It’s been far too long since I posted my last blog. That’s largely for the positive reason of being busy, but there is an irony that I’m overdue on my own blog because of making sure clients’ blogs get posted on time. “Do as I say, not as I do” certainly applies here.
We all know how important it is to set priorities, of course, but I wonder if priorities should always be put first. Or, if that’s too much of a contradiction, perhaps whether the obvious priorities are always the ones to concentrate on.
Most of us recognise the need to look after ourselves. Of course I need to work hard to make a living and to build up my business, but that won’t do me any good if my health breaks down, or if I’m not able to enjoy what I’ve built up. It’s vital to incorporate time for myself into my schedule.
But there’s also the health of my business to consider. Getting work done for clients is vitally important, of course, but so are all the other tasks involved. Failure to keep track of cashflow, send out invoices and chase up the (rare) invoices that haven’t been paid could threaten my solvency, however much work I’m doing. Failure to put myself about in networking and social media would mean that when, as if inevitable, some of my ongoing business dries up, there’ll be nothing to replace it. And failure to keep up my blog and newsletters won’t give out the right message about me.
It’s also important to take time out to plan, otherwise I’m drifting at the mercy of the currents. While a fair amount of my work needs to be reactive, depending on who wants what done, I need to chart a course, as far as possible.
As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs and newsletters, one of my plans is to offer training courses giving tips on writing effectively. In a sense, I’ve been preparing for this by offering my “How to Write Right” 4Sight, most recently at Olney and Hertford 4Networking groups. I need to take the first definite steps, though, which involve sending out a survey on what people are looking for — a long job, not so much in terms of creating the survey as getting my mailing list onto Survey Monkey.
It needs to be done, though, and my “new week’s resolution” is that the survey will be out by the end of the week.
And my next blog will be posted a lot sooner than this one.