How to Stay Organized: A Guide for Busy Entrepreneurs

We have been running our business, Images in Bloom Studio LLC, for 16 years now and there is one thing that is very real. Even the best organization sometimes spins out of control, and seems to fall apart. Over the years i have developed a strategy to keep everything going well, organized and a resource to keep life in order.

If I can speak frankly there are seasons where every detail is well organzied, fine tuned, and completely is a zen like orchestrated ballet.  And then there are times when everything spins out of control, or at least feels like that.

Reading through the web it is clear that this struggle is one common to everyone.  Finding the balance of work, business, recreation, family, faith and all of the sudden and unexpected demands is rewarding and challenging.   Are you relating to this?  Do you struggle to find the place for every area of life, striving for  a sense of equilibrium that does not kill you in the process?  Here are a few tips i found on the web which might help with the process:

1. Buy a daily planner, and input all of those “events and tasks” on the calendar.  Some experts recommend developing a habit of spending at least 15 minutes every day reviewing the demands of the day, prioritizing them, and working at your list throughout the day. (Yes, dont laugh at me but I am a list maker – when its written down there is a plan for what to accomplish. And there is something quite satisfying about checking off the boxes, crossing off the tasks. I dont have a suggestion of a preference for a planner – over the years I have tried a number of different brands – but the last one I bought was an inexpensive one I picked up at an office max.
2. Sit down for a  small block of time to look at your month ahead and prioritizing what is expected of you.  Advanced planning helps to structure the time more efficiently, acting as a guide for keeping you on point for the expectations.  – in our case we also are working on developing a production schedule so that we can know when to push on the energy to prepare for market demands. Taking that time allows us to also make sure that we have the adequate amount of supplies on hand.
3. Realistically build in some down time in your life.  If you don’t schedule it, it often does not happen.  One of the influencers in my life, Jeff Goins, advocates planned absences from your entrepreneurial work just to allow your creative talents a respite.  We all need time away from work, even if it is the passion of our life. If I can be honest sometimes its nice to just take a nap, and recharge my batteries.
4. Quarterly assessment – nothing laborious… just take time to review the last quarter and ask a few hard questions:
   • What worked well?  Why do you think it worked well?
   • What derailed you from your schedule, plan, organization?
   • Are there ways of controlling distractions?
   • How can improvement of time management occur?
5. Yearly review – Just like the quarterly review, ask questions of the year, and allow some of these answers influence planning for the coming year.
6. Have a business plan – When we first started our business an old friend encouraged us to write down the goal and objectives we want to accomplish. While developing the plan we asked a lot of questions and determined what products we would create (and what we would not), and set parameters of how we would do business. For us this plan came in handy because over the years countless people wanted to pull us in different directions. We took a deep breath and reviewed the plan for clarity. It was most helpful to keep us on task and the business moving forward as we planned.

How can you keep yourself on task?  Work hard at keeping to the calendar. keeping good account of the activities and demands, and putting time into prioritizing your life.  Be sure to leave room for down time to renew and prepare you for the next thing and always keep .

Yes, the struggle is real, but having good tools and good habits will take the wind out of your stress, give you a clear path forward and some organization to your time.