usefullness? #fail as we like to post in twitter.

However, my being active on my account and posting to smaller local accounts? #twitterawesome I have now gotten an introduction to a social media event next week. I will clear the deck and head downtown Seattle. I’m excited and this stems on my missing a major event I wanted to hit in Portland. It’s the last one I will miss as I’ve made quite a few friends from the Power of MOB and I’d honestly like to put a package together and speak at next years event. Besides the fact I want to just hang and have a real drink instead of a virtual drink with friends.

Then another site has been going out and out and out. It’s a passion of mine. Firefighter Wife is not a money making site of mine. Yes, I do hope to make some here and there, but it’s truly a resource. To be contacted by others with resources I can push and especially resources that are charitable is awesome. Once such site I’ve fallen in love with, Firefighters Wives.net is built around helping those with career ending disease or injury. This is an organization I would love to get involved with and I couldn’t believe they are local. Sure, it’s a 2 hour drive, but hey it’s not every day. lol They have their site launch in 2 weeks and I want to be there to meet the women behind the site. I already have emails to them about some joint work.

Local meetups will increase your passion. Social media has been the answer to my local meetup. I’m making connections and then meeting up. Previously the groups had a link that they met up and not much info. I can’t tell you how excited I am about these local events and how out of character it is that I’ve already told my family I MUST GO!

I’d like to do an update on last weeks post as it was definitely a turning point in my summer. It also took me much longer to recover my mojo than ever before. But then again, I’ve never been so knocked out of whack by work like that either. I do take responsibility for allowing it to happen and I’ve luckily learned from it. It’s just amazing on the slowness.

By the end of August I’d gotten a little mojo back and worked on the “y” site that I’d lost subscribers to. Within a few hours of getting a new blog post up and some tweets, I’d made a new sale. Definitely shows me that I’m moving in the right direction and YES I am working in the wrong direction by cramming clients in.

As September came around I’d replaced the subscribers to the site that I lost originally. Further justifying and implanting in my head that I have to keep moving forward. Last week I had two new subscribers in one day because I’m continually doing a little every day. I’m excited about this and this excitement will continue to push me.

I’ve brainstormed some killer new menu guides and have one of them mapped out with recipes even. Writing up sales page info as I went because my friend Lauren was helping to feed this idea.

I’m only working with one client and I’m happy to work with her. It’s been fun to work for and with her on her journey as a work at home mom as well. I’ve taken a couple of project based clients here and there and I like the addition of that option. I’m not at a point that I can commit to another retainer client and I’m not sure if that is even the direction I want to go.

Focusing on just a couple of sites is my key right now. I’m working hard to get here and post at least twice a week, then once a week cooking gets attention with marketing somehow, and mom chats is getting a lot of brainstorming and the usual blog posting which I’m happy to say we’ve been keeping ahead on.

I need to focus on the positives I’ve been doing.  I’ve done a pretty good job of getting pre-scheduled ahead for mom chats. I’m definitely getting on the social networks. Umm, haven’t pushed much in biz that way, BUT funny thing is that it’s possibly worked for my benefit right now. I haven’t pushed links in months, now that I am, look how quick I’m getting sales. Coincidence? I don’t think so. K, shooting out one more online work positive…I’ll go with my inbox being down to under 20 in both accounts. I have all my emails sent into two gmail accounts, so this is really huge that both are under 20 and have stayed under 20 for over a week!

It’s a little of both in this case. I’ve been ignoring how much energy a project is taking over everything else. Not in a good way, it’s taking more energy than it’s worth and much more mental energy than I’m getting paid for. It’s time to end that project and pass on future projects in this area. It’s been a detriment to other clients and all of my own projects for over 2 weeks now.  And I take full responsibility for that.

I’ve been too busy because of constantly having this project in the back of my mind. It’s not going smoothly and it didn’t from the start. Trying to force things to work isn’t working. I’m wasting so much energy on emails, working things out in my head even when not working on the project and then trying to decipher communication between parties.

Today I put it in quick perspective. This client is x amount of hours retained a month. I’m spending more than x hours thinking about it a WEEK! I’m making “y” amount of money a month on the retainer, but lost over 1/2 of “y” amount last month from not working on a site of mine like I should be.  That’s just money lost from ONE site I’ve ignored.  Let alone the blog posts that haven’t been getting up and promotion that hasn’t happened for another site that could be leading to lost income.

This is where Kelly’s post really has stuck with me about the working on your own projects and having clients. I’m trying to do too many things. I know why and at first it was necessary. I’ve transitioned to being home and I wanted to replace lost income as fast as possible. Paying bills is a good idea right? lol However, paying bills at all costs is not good over the long run. As I said, I’m now getting into the point where I’m making a little in one direction, but losing some in another. This means evaluating exactly where I need to push my focus back towards and looking at a few things and seeing if they are working or not. OR seeing if I even want them to work. Is this a direction I even want to take?

Having the kids home for the summer meant I had to put my precious time to better use. Getting clients work done is a priority, then figuring out what projects I can work on during a busy week really starts putting it in perspective. If a project isn’t getting the attention when I’m crushed for time, then maybe that project isn’t a big priority to me like I thought it was.

Projects on hold, clients that aren’t a good fit and projects that aren’t really a passion anymore are all mental energy drains. These can lead you to being unproductive and lose motivation. If you find yourself staring at the computer screen, cringing when you see an email pop up, or hiding offline it’s time to take a look at your business and see what is going on. Chances are something is taking up more time than it’s worth.

Some common physical symptoms include aches and pains, diarrhea or constipation, nausea and/or dizziness, chest pain, rapid heartbeat, loss of libido, and frequent colds. Emotional symptoms may include moodiness, irritability or short temper, agitation or inability to relax, feeling overwhelmed, a sense of loneliness and isolation, and depression or general unhappiness.

When feeling overwhelmed by stress, it’s important to try to identify specific stressors and to examine how you cope with them. You can then work to avoid, alter, adapt to, or accept the stressors in your life. You can also pay attention to the fact that they are brought on by a specific stressor or a general symptom.

* To avoid unnecessary stress, learn how to say no. Know your limits and stick to them, in both your professional and personal lives. Whenever possible, steer clear of people who cause you stress. Take control of your environment – if scary movies make you anxious, for example, don’t watch them. Stay away from hot-button topics like religion or politics if they make you upset or cause conflict. And finally, pare down your to-do list. Separate the “shoulds” from the “musts” and drop anything that is not truly essential.

* To alter stressful situations you can’t avoid, express your feelings rather than bottling them up. If something is bothering you, convey your concerns openly but respectfully. At the same time, remain open to compromise. When you ask someone to change their behavior, be willing to do the same so that you can find a happy middle ground.

In addition, be assertive and deal with problems head on, doing your best to anticipate and prevent them. And finally, manage your time better. Don’t stretch yourself too thin and end up running behind.

* If you can’t avoid or alter the stressor, you can adapt to it. Learn to view stressful situations from a positive perspective. You can reframe a traffic jam, for example, as an opportunity for some reflection time. Also, look at the big picture of a stressful situation. Ask yourself how important the stressor will be in the long run and whether it’s really worth getting upset over. If not, refocus somewhere else.

Adjust your standards as well. Don’t set yourself up for failure by demanding perfection from yourself and others. Focus on the positive by thinking about all of the blessings in your life, including your positive qualities and gifts.

* A fourth way to deal with stress is to accept the stress you cannot change. Don’t try to control the uncontrollable – a category that encompasses many aspects of our lives, including other people’s behavior. Focus instead on things you can control, such as your reactions to problems.

Again, look for the upside when facing major challenges and try to see them as opportunities for growth. When the stress gets to be too much, confide in someone you trust. Expressing your feelings can be cathartic, even when you’re powerless to change a situation.

* Last but not least, learn to forgive – yourself as well as others. Accept the fact that we live in an imperfect world, and people make mistakes. Let go of anger and resentments and move on.

Remember that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so take time to relax and have fun when you detect symptoms of stress in your life. Set aside to time to rest, spend time with positive people, and do something you enjoy every day. Your family is there to enjoy. And most of all, keep your sense of humor – including your ability to laugh at yourself.

Take a look at your income so far for the month or a past month.  What is the thing that is making you the most income?  Write it down at the top of  a computer document or notebook paper.

Write down 5 ways you promote this product or service that work the best.  Now go and quickly do those 5 things.  Put this at the top of your list for the day.  These are proven things to earn you money and if they are working then you should be pushing them.

Next brainstorm 3 news ways you can promote your product or service.  Try and get them to be quick ideas if you have a big to-do list already that needs to be completed.  A few examples of quick things would be:

1.  Hit your twitter account with a link to a blog post or just a quick tweet and affiliate link or sales page link.

2.  Use your facebook account. Add a status update to promote this product or service.

3.  Add a blog post, it doesn’t have to be a long post.

4.  Add a link to your sidebar.

5.  Swap links with a friends site.

6.  Swap guest posts with a friends site to promote each others products.

Don’t neglect those things that are already making money as you look for more avenues.  If something is working then you need to jump on it and see how far you can push the income towards your goals.

It was shocking and horrible to get up late this morning (6/28, yes that was a bit ago now) and find out that Denise Willms had passed away suddenly on Sunday.  Devastating for a few reasons.  The unexpectedness for one thing.  She’d just celebrated her birthday on Friday turning barely older than I.  Our kids are of a similar age.  I can remember when she was a complete newbie and took over WAHM-articles from my good friend. It’s been awesome to watch what she’s done over the years with it.

Being the same age and being so young this is hitting home for me. I can take a look at my life right now and like the direction I’m going with both family, friends and work. No, I’m not making the money I would like to, but that’s not what people will remember about me anyway I hope. My hope is that I’ve left everyone, especially my family, with many moments that they can start with…”Do you remember when…?” I want to be home to leave those moments, not away working so many hours that I miss out on the moments.

If you would like to leave your condolences a memorial page has been set up. I know Denise touched a lot of people’s lives and many will miss her.

I felt it hard because I am not where I want to be. With my family and friends, yes, but in biz…NO. I felt it extra hard because I have more than I want on my plate and more than I want associated with me if something did happen. Telling isn’t it? Drop the crap woman!

Denise will continue to touch my life. It’s unbelievable to me that she won’t hit me on twitter at any moment. I’m wondering if it’s even worse for online relationships to move onward than the offline? I’m not comparing how much more she touched those in her life she had daily interaction physically with, but I am wonder because I didn’t have the daily. So here I just keep waiting for that quick blurb from her It’s difficult to believe it will never happen and my heart goes out to her family. She will be missed and I will put her memory to great use. I will keep my priorities in check and keep enjoying every second with my family that I am given

Whether getting home from work, running the kids to activities or getting to our own evening meetings, dinner can sure get in the way. It’s not easy to find a schedule on some nights that is perfect for everyone to eat, let alone a time to cook that meal.

I do enjoy cooking, it’s just that being such a busy mom I don’t have the time most nights or I’m too tired to enjoy it. Menu planning and once a week cooking have changed this.

Each week I take a few hours. I head to the grocery store with my pre-written shopping list and then get cooking my main dishes. I can enjoy cooking again and have found I love it even more. It feels great to have all the dinners cooked up and ready to go for later use.

I always toss a couple of the meals in the freezer for the end of the week. This way there’s a quick answer to, “What’s for dinner?” I keep the week’s meal list on the fridge and cross them off as we eat them. It also helps to let one kid pick which meal will be next. Less arguments about eating said meal.

Plan for the week and spend less time in the kitchen!