I had a long conversation with a friend of mine last night about whether or not you can have the best of both worlds.  Is there a point in your life where you have to sacrifice family to build a powerful business?  My friend, an incredibly gifted, savvy woman who is building an Internet empire, told me her husband and children have been complaining that she spends too much time working and not enough with them.  She was pretty firm in her belief that this sacrifice was important and necessary.

I do agree with her in part, however, I believe my friend can set up certain systems in her business that will keep her focused on the project at hand rather than fall to the distractions of email and instant messaging.  This will free up more time for her to spend with her family and still help her build her business.  So free for you, here are Kathy T.’s top tips to stay focused:

1.  Once a year, identify what your business goals are and what it’ll take to get them done. For example, if you have a list of 100 potential clients (friends, family, acquaintances) to keep in touch with and you want to reach them monthly, you’ll need to plan on 25 per week.  You may want to make 15 phone calls and send 10 notecards every week. Write down that goal!

2.  Divide these annual goals into what you have to do every month to meet your objectives.

3.  Take an hour every Monday morning to plan out your week in detail, with your monthly and yearly goals in mind.  Write down your daily schedule.

• Schedule when you’re going to make your calls and send your cards.
• If email is a huge distraction and you’re not waiting for anything specific, schedule the time you check it (and don’t be ashamed to tell people you check email at 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.).  This may not work for Realtors because our business is driven by timely response to inquiries.
• If instant messaging is a distraction, again schedule what time of day that your IM will be turned on. Those Chatty Cathy’s (not me!) can drain you of your momentum.
• If you send unsolicited market analyses to potential sellers, figure out what day of the week you’ll be sending them.  Have your cover letter ready so that you can easily plug in the name (leave space to personalize!), then attach with the letter.  This works for various careers…plan your writing time, research time, driving time, etc.
• Check it off your list when you finish a task.

4.  Here’s the best part… when you have everything done (and you’ve double checked your monthly schedule to see that you’re on track), you can stop for the day.  Don’t try to work ahead.  You’ll have time for that work tomorrow.  Stop and enjoy your family.

All this being said, I acknowledge that sometimes life does get in the way of a schedule.  There will be times when your child may need some TLC or a client has to have something done immediately.  It is okay to veer away from your schedule when necessary.  But once the problem is solved or your child is happy again, refocus on that job at hand.  Good luck!