If you’re anything like me, you’ve got a huge collection of MP3s, audio books and podcasts loaded on your MP3 player just waiting to be heard. The challenge I’m having is finding the time listening to everything on my iPod — including programs and audio books I’ve paid good money for!

I usually bring my iPod with me when playing outside with the kids. But, Zach, who’s almost 4 year old, is increasingly demanding my constant listening attention for his numerous observations and many more questions (the other day he asked “Mommy, how do we get hiccups?”).

So I’m either:

1. nodding my head while not really hearing what my kids are saying (how do they KNOW when you’re not really listening??) or
2. constantly pausing my iPod to hear or comment on what they’re trying to say.

And now, Jasmine (who’s 10 months old… can you believe it?) has a new hobby — yanking the ear buds out of my ears.

So the whole multi-tasking-while-caring-for-the-kid-thing is not working so well anymore.

Then I tried listening to my iPod as I made supper. In theory, this is an awesome idea. Not so much in practice — not for me, anyways.

First, I’m a butter finger and a grease magnet — NOT a good combination in the kitchen. No matter what I’m making, if it’s gonna splash, you know it’s going to splash on me. That being said, I don’t want to accidentally drop my iPod in boiling water or in my tuna casserole.

Second, when I make supper, it’s usually during the worst part of the day — you know the witching hour? Yeah, we get that at our house. Jasmine is literally at my ankles begging to be picked up and the other 2 are either getting into things they shouldn’t or quarreling. So having my iPod plugged in my ears, while giving me a much-needed break from the chaos, is not a good idea.

What’s a busy Mom by day & moonlighting coach to do?

Enter Livespeakr! It’s an ultra portable sound system for your iPod or iPhone. I LOVE it!!! The sound quality is AWESOME, the battery lasts up to 16 hours and I can listen to it while it’s recharging. (Here’s my Livespeakr in the kitchen).

While I don’t bring my Livespeakr outdoors, I play it in the house (usually in the kitchen) while taking care of the kids — giving less of an impression I’m ignoring them.

I have a few kids books on my iPod, so during breakfast, I’ll place it on the kitchen table with one of their stories while I clean up or feed Jasmine. Ditto for snack or drawing time (like Zach’s doing in this picture during his sisters’ nap time today).

While the kids are playing nicely (yes, it happens from time to time!), I’ll go in the kitchen and continue listening to one of my audio books.

This weekend, I carried it from room to room while housecleaning. Hubby took the kids outside, so I had peace and quiet to (finally) listen to my Enneagram podcasts AND clean at the same time. Talk about multi tasking!!

Last weekend, I placed my Livespeakr next to my printer (see the picture below) and listened to Brain Audit 3.2 while organizing my office. It was great not having my bulky iPod in my pocket or getting tangled up in my ear bud cord!

Those are some of the ways I’m using it.

I interviewed inventor/co-founder, Erik Groset two weeks ago, and he shared some other VERY COOL ways busy entrepreneurs are using Livespeakr to increase their productivity (and boost their coolness factor). But I’ll save that for another post! (Stay tuned to find out how you can snag one in an upcoming contest).

In the meantime, check out the Livespeakr site for all the dirt on this hip product from a hip company. Get one for yourself while you’re there. At only $85, it’s a great gift idea for your favorite client!

The starting point of great success and achievement has always been the same. It is for you to dream big dreams. There is nothing more important, and nothing that works faster than for you to cast off your own limitations than for you to begin dreaming and fantasizing about the wonderful things that you can become, have, and do. — Brian Tracy

Reprinted with permission from C.J. Hayden’s Get Clients Now! Answer Center

Year-End Review

To set yourself up right for the new year, it’s time to celebrate your successes, acknowledge your failures, and assess where you are right now. Follow the steps below to wrap up 2008 and move into 2009 with a clear vision.

1. Make a list celebrating all your successes, breakthroughs, and revelations in 2008.
2. Make another list acknowledging all your failures, disappointments, and breakdowns for the year.
3. Score your current level of satisfaction in each wedge of the Wheel of Life.
4. With the above information in mind, choose three to five areas of your life, career, or business you would most like to make changes in over the next year. For each focus area, provide a simple heading, and a description of your desired result in that area. In describing your desired result, use the present tense. Example:
   Be more organized
   I have a system to follow up on calls and emails, I know where everything is, I plan ahead to meet deadlines, I eliminate a sense of overwhelm, I set realistic goals for myself.
5. For each of your three to five focus areas, design one goal, project, or commitment that will anchor your desired changes to a specific course of action.
   Goals are exciting and motivating all by themselves. They are targets that draw you and inspire you. State what you want, and by when, in specific terms. Examples:
   I will have 10 new clients by March 31.
   I will book a vacation in Hawaii by May 1.
   Projects are a means to an end. They may not be exciting, but need to be done to accomplish an end result that is important to you. Examples:
   I will file and pay my taxes on time, by April 15.
   I will clear the top of my desk by Feb 1.
   Commitments are activities to perform on a regular basis, in order to make significant changes. Rather than an end date, they have a frequency. Examples:
   I will go to the gym three times per week.
   I will make my marketing calls first thing every day.
6. Throughout 2009, review your goals, projects, and commitments each week to align them with what appears on your calendar. Plan to repeat steps 3-5 at the end of each quarter to reassess where you are and what needs to happen next.

Have a great year!

(Note: Password protection is removed from the Get Clients Now! Answer Center until January 4, 2009. Take advantage of it until then.)

I know blogging experts say you should never write a ‘I know I haven’t written in a while but…’ post, but I’ll make an exception (this is MY blog, after all!)…

Last Monday (Monday of LAST week, that is) I got this nasty virus on my PC… UGH! It was some trojan horse that caused me tons of technical grief. Being the complete technodolt that I am, I didn’t dare log on to my blog (or any other important site) out of fear that someone could, all of a sudden, post stuff without my knowing. Call me paranoid, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.

So, that’s the reason I’ve been quiet lately. I went through online social networking withdrawal, but once I got over myself, I was able to get lots of things down on paper, like Mind Mapping:

• the completion of my Designing A Compelling 30-Second Intro guidebook, and
• two Get Clients Now!(TM) group programs I’m running in January.

Yesterday, my Technical Godsend was finally able to go into my computer and root out the virii (the initial virus downloaded more), so everything looks like it’s back to normal.

That just teaches me to schedule my Monday The Savvy Snippet posts ahead of time… Think I’ll ever learn my lesson? We’ll see!

I hope you’re having an awesome week. Now back to our regularly scheduled program…

There is no try – only do or not do. — Yoda

Today’s post is an article contributed by Alex Fayle, founder of Someday Syndrome. Alex hates the word someday and that’s what makes him an invaluable addition to Anti-Procrastination Month 2008. Thank you, Alex, for writing this article especially for us!

I personally suffer from multiple strains of Someday Syndrome. And you?

Do You Suffer from Someday Syndrome?

by Alex Fayle

Entrepreneurs are go-getters. They’re ready for anything, have it all planned out, and know where everything is – at least in their head if not all neatly labeled and organized.

Does this describe you? Me neither. That’s right, I might be a Professional Organizer, but I also suffer from Someday Syndrome – the emotional, mental and physical clutter that blocks people from achieving their dreams – and almost every entrepreneur I’ve ever met also suffers it.

So what exactly is Someday Syndrome and how do you cure it? Well, let’s take a look.

Someday My Ship Will Come In

Sufferers think that the world will come to them. They are the people who create lots of positive energy but never focus nor act – like the joke about a person who prays to win the lottery every day until one day the sky opens up and God says: “I’m trying, but please buy a ticket first!”

Self-employed people and entrepreneurs suffering from this strain of the Syndrome will open a business with only a vague idea of what they want to do. They wait for the customers to come to them (and are surprised when they don’t).

Other sufferers include those who drag themselves through the day dreading what the world has to offer them but not putting anything into the world themselves. They have no dreams, no ambitions and if you ask them where they see themselves in five years, they say “I dunno.”

To cure this strain, you need to choose what you want, create a plan and act on it.

I’ll Get Around To It Someday

In business, the typical sufferer of this strain is someone who focuses almost exclusively on the business but never in the business. They take courses, make plans, update to-do lists but ask them what they are doing to generate income in the moment and they can’t point to a single action.

Curing this strain requires dedication to your dream – choose to pursue it step by step, action by action on a daily basis.

I Might Need It Someday

Do you own unread books on time management or decluttering? Do you pay bills late because you don’t remember where you put the envelope when it arrived in the mail? Do you have 15 years of bank receipts because someone once said it would be a good idea to keep them? If so then, you’ve fallen to this third variant of the Syndrome.

There really is no cure for this strain. Prevention is the only way to avoid it. Take time regularly (at least semi-annually) to go through your office, drawer by drawer, and ask yourself these two questions:

• Do I realistically need it?
• Do I really love it?

If you can’t say yes then out it goes.

The Common Cure

No matter what type of Someday Syndrome you suffer from to what degree (you may, like me, at different points suffer from all three of them!) there is only one cure: choice. If you remain aware of your surroundings and make active, informed choices about your desires, your actions and your possessions you’ll keep Someday Syndrome at bay.

ABOUT ALEX FAYLE
Alex Fayle is a Writer and Professional Organizer who cures people of Someday Syndrome, which he himself suffered for 25 years. After a year in France, in 2007 he switched to Spain where he lives with his boyfriend and writes full-time. Cure your own case of Someday Syndrome at http://www.somedaysyndrome.com

I just wanted to check in with you and see how Anti-Procrastination Month 2008 is going for you thus far. Any breakthroughs? Epiphanies? ‘AHA’ moments?

I know it’s making a difference in people’s lives. For example, here’s a snippet of an email I received over the weekend:

Your anti-procrastination month and some other stuff has made me realise that I need to simply take more ACTION. Therefore I dug out an old laptop that isn’t connected to the internet and they just sat away from distractions (as much as I could) to get some writing done.

Beating procrastination doesn’t have to be all about ‘the system,’ although admittedly useful to many. Winning the battle to regaining momentum can be as simple as getting “unplugged” from distractions for a while.

If you’re still facing productivity challenges, let me know what they are and I’ll do everything I can to help you come up with a workable solution.

2008 is almost over. It’s time to kick it up a notch, and I’m here with you all the way.

Make today a great one!

Now that we are back to a “normal” routine (hubby’s back at work, kids at daycare) and I’m home with Jasmine trying to work between naps and feedings, I’m finding it difficult to avoid distractions. And there are, oh so many distractions!

The usual suspects are: social media (tweet, tweet), email, internet, baby care and — can you guess??? — blogging.

With the (extended) end-of-month deadline for my Designing a Compelling 30-second Intro v2 guidebook looming over me, I’m feeling the pull of distractions even more. Does this ever happen to you?

Here are 3 ways I use to eliminate (or diminish) distractions:

• Close my speakers. This made a huge difference, because programs, like Outlook, Twhirl, Vision Board, make a sound when updated. If I don’t hear it, I’m not lured into stopping my work to check it out.
• Close all windows on my PC except what I’m working on. For my guidebook, that means keeping only these programs open: MS Word, Notepad and Visual Thesaurus. Everything else gets closed. Out of sight, out of mind.
• Close my PC. This is the most extreme measure, but must be done when I’m in crunch mode. I work much better with pen and paper anyways. I’ll print notes, close my PC, take a notepad and favorite pen, set myself up on the kitchen table and write away. When I’m done I go back to my office and type what I wrote. It may not sound efficient, but I save time by not fooling around on other things.

My latest procrastination-beating tool is Havi Brooks’ Procrastination Dissolve-o-Matic (Havi is my current flavor and I’m stalking following her work closely). She teaches a super quick technique (something you wouldn’t expect) to immediately get you into action. I’ve had her book for a week and it’s worked wonders.

Finally, if I’m really resisting doing whatever it is I need to do (and I don’t feel like doing anything about it), I simply stop pretending to work and try not to beat myself up over my lack of focus and discipline. I’ll get up, play with Jasmine, walk to the store or give in to whatever distraction I’m avoiding. I know I’ll do better next time, so there’s no use white-knuckling it.

What are your culprits? How do you overcome them?

October 2008 marks the second annual Anti-Procrastination Month on The Savvy Entrepreneur.

Now I ain’t an anti-procrastination expert… In fact I’d like to get something out in the open right now — I’m a terrible procrastinator or should I say I’m good at procrastinating? Either way, what I’m trying to say is that I struggle with productivity, procrastination as much as the other guy.

Anti-Procrastination Month is my attempt at boosting productivity and regaining momentum. Along the way, I share with you what I’m learning. How does that sound?

Now that the awful dirty truth is out, in order for Anti-Procrastination Month to be a success this year, I need your help.

I’ve posted the question on LinkedIn Answers and now I’m throwing it to you.

I’m looking for your favorite productivity-boosting/procrastination-beating tips, tasks, ideas, thoughts and suggestions. If I like it, I’ll use it as one of the daily Anti-Procrastination Month posts (with full attribution, of course).

Are you an Anti-Procrastination expert? Would you like to participate at a higher level and get a little more exposure? If so, please c’ontact me. Let me know your desired level of participation and what you want in return. Some ideas are:

• Interview (live, recorded or blog-interview)
• Guest post
• Daily/weekly tips, assignments
• Etc… (suggestions?).

I look forward to reading your comments — and please, no smart ass replies like “I’ll tell you tomorrow” or “I’ll get back to you on that one.” They are highly predictable and it’s old already — I got my (over)dose on LinkedIn.

Until next time, just do it (another popular reply received thus far)!

Summer is over, baby is born, hubby is back to work and kids are in daycare. So there are no more excuses… I’ve been slacking off long enough.

This blog has been sorely neglected, with only a minimum of posts (have you at least been enjoying my weekly Savvy Snippets? Please say yes! ). I’m ready to get back on track.

Helping me this month is Crissy Heron Gipson from IndieBizChicks. Today marks day one of her Back To Blogging 4 week program (it’s free). I received my daily inspiration email and I’ll be posting soon.

Won’t you join me and get back to blogging too?