December 25, 2012

Happy Christmas 2012!

By JaneFrankland | Lifestyle, Mindset | 2 Comments

I am the master of my fate…

Happy Christmas 2012! As I write my first Christmas message to you, all I can think about is just what's happened this year. Wow, what a year it's been. Never in a million years could I have envisaged so much change, growth and lessons learned.

This year I've quit my six figure job in IT, started a new business, built my own website, gathered a following of over 4,000 awesome people, created a networking group, sold my own IT company (well that's one way to put it) and invested in me – through books, online and offline courses – which has made a change from the norm!

It's kind of sad when I read that line – “has made a change from the norm” but it's true. Unfortunately, like so many mums out there, I got used to putting myself last. This year though I learned that I was actually worth something. And once I began to value myself I discovered that I was totally unfulfilled with what I was doing. The creativity I'd suppressed for so long was longing to surface. It was time to be true to myself. You see integrity is one of my core values and what I hadn't realised was that I was being totally dishonest to myself. I didn't feel great about that once I found out, but as an action taker, what did I do? I took action! I resigned from my job at the end of June as it was sucking my soul dry. Urgh!

I then set about tackling fears and expanding comfort zones. I went to work on video. It was a logical move for me as I recognised how important it was for business. It wasn't easy as I used to hyperventilate at the very thought of video. However, I challenged myself to produce a video blog every week just to overcome it. And guess what? I now love video! I then went further and challenged myself to present in front of an audience. This was the ultimate challenge. It was my greatest fear. Anyway, in September I presented to a friendly group of about 50. I was on a high, and on a roll. Moving outside of my comfort zone had become a habit.

Anyway, like I said at the start of this post, it's been an incredible year. Some may say I've been reckless, foolish and lost so much. To me though, all I've done is a bit of pruning. I've cut back the dead wood that was holding me back to make way for the new. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared about this – part of me is petrified especially as I know I still have more to do! But I'm courageous so I'm going for it. What's helping is my new found understanding of faith. I'm not talking about faith in a religious sense, but more so in a spiritual sense. You see, I learnt to believe in me, and in the ‘journey.' For as Napoleon Hill said, “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.”

I'd love to know how you've got on this year. Has it been a hard year for you or an easy one? Has it been a year of change and growth or one of stability and prosperity? Please share your experiences and feedback in the comments below as I’d love to hear. Finally, thank you, as always for reading and contributing here, and for being part of my journey. I feel so fortunate to have met you, and enjoy every engagement.

Finally, MERRY CHRISTMAS and a fortuitous New Year to you! May this day be filled with joy. Enjoy the time spent with your family for they are by far the greatest gift.

With love and gratitude – as always,

November 30, 2012

Guest blog: Jenna Dalton writes about productivity

By JaneFrankland | Lifestyle, Mindset, Sales | No Comments

My 90:5 rule to double my productivity

I’m an entrepreneur.

Translation: I always have a million and one things on the go and I need to stay focused to get it all done.

The problem is that I’m a bit of a workaholic. I love my business. I love creating. And I love organizing, planning and brainstorming.

But I was beginning to notice that my work was starting to suffer because I was working for hours at a time without stopping.

I would get on a roll and figured, “I’ll take a break once I finish this” or, “It’ll just take me another second, then I’ll take a break.”

But before I knew it, two, three, four… hours would go by and I’d literally have to peel my eyes off of my computer and get up to go do something else because my head hurt and my eyes were exhausted.

Know the feeling?

Well, I have good news! I found a solution that I truly believe has more than doubled my productivity.

I call it the 90:5 rule. I work for 90 minutes, take a 5 minute break, and then go back to work for another 90 minutes and continue the cycle.

Why? Well studies suggest that our productivity starts to go south after about 90 minutes. We have a tough time focusing and our brains are too tired to give us all they’ve got.

So, instead of pushing through and exhausting myself, I take a 5 minute break every 90 minutes. What do I do? I dance.

Yup, I actually put on some music and dance.

At first I did feel a little ridiculous dancing by myself – I made sure I went to my bedroom with the blinds closed – but now I absolutely love it!

And trust me. I’m not a professional at this. I have absolutely no background in dance (other than the one class I took as a kid which just reaffirmed that I wasn’t meant to be a dancer!), but it doesn’t matter.

The point is to get up, get moving and get away from whatever I was doing so I can come back fresher and ready to tackle another task.

Why does this work? Because I’m giving my brain a total break. I’m not reading emails. I’m not reading a book. I’m not thinking about something else. I’m not taking a “break” from one task and doing another. My brain gets to just completely relax and reboot.

Now, I totally think you’d love it too if you adopted the 90:5 rule. But that doesn’t mean you need to dance. You might work in an office and not want to explain to your co-workers why you get up and dance every 90 minutes (unless they’d wanna join in on the fun!)

If you don’t want to dance, that’s cool. The key is to just do something that you don’t really need to use brain power for. You aren’t reading anything, and it’s something where your mind gets a total break. A bonus would be if you moved as well – go for a walk, take the stairs a couple times, walk over to the break room and grab some tea.

By taking breaks like this, I’m positive it’s more than doubled my productivity because I’m able to get more quality work done. Sure if I plowed through I could probably get just as much work done, if not more. But by taking breaks, I make sure that the work I do, do is actually good.

It helps me stay focused too. I set goals for what I want to get done in 90 minutes and work hard to get it done. It works because I know in a little while I get a break and can celebrate my great work with a dance off!

At the end of the day I feel like I’ve accomplished so much more since starting this habit. I’m also not so bagged that I can’t enjoy my life outside work either!

So, if you’re ready to give your productivity a boost, give it a try. I’d love to hear how it works out for you.

About Jenna Dalton

As a former Personal Trainer and Nutrition Consultant, Jenna Dalton quit her job and built a coaching practice for women who know they should exercise, they just have a tough time actually doing it. Using her background in psychology, she continues to study how to be successful – for life. She now helps women turn “I should” into “I have” by using simple shifts that lead to big, lasting change – no deprivation diet or make- you-wanna-die workout required. You can find her at JennaDalton.com where you can get email updates on having the body and life you crave – for free!

Website: http://JennaDalton.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jenna-Dalton-Health-Life-Coaching/282110061831248
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DaltonJenna
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKxRUNx3mAjBGeKqsLSG7Hw?feature=guide
Email: [email protected]

If you've enjoyed this post, in the comments below, tell me how you're getting on with the daily challenge of productivity. I'll be trying this technique out to increase my productivity. I might even set an alarm on my iPhone to make sure I do it, as I suffer from the syndrome i.e. workaholic that Jenna discusses. Let me know what action you'll take as a result of reading this post too. I'd love to hear.

Thank you, as always for reading and contributing here. If you found this useful, please share it with your friends!

With love and gratitude,

November 9, 2012

Being present in the moment: here’s a quick way

By JaneFrankland | business start ups, Established business, Lifestyle, Mindset | 2 Comments

Who wants to be present in the moment?

Being present in the moment is something that I've heard bantered around so much lately. Interestingly I even had a riding lesson on it, with the wonderful Cindy at CW Western Training. Anyway, with the concept sunk in, it got me thinking. How often have I eaten a meal and not really tasted it, chatted with my kids without actually hearing them, got from A to B without knowing how, or completed a project without really thinking about it? The answer is far too many times! More often that not my days pass me by whilst my mind is elsewhere. How sad! And, having spoken to others about this, I know I'm not alone. As a generalisation we all spend far too much time thinking about what was and what could have been, and on projecting into the future and wondering about what may happen.

Whilst no one can actually live in the moment all the time, some people, with practice, can learn to live in the moment for longer periods than others. By doing this, it enables us to stop being miserable by worrying about the future or even thinking about the past. It enables us to live as much as we can in the only moment that we'll only ever really live in, and control. The moment is right now and it is all there ever is, was and probably ever will be.

So here's what I've learnt about living in the moment. When you live in the moment you'll benefit from:

Clarity: You'll have much better focus, and creativity will come more naturally.
Calmness: You'll feel centred, relaxed and whatever you do will come more easily. Because you're not projecting into a possible future or reflecting on a previous experience there will be little fear holding you back.
Positivity: Since there's little fear, there'll be fewer negative emotions when you're in the present. You'll move around on positive part of the emotional scale.

Being present in the moment and how to do it

1. Focus on what’s right in front of you, around you, or on you. Use your senses – feel – smell – hear – taste! Just look at what’s right in front of you right now. Listen to the sounds around you. Feel the fabric of your clothes. Smell the snow on its way and taste the rain as it falls on your tongue! Leave behind previous experiences. You come to the moment fresh, as if for the first time.

2. Focus on your breathing. Practice deep breathing and focus your mind on your inhaling and exhaling. This will align you with the present moment once again.

3. Focus on your inner body. This is a bit similar to focusing on your breathing. In both examples focus on what’s inside you rather than the outside.

4. Pick up the vibe from present people. If you know someone who's more present in the moment than others then access his/her vibe of presence. It's a similar experience to picking up positivity or enthusiasm. If you don’t know someone like that then watch DVDs by Eckhart Tolle. Whilst his books and MP3s are great, DVDs are the best medium as the biggest part of communication is voice tonality and body language.

5. Surrender to the emotion that's already there. It’s easy to get stuck in the past. Even if you want to move away from those memories there's a feeling there that brings them back over and over. The only way to reduce the power that feeling has over you is by surrendering to it. When you accept the feeling, surrender and let it in, you literally stop feeding it energy and it vanishes.

What are your thoughts? Are you guilty like me of not being present in the moment for much of the time or have you found a way to accomplish this? If you practice living in the moment, what was your wake up call or how did you come to do this? Please share your experiences and feedback in the comments below as I’d love to hear. Finally, thank you, as always for reading and contributing here. If you found this useful, please share it with your friends!

With love and gratitude – as always,

November 7, 2012

Comparison is it a good or bad thing?

By JaneFrankland | business start ups, Established business, Mindset | No Comments

Is comparison the thief of joy?

“Honest gov, I went looking, but the idea was to get inspired.” “Yeh right,” I hear you say! Whether that was really the case or not I feel compelled to make a point. I’m competitive, a high achiever and hands up – yes, I’m guilty as hell for comparing my work to others’. For me, it’s how I stretch myself, improve and measure my progress. It’s the way I was brought up too – at home, in school, university and the workplace. The problem I have with this approach though, is that whilst I know there are some advantages to it – in terms of advancement, I know how unproductive and destructive it actually is.

[box]Comparison is the thief of joy – Theodore Roosevelt TWEET THIS[/box]

It’s so easy to spend time keeping track of what other people are up to, but what a waste of time and energy it actually is. I speak from experience and it’s taken me a long time to learn this lesson.

There’s a saying, isn’t there? “Why compare yourself with others? No one in the entire world can do a better job of being you more than you.” ~Unknown

However, in my experience this couldn’t be further from the truth. The problem lies in the fact that by comparing ourselves to others, we just end up judging ourselves. And, let’s face it – there’s no one worse to judge and more mean a critic! It doesn’t matter how many people are on your side and cheering you on – if you can’t get on your own side, you’ll never get past go!

So, the real truth of the matter is that there’s never a winner. For the most part we compare ourselves to someone whom we perceive as being better than us, and whether that's true or not, if we perceive it to be it means we lose every time!

Our minds do want to quantify, to rank and to organize information in order to know where we fit into the scheme of things. So we need to give our minds something to do. I read an article recently where the advice was to redirect the comparison to a past and a present self—and keep the comparison within. However, I completely disagree with this suggestion. We are not the person we were from former years. By continuing with the comparison, we are perpetuating the crime!

So instead, why not learn to accept that we all came in different. There will always be people who are better than us, as they will be those who are not as good. We are growing through life’s experiences all the time. We are not the people we were yesterday, so it’s not right to compare ourselves to that person. We need to avoid the trap of comparison by building and maintaining a positive self-image and rather than comparing ourselves to others or ourselves, it's better to focus on things that make us feel better about ourselves and our life.

As Michelangelo said, “Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it”.

So I challenge you to begin to discover what’s truly important to you. By doing this I guarantee you’ll have more time and energy to devote to your own creative journey and you’ll feel far better about yourself. You’ll be able to look back on those energy-draining feelings of jealousy and inadequacy and instead be able to be inspired by others’ work rather than dragged down by it.

In the comments below, tell me whether you think comparison is a good or bad thing. What has your journey been like so far with it? Do you have any tips or insight you can pass on to us? Let me know and also what action you'll take as a result of reading this post too. I'd love to hear.

Thank you, as always for reading and contributing here. If you found this useful, please share it with your friends!

With love and gratitude – as always,

October 6, 2012

The power of full engagement as demonstrated by Tony Robbins

By JaneFrankland | business start ups, Established business, Lifestyle, Mindset | 5 Comments

Energy is the currency of high performance

Fast forward a year and I'm back at the National Achievers Congress in London, watching the big man – Tony Robbins. So much has happened this past year. I've studied Internet Marketing (and implemented), started a new job – earning another six figure salary, resigned from the job choosing passion over pay check, sold my IT company and started a new business – in a new sector! I've grown and challenged myself – expanded my comfort zones and am well and truly on my way! Now that I'm feeling far more in tune with myself I'm happy.

Anyway, as I'm listening to Tony, and watching a man filled with charisma, passion and unlimited energy, I'm reminded of one of the most important factors in business and leadership success: Managing energy, not time is key to high performance and personal renewal.

Energy not time is one of most precious resources. It is the currency of high performance. Performance, psychological health, emotional fitness and happiness are grounded in the skilful management of energy.

Leaders are the principals of organisational energy – or at least they should be! They inspire others first by how effectively they manage their own energy. Then they use this to inspire, lead, invest, mobilize, focus and renew the energy of others they lead. Their skilful management of energy, at the individual and organisational level enables full engagement. It results in a team that is totally behind their leader – and in sync.

Tony Robbins talks a lot about being ‘in state.' And, full engagement is the energy state that best serves performance. Full engagement requires drawing on physical, emotional, mental and spiritual energy. As energy reduces with over-use and under-use, it's important to balance energy expenditure with renewal. This is where the work hard, play hard rule comes into effect.

To build up our energy levels, we have to push beyond our normal limits. We have to get into training. The work is hard, but the results make the yield worth it. Training in this way, means training in the same systematic way as supreme athletes. It means turning energy training into a habit and a routine.

A note of caution too – if the intensity of the training is increased, it's necessary to balance that with the same amount of energy renewal i.e. time off. If you fail to do this you'll run the risk of burn out and breakdown, and your performance will obviously deteriorate. Equally – too much recovery without sufficient stress will lead to weakness. So the lesson here is clearly use it or lose it!

[box]Without time for recovery, our lives become a blur of DOING unbalanced by much opportunity for BEING – Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz TWEET THIS[/box]

We live in a world that promotes an insatiable work ethic and ignores downtime. Whilst we work longer hours in the UK than the rest of Europe, I've seen nothing that compares to the work ethic of the USA, Asia and the Middle East. And that's a worry for the global economy as intermittent disengagement is what allows us to passionately re-engage. Ignore time for renewal, or time off, or recovery and it will backfire. Without a doubt the secret for high performance is in creating a balance between the two and countries that encourage people to seek intermittent renewal not only encourage greater commitment, but interestingly also more productivity.

So, my question to you is, how are you coping with your energy levels? Are you out of sync and at risk of burn-out or are you not putting enough effort in? Let me know what techniques you use to balance the two, plus also your thoughts on this subject. I'd love to hear.

Thank you, as always for reading and contributing here. If you found this useful, please share it with your friends!

With love and gratitude – as always,

October 3, 2012

The real truth about women and multi-tasking

By JaneFrankland | Established business, Mindset | No Comments

Is it fact or fiction?

I love technology; especially social media, but unfortunately I’m like most people – I find it incredibly distracting. And, as it advances, my attention seems to be spread amongst tasks more thinly. Whilst I wasn’t especially worried by this, I’ve just read a piece of research that says that the way we work can be just as important as distractions from it.

To elaborate, research conducted by Dr Glenn Wilson, a psychiatrist at King's College London University monitored the impact of multitasking on workers' performances. The results showed that when test participants were interrupted by lots of emails and phone calls whilst trying to work on other things, their IQ dropped by 10 points. Alarmingly, this equals the effect of missing a whole night's sleep and more than doubles that of smoking marijuana! Oh golly!!!

As most of us know (or we think we do), women are great at multi-tasking so I decided to investigate whether this actually affected both sexes in the same way as the research that came my way was non-gender specific.

Are women really better at multi-tasking?

Thankfully a team of British (go team GB) researchers decided to answer the question once and for all! They concluded (officially) that women really are better than men at juggling more than one task at-a-time. British psychologist Keith Laws, a professor at the University of Hertfordshire led the study and here’s a quick summary as to what they did and found.

The test: They gathered 100 students — 50 men and 50 women — and gave them 8 minutes to perform 3 tasks at the same time. They all got the same tasks, which included solving simple maths problems, finding restaurants on a map, and devising a strategy for finding a lost key in an imaginary field. Then, while they were juggling those assignments, the subjects received a telephone call, which they could answer or ignore. If they answered, they were asked some general knowledge questions while they continued the original tasks.

The result: The women had few problems handling everything at once. In fact, 70% of them performed better than their average male counterparts. The men handled the maths questions without many problems and did OK pinpointing the map locations. However, the women put them to shame when it came to the most complicated task – developing a plan for finding the lost key.

What was the big difference?

Men didn't approach the job logically. They just jumped into the middle of the field and dashed around looking for the key, never managing to cover the entire area. Women, however, tended to start in one corner, and methodically searched the whole field moving out in concentric circles or lines

Why might women be better at multi-tasking?

CNN’s Dr Sanjay Gupta suggested it might be on account of evolution. “While ancient men were responsible primarily for hunting and gathering, women had to tend to the children, the house and all the other activities of daily living,” he said. “Over the years, women may have retained this ability, translating into an improved ability to multi-task.”

So if I'm a woman, does multi-tasking make me more efficient?

Unfortunately the answer is probably not. There is evidence that multi-tasking is a drag on productivity for pretty much everyone, regardless of gender. The reason for that relates to the basic structure of brain says Dr. Etienne Koechlin of France's National Institute of Health and Medical Research. “The right and left hemispheres cooperate when working on a single task, but in two tasks, one hemisphere covers the reward of one task, and the other hemisphere covers the reward of the other.” That, unfortunately, applies to both genders.

So my question to you is, what do you think based on your experience? As a woman do you feel that you can multi-task effortlessly without it being a drain on productivity? Do you feel this is instinctive or man-made? I have to say, that I personally think that most women can do this instinctively without it being a drain as I've certainly been running a home, managing children and a business for a long time! Let me know your thoughts as I'd love to hear.

Thank you, as always for reading and contributing here. If you found this useful, please share it with your friends!

With love and gratitude – as always,

September 18, 2012

Six ways to double productivity and get more value out of your day

By JaneFrankland | Established business, Mindset | No Comments

Little known time management strategies

If you're looking to increase your productivity in sales but aren't sure where to start, here are some time management strategies that I find useful:

1. Write a ‘to do’ list. It really helps to get a clear picture of how your day should be panning out. Prioritise tasks according to urgency and tackle them methodically.  I mark them as follows:

A if they're super important and mission critical – they HAVE to be completed today. (Crisis management)

B if they need to be completed today

C if they're not urgent for today, but it would be great if they were completed

D a nice-to-have completed

2. Beware of distractions. Be aware of what distracts you – and don't let it. If you know you're likely be interrupted by emails, social media, instant messaging, phone calls, or the TV then simply turn them off. You can even disconnect from the Internet to remove further temptation.

3. Schedule activity. For example, schedule times to check your email. Rather than checking it constantly, which wastes time, drains brainpower and can cause stress, check in at two or three set times in the day.  I usually do this as soon as I wake up (7am), then at lunchtime, and again at the end of the day. Operating in this way frees up so much time. I also schedule tasks by putting tasks in my Outlook or Google calendar. I'm a big fan of ‘what gets scheduled gets done!'

[box]What gets scheduled gets done! TWEET THIS[/box]

4. Break down tasks. If you're working on a big project break it down into manageable tasks that can be completed in a few hours or less. See each task through to the end before starting the next. Not only is this more efficient, it's also much more satisfying.  I used to like using a project scheduler for this task. It also felt great ticking things off the list when they were completed.

5. Give yourself a break. It's impossible to maintain concentration for long periods. Ideally I'd say take a rest or break after 60 to 90 minutes of work. Get up from your desk, make a drink, take a walk, have a chat, look away from your computer screen and allow your mind to recharge.

6. Say “no” more often. When you say “yes” to do something, you're actually saying “no” to something else. We all like to help people out, but consider what you're doing. Sometimes by helping out a friend you're actually penalising your own activity for time is money. And, when you're starting out in business you really need all the time you can get as there's so much to do. So, I'm not saying don't help others out, just be aware of what you're doing more. Doing this, is the hardest task for me!

Finally, I'm going to leave you with this quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson:

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”

In the comments below, tell me how you deal with managing your time and what your biggest challenge is with it. Let me know what techniques you use to improve your productivity. Let me know what action you'll take as a result of watching and reading this post too. I'd love to hear.

Thank you, as always for watching, reading and contributing here. If you found this useful, please share it with your friends!

With love and gratitude – as always,

September 7, 2012

Working a Job while Building a Business [Do’s & Don’ts]

By JaneFrankland | business start ups, Mindset, New business | 3 Comments

For most people, resigning from a salaried job to start a business is an unaffordable luxury. With bills to pay and a family to support it’s far more sensible to keep the day job and build your new business in the background. This means working a job and then building your business after work. It means working the weekends too and doing this requires energy, focus and prioritisation. It’s incredibly hard. I speak from experience. It involves a delicate juggling act fraught with stress, complexity and occasionally conflicts of interest.

However, there’s no reason why you can’t do it as many of the world’s top companies have demonstrated. Balancing a full-time job with a start-up business can have real advantages. For example it can enable you to set up, gain exposure, contacts and advice while testing your market and commitment to the business that you’re building.

So, here's my advice (9 tips) on exactly how to do this.

Tip #1. Love your job and fill your head with things that empower.

According to Dr Deepak Chopra, we have around 65,000 thoughts per day and many of them (around 95%) are the same thoughts we had yesterday. And, the day before that. And, the day before that. Automatic thoughts can be positive (realistic and goal oriented) or negative (distorted, unproductive and work against us achieving our goals).

Becoming aware of the power of your thoughts is so important at this stage, for when you fill your head with things that empower you e.g. your dreams, ambitions and thoughts about how you're going to get there, you can achieve so much more. However, when you fill your head with resentment and negativity you become dis-empowered, bogged down and drained. It’s vital for you to stop wasting energy and to use your job as a financial cushion whilst you get clear on your business. I suggest following Oprah’s advice:

[box]“By doing the best in this moment you put yourself in the best position for the next moment.” TWEET THIS[/box]

Tip #2. Build a business plan.

Build a clear, realistic time-line for starting your business. And, set targets and achievable goals for all your activities. Remember, what gets scheduled gets done so put it in the diary and make that commitment. By doing this, you’ll maintain focus and avoid frustration.

Tip #3. Get into a routine.

Structure is even more important when working at home after the day job. Set out a timetable for the exact time you’ll be starting and stopping work each evening, and then do the same for the weekends. It’s a bit like setting a revision timetable! Once you’ve created your timetable, make sure you stick to it. Don’t take refuge in excuses that allow you to procrastinate and don’t work a minute beyond your finish time. The more disciplined you can be, the better your results will be.

Tip #4. Consider your contract.

Check your contract. Many terms of employment stipulate that you can’t work another job or have shares in another business whilst in employment. However many are only concerned with a conflict of interest and will grant it if approached. If you do this, be sure to get everything in writing from HR. Be aware that once you've mentioned this you may be watched more closely, and that the quality of your work may be questioned.

Tip #5. Respect your employer.

Always be respectful toward your employer and deliver a good day’s work. Even if you can’t bear your day job be a professional. Remember: “How you do anything is how you do everything.”

Tip #6. Get support.

Building a business is a lonely affair and it’s great to be able to lean on a friend, mentor, or group. I belong to an entrepreneurial group that meets regularly, plus several groups online that offer round-the-clock advice and support. Having an accountability buddy is another useful thing to do.

Tip #7. Choose your place of work.

When you’re working a job and building a business you have to make best use of the time you have available. It’s therefore essential that you find a place of work that allows you to achieve maximum productivity without distraction. If you don't like working from home use hotels, or coffee shops that have free wifi. If you're ok with working from home set up a dedicated space, or work from an outbuilding.

Tip #8. Be professional and avoid crossover.

Never bring the activity of your business into your day job. The two must be kept completely separate. This means avoiding the use of work email, phones and printing in addition to booking meetings and taking calls for your start-up.

Tip #9. Use resources. Take your time, study, learn and implement whilst you have time. Be an apprentice for your business on the job if you can. Ideally try to get some money behind you before launching too. Some recommend having 3-6 months of your salary saved as a safety net.

Watch the tips via video

Now I want to hear from you…

In the comments below, tell me …

What your biggest frustration or challenge is with working a job whilst building a business.
What top tips you have for dealing with it.
Let me know what action you'll take as a result of reading and watching this post too. I'd love to hear.

Thank you, as always for watching, reading and contributing here. If you found this useful, please share it with your friends!

With love and gratitude – as always,