How to coexist with kids during summer break

“People who violate your boundaries are thieves. They steal time that doesn’t belong to them.”

― Elizabeth Grace Saunders

This summer, my SO and I decided to try something different: instead of shipping our son off to child care for the normal 2-3 days per week, we decided to keep him home and juggle him between both of our businesses.  We're both self-employed and have flexible schedules, so we figured that would be a piece of cake...and so far, so good.

This isn't a new concept - there are a TON of work-from-home parents who juggle their career with their kids' lives, and come out on the other end just fine.

I don't want you and your experience, be it just summer or be it year-round, to be "just fine."  I want to give you a few pointers, so that you can work efficiently and effectively and give your kids all of the mom or dad time they need.  It's true - you CAN coexist with your kids and have a successful career.

http://andreaalicia.net/working-from-home-is-not-for-me/

Here are my 8 tips for coexisting with your kids as a work-from-home parent:

1)  Understand that you may have fewer unproductive hours

Depending on the age of your child(ren), you may have to adjust your expectation of work that you can get done at home.  You may enjoy having more access to them and may want to work less.  You may have more interruptions, or may have to play referee too often.  Maybe you just don't have a lock, or a door to close at all.  Accepting that you might have to change your productivity for a couple months may keep you from unnecessarily blowing your top.

2) Adjust your schedule - and stick to it

For some of us, having fewer productive hours just won't cut it.  If that's the case, then you need to find time to work.  For example, I wake up at 5am.  My son doesn't wake up until 8am.  By adjusting my schedule in the morning, I found three uninterrupted hours to get work done (and that's more than most employees in an office)!  When my son wake up, we spend a solid hour and a half together before I have him do solo activities.  For the rest of the day, we block out "me" time and "us" time. If it's a "me" time and he wants my attention, we've worked out a note-writing system.  I don't feel interrupted, and he can communicate.  Win-win.

3) Use Parkinson's Law to your advantage

If you only have a half hour block of time, try to fit more than thirty minutes worth of work into it.  Sounds crazy, but it works.  You'll figure out how to work efficiently when you have less time than you need.  It's almost like cramming in college, but it is actually effective.

4) Plan your meals and make it easy on yourself

This is a topic that will come up again, but here's a pro tip: plan your meals.  Shop for those meals.  Prep your ingredients when you get home from the market (separate and process your meat and vegetables).  Develop an arsenal of crock-pot meals.  Freeze leftovers.  Try not to deviate from your plan unless it's a special occasion.  Another quick tip: keep a basket of snacks in a low cabinet and one in the fridge - allow the kids to pick their own snack when it's time for one.

5) Let them watch a movie or play a video game - and DON'T feel guilty

Here's a fact: as much as you love your kids and as much as they love you, they don't want to be around you 100% of the time.  I'm not saying you should let the TV babysit your kids while you work, but once in a while, when you need to get something done, it's allowed.  You shouldn't feel guilty that they are doing something they enjoy - and chances are you'll get another hour of uninterrupted time.

6) Schedule time for just the kids

I touched upon this on #2, but this is key: if you expect them to let you work, then make time for them.  Schedule it.  Stick to it.  We eat meals (no electronics welcome) together, do chores together, exercise together, and spend at least an hour outside every day.  We build in quality time, so that our separate time together doesn't feel as isolating.

7) Call in the reinforcements when you need to

Once in a while, especially when I know I have to have an in-person meeting, I call a babysitter.  If I'm working on a big project and need to devote a bigger block of time to it, I'll call them as well.  Without guilt.  It doesn't make you less of a parent to allow someone else to handle child care duties.  It's not cheating.  It's just business.

8) Give yourself a break

You're going to have a bad day.  You're going to get frustrated.  The kids are going to get frustrated.  You're going to need to recharge, so make sure that you spend quality time by yourself, with your SO, and with friends.  It can be fun and worthwhile to spend two solid summer months working-from-home with kids, but take time away from them too.

What are your favorite tips for working-from-home with kids?  What hasn't worked?

Nicole
The Restless Entrepreneur

Breaking up with social media

“Moving on is easy. It's staying moved on that's trickier.”
― Katerina Stoykova Klemer

Today, I decided to break up with social media.

Wait, that doesn't make sense.  I thrive on social media; I teach others about social media; I grow my business and others' businesses with social media.

But I need a break.  I need a break from cheap, meaningless connections.  I need a break from sub-par content and dialogue.  I need a break from mediocrity.

http://www.elsaelsa.com/astrology/2012/05/22/what-if-someone-breaks-up-with-you/

How often do you audit your connections?   

Do you scour through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or any other social media sites and remove contacts that aren't worth your time?  Do you make mental notes about where your connections are on your radar?

Why not?

So the truth is, I'm not breaking up completely with social media; I'm breaking up with how I use it.  Fact:  I'm typically not a "friend" or "follow" collector.  Take Facebook for instance: today I decided it was time to clean through my friends.  I don't use Facebook for business often, so it's just my social circle, and it needed to be cleaned out.  I was at my highest amount ever, 308, and judiciously and without regret eliminated 127 people.  Not because I didn't think they were good people; not because they did something wrong; not even because they don't post funny things sometimes.  No, my reasoning was simple and precise - short of family members, I deleted people who didn't enrich my life.  I kept people who I would call if they were absent, or at the very least email by normal email.  I kept people who I interacted with.  People whose stories and pictures were meaningful.  People who I would miss if they no longer posted.

So how does this translate to business?  

If you're a Twitterer, what are you getting out of your news feed?  Are you clicking the links excitedly because you love the content you're receiving?  Or do you just follow everyone who follows you?  Are you bored with your content?  Are you tuned out?

The same goes for LinkedIn, Pinterest, and the others, as well as newsletters.  It's important to look at how you distribute your content: B2C through newsletters, Facebook, Twitter, Vine, Pinterest, or Instagram, YouTube; or B2B through newsletters, LinkedIn, Twitter, Vine, Pinterest., or YouTube, but it's also important to look at how you receive feedback and content relevant to you and your business.  If you're digging through hundreds of nonsensical posts hoping for that one golden piece of information that will push your business forward, then you're doing it wrong.

Take 5 minutes a couple times a week and weed out that bad information!  Unsubscribe to unnecessary newsletters; unfollow people on Twitter; break a broken connection on LinkedIn, and unfriend people who don't enrich your life on Facebook.  De-clutter your information pipeline, and you'll see that viable leads and information are all that's left.  And then, all that's left is the follow up and close.

How often do you weed through your social media and newsletters?

Nicole  
The Restless Entrepreneur

P.S. Learn more about making LinkedIn work for you in "Become a LinkedIn All-Star," a Google Hangout on July 28th!

What is your purpose in business

“Your purpose in life is to find your purpose and give your whole heart and soul to it”
― Gautama Buddha

You want to start a business.  You're working through your first draft of your business plan, when you're suddenly stumped: 

What is my mission statement?

What should you do?  You haven't given this much thought.  What do you want people to know about your business?  

What is your purpose?

http://www.stjamessantee.org/our-mission-partners.html

A mission statement should include your goals.  Your mission statement can, and should, be an elevator pitch for your company, or at the very least, the start of one.  Your mission statement should capture attention and make a person want to know more.  So how do you get that into a succinct phrase or paragraph?

Whenever I'm tasked with helping a company create their mission statement, I always look for inspiration.  I work to weave in a story of where the company started and where it's going.  I try different ideas out loud alone, and then in front of my closest and most beloved critics.  I come up with idea after idea, carefully crafting it piece by piece.  And more often, I look to the great mission statements and see what works, and to the worst to see what doesn't.

Let's look at Starbucks:

 "Our mission: to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time."  Do they hit their mark?  As a quick mission statement - kind of.  They give you the feeling of comfort and community, and I get that from their company.  Thankfully, they have an extended mission statement on their site that goes into the important parts that their original statement is lacking.  They let us know about the products, the service, the clients, the employees, their overall vision, and what they do for their shareholders.  Overall, their albeit short quip is fulfilling.  It makes me want to know more.  It makes me want to partake in their culture.

Let's try another, General Motors.  

"G.M. is a multinational corporation engaged in socially responsible operations, worldwide. It is dedicated to provide products and services of such quality that our customers will receive superior value while our employees and business partners will share in our success and our stock-holders will receive a sustained superior return on their investment."  As a mission statement, it fits in alignment with what should be there: products, quality, customers, employees, shareholders.  Everything is summed up quickly and informatively.  Does it invoke emotion?  Aside from their current issues, yes.  I want to know what "superior value" their quality products offer.  Personally, as an aside, I hope that they are able to overcome their current trials so that they can maintain this mission without fear of it being seen as tongue-in-cheek.

Inc Magazines "The 9 Worst Mission Statements of All Time" has a wonderful list of the bottom of the barrel mission statements, my favorite (or least favorite) being McDonald's "McDonald's brand mission is to be our customers' favorite place and way to eat and drink. Our worldwide operations are aligned around a global strategy called the Plan to Win, which center on an exceptional customer experience – People, Products, Place, Price and Promotion. We are committed to continuously improving our operations and enhancing our customers' experience."  Yes, they meet some of the qualifications for a good mission statement, but instead of being forward-thinking, they're fluffy.  Full of air.  It does not make me want to learn more; in fact, their "global strategy" sounds a bit lame and cheesy.

So what's the takeaway?  

First, don't just throw your first idea on your business plan and call it good.  Your mission statement needs to say something; something about the company, where it's going, what it's offering and to whom, how it's offering those services or product, and what you're offering your community.  Just remember: who, what, when, where, why, and how.  Second, involve people in on the planning of the mission statement.  Work out a few ideas, say them out loud, see if you can spin an elevator pitch from it.  Work the top risers with a team of people who understand your business.  Shine it up like a new penny.  And third, make sure you're hitting your mark.  You get to pick what journey your mission statement takes people.  Make sure it's a journey worth taking.


Nicole
The Restless Entrepreneur

Team Wil Wheaton

“If you like nerds, raise your hand. If you don't, raise your standards.”
― Violet Haberdasher

In case you've missed it, Wil Wheaton has pretty much become the King of the Nerds (he has his own new show!), and that is a level of awesome most of us will never reach.  Ten years ago, heck, 3 years ago, that would have been a hide under your bed, anxiety-inducing title.  No one wanted to be labelled a "nerd."

Flash forward to 2014, and nerd is the new cool.  Or something.  My point is, we, all nerds collectively, have found our place on the internet and in the world.  Our fear of being who we are, thrown out the window.

http://www.webpronews.com/wil-wheaton-has-advice-for-kids-being-bullied-2014-03

So, since I ask this in every post:

What does this have to do with business?  

Well, for me, it allows me to include a ton more self-deprecating humor in my presentations and writing.  It also made it acceptable for me to talk about my strange hobbies, including entomology, brain dissection, and welding large metal dinosaurs without feeling like I'm going to be harshly judged or branded a weirdo.  My interests, which have been all mine for over 30 years, can now be shared with a wider audience.  And the reception has been amazing.

What does this mean for the rest of us?  

I believe that more innovation can and is happening.  Science fiction has created so many useful products.  Jules Verne's Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea lead to Simon Lake creating the submarine.  Igor Sikorsky took another Verne book, Clipper of the Clouds, and made a helicopter.  H.G. Wells' books lead to many more inventions, and Star Wars was the inspiration for cell phones and others.  Nerds created these.  And nerds, with their new-found platform, will create even more.

What will I do with my nerd platform?  

So far, it has allowed me to take my love of brain dissection and neuroscience, combined with a deep understanding of psychology and mental illness, combined even further for my passion for politics, to help spread news about the NIH's NeuroBioBank to a broader audience.  It helped me realize that my passions were in Public Health so that I could pursue those, as well as my fascination with infectious diseases, into a career path.  I can combine that with my entrepreneurial attitude, and become a consultant on Public Health.  My nerd platform allows me to do what I love, what I'm passionate about, and now instead of bizarre or obscure, it's interesting.

Nerd culture is giving everyone a chance for new conversations.  Bullying, and in turn, anti-bullying campaigns, are driving forward due to nerds like Wil Wheaton.  Carryovers from past cult classics can co-mingle with modern day pop culture, getting people interested in things like role playing games and steampunk.  Shows like The Big Bang Theory show how adults can be almost child-like with excitement about things, causing them to geek-out.  Dragons and comic books are mainstream, and even my least nerdy friend has seen every Marvel movie to date.

Take this opportunity to innovate.  Take this moment in time to delve into your deepest, darkest nerdisms and pull something creative and inspired out.  Collaborate with your people on the next big thing.  There are few wrongs that can come from this time of freedom.  

Thank you, Wil Wheaton.

Nicole
The Restless Entrepreneur

Editing your content to death

“Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.”
― Stephen King

How many steps does it take from pen to paper to publication?  

One?  A few?  Too many?

I have a confession.  

I edit my content...to death.  I pre-write, then I write, then I edit, then I edit again, and again, then I pass it off to someone else, then I edit again and then, maybe, it's done.  This whole process happens in normally a day, two tops.  Or, at least I used to.  Then I got smart.

http://janefriedman.com/2013/05/31/find-freelance-book-editor/

I heard some great advice in a podcast (The Solopreneur Hour #117) that if you want to be a better public speaker, you should study comedians.  While I use this methodology for speaking, it also transfers well to writing.  One lesson has really stuck lately - your first draft sucks. Tweak it over time. Then, when you've dispersed it enough, throw it out and develop new content. It's helped me to stop my edit-to-death step that comes after creation - instead, I'm letting it develop and editing it a little at a time as it goes.  

While I'm not altogether giving up on editing, I'm taking it more as a long process instead of a hack job.  I pre-write a few bullet points.  Then, I write, whether it be an article, a blog post, content for a marketing piece, or a presentation, and then I let it sit.  I'll browse over it and tweak obvious errors.  I'll pass it along for feedback, then respond to the feedback.  I'll let it sit a bit longer.  I'll look for ways to enhance the piece, and if I can't, I stop trying.  I'll throw it out to the public and let them comment.  And then, if I feel that the message is good, I leave it along.  I write my blog posts a couple weeks ahead so that I have time enough to fix what needs to be fixed, but I no longer fixate on fixing everything...to death.

I realized that writing is not a sprint to the finish, it's a marathon.  

You have to pace yourself.  You have to prepare for the long haul.  If you're spitting out perfect content in the first go, well, you're amazing.  But realistically, your first piece needs work.  Sometimes a lot of it.  Most of the time, though, it doesn't need to be red-penned to death.  Most of the time, it just needs time.

Do you pick your pieces down to the bare bones, or do you fluff it up? 

 I try to land somewhere in the middle.  Content matters, but how it is delivered is obviously important.  No one is going to be interested in a story or presentation that is just bullet point information with no depth; but on the same token, readers and listeners don't want to be walked through every single thought, emotion, or action that you, the writer or presenter, has.  Get to the point in a meaningful way.

How do you determine when your piece is finished?

Nicole
The Restless Entrepreneur

The Zombie Apocalypse and lessons in failure

“Sometimes you have to do something ugly so that something beautiful can grow.”
― Cedric Nye

Bear with me today, I'm taking a huge leap to make a few big points.

First of all, I'm not big into the whole idea of this zombie apocalypse phase.  I'm not a doomsday prepper,  I'm not a soothsayer.  I'm not Will Smith or Woody Harrelson.  I'm a business owner who understands preparing for when things go south.  The truth is, my business anti-fail plan is more thorough than my SHTF plan.  But I have a feeling that we can learn a thing or two from the other side.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj31GHBl2wVfqKmXywVBHYWp82Nvw57zK_gcKbdnYnsrv-iHTziGoQP1iWMuR8VdR8uN5GOAVr-_uYdEgMtzJEr-6CQ0wGWjSVVDChtNAUX5lMjMgg_ZW4Kl0uqBTEPyjN27W_B8utQVZL2/s1600/tumblr_m4rs9asC2Q1rux18io1_r2_500.jpg

Let's start with some established rules of zombie survival (according to Zombieland) and swing them into business.  

Rule #1 : Cardio.  

Why is good cardiovascular health important in business?  Well that's obvious.  We've all read dozens of articles about the hazards of sitting too long at work.  So let's take this a little further - how does this impact your anti-failure plan?  Did you know that one of the contributing factors to burn-out is poor health?  Including a fitness plan and good diet are key to your survival in business so that you can keep on keepin' on.

Rule #2: The Double Tap.  

This idea can incorporate into business on so many levels.  First, the double tap may relate to editing your documents.  You write; then you edit.  Double tap.  Second, it may mean closing a deal.  You make the initial contact; then you ask for the sell.  Double tap.  And in our anti-failure plan, third, learn everything,  Get a mentor; then go to a seminar.  Double tap.

Rule #10: Don't Swing Low.  

When you're working on building a business, the last thing you want to do is swing low.  I'm not talking about taking things low and slow, I'm talking about your expectations.  One reason entrepreneurs succeed is because we just don't give up.  We swing high and swing for the fences every single at bat.  Yes, some ideas take time to develop, and some ideas just don't pan out, but our success isn't because our first business worked; it's because or third or fifth or twentieth idea stuck.  Tenacity is the key.

The last rule of the zombie apocalypse that we need to remember in business is:

Rule #22: When In Doubt, Know Your Way Out.  

This is highly contradictory; some entrepreneurs believe that if you have an out plan, that you're not 100% invested in your business.  I disagree; knowing where that line of failure is can be key.  If you know when your idea is failing and you pull the plug, you can save reputation, especially with investors.  Driving a train on an incomplete track will lead to failure.  Have an out plan; know what failure means; push that line if you have to, but stop if it's broken.  Failure doesn't mean failure; it means that you need to rework your thinking and planning for the next big idea.

Obviously, I cannot cover enough advice about failure plans in a blog post; especially because I was amazed at how many other of Zombieland's rules fit in business: #8 Get a Kick-Ass Partner, #16 Opportunity Knocks, #19 Break It Up, #20 It's a Marathon, Not a Sprint, Unless it's a Sprint, Then Sprint, #21 Avoid Strip Clubs, #29 The Buddy System, #32 Enjoy the Little Things, and lastly #33 Swiss Army Knife.  Maybe someday I'll cover more rules of the zombie apocalypse in business, or you can leave your Zombieland survival rule in the comments!  Take time to develop your own zombie apocalypse plan anti-fail plan for business, and let me know if you find some creative rules to follow.

Nicole
The Restless Entrepreneur

I refuse to do what I love most

“I read recipes the same way I read science fiction. I get to the end and say to myself "well, that's not going to happen”
― Rita Rudner

I'm huge on telling people to do what they love as their career.  I'm constantly coaching and trying to find opportunities for people to follow their dreams.  I advise jaded workers to find a passion project that they can put time toward, because it will bring them a balanced happiness and can transfer positivity and opportunity into their every-day career.  

But here's a secret: I do not do what I love most as a career.

Am I a hypocrite?  

Or am I on to something?

My second year living away from home while attending college, I received a phone call from my mom.  She told me that I should just move home and she'd help me start a catering company.  There you have it: I LOVE to cook.  I quickly shot that idea down and kept working toward my degree, which at that point was probably pre-law, or entomology, or communications.  The truth was, I wasn't interested in giving up my future as a lawyer who wrote press releases about her newest insect discovery, or whatever I was working to be.  I didn't know what I wanted to be, but I knew what I didn't want to be.

http://www.fastcompany.com/1751577/redesigning-food-trucks

Catering might have been a good fit for me as a career.  I've "catered" many a dinner party, large event, and even wedding for family and friends.  But to cook for strangers, to have to take classes on the proper use of the proper utensil and how to properly julienne and chop and dice... that didn't interest me.  I don't follow recipes, so most things I make aren't able to be reproduced.  My understanding of cooking comes from an innate understanding of portions and proportions.  I know what ratios to make whatever bread or pasta or soup or anything.  But as a career?  It didn't work in my mind, unless I could operate a food truck.  And then only maybe.

I enjoy cooking.  I make, mostly from scratch, about 10 meals a week.  I don't buy pre-packaged foods; I buy produce and meat and staple items and combine them to make whatever I want.  I get inspiration from cookbooks, but use the recipe as a guideline, barely.  I recreate foods I have in restaurants.  I make most of my creations by looking at a picture of pleasant-looking food and guessing. 

That is not how you operate a business.

I have a feeling that being a chef or caterer or anything relating to food would make me hate cooking.  I spent time as a teen working in fast food, and helped open a restaurant early in my career, but to actually devote my life's work to cooking just feels wrong.  It feels suffocating.  It feels uninspired.  I flirt with the line between cooking being a passion and work with one of my developing companies, but it's less cooking and more recipe development.  That's not cooking to me.

I do what I love every day.  I help businesses succeed.  I teach people how to operate their business and turn their dreams into profit.  And in doing that, I achieve my dreams and have success.  

I save my top passion for me. 

 I keep cooking as what I do for my family, or for my creativity, or for my relaxation.  And everyone should have something that they do, aside from work, that is just for that purpose.

So no, I'm not a hypocrite.  I truly believe that each of us need something that we love more than our job.  Something different from our families and relationships.  Something that is just ours.  And sure, we can share it with others, but they don't have to like it.  They won't always.   And that's okay, because it's just for you.

Nicole
The Restless Entrepreneur