Creating Time to be Creative

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” Ecclesiastes 3:1

Have you had the opportunity to move tasks from your “work to do” list to your “work done” list over the past two weeks? If so: congratulations! If it is still a work in progress: congratulations! It takes time to change a habit but stay with it. In addition to feeling satisfied with completing more and more tasks, I hope you have noticed a lightening in your spirit and a clearing of your mind.

As you continue to recognize what needs to be done and designate time in your schedule to do it, it is now time to review the “C” (which stands for Creativity) in your ACE schedule.

As a reminder, the three components of an ACE Schedule are:

• Act: Designate specific time in your schedule to work (action time)

• Create: Designate specific time in your schedule to create (creativity time)

• Enjoy: Designate specific time in your schedule for enjoyment (fun time)

An ACE Schedule is one where you will designate specific time to create. You are an entrepreneur because you had an idea and then created a service or product. Being creative is not just about writing a beautiful song or drawing a masterpiece. It is also about starting a business based on a great idea, finding ways to solve problems, improving processes, brainstorming new ideas, and connecting what is known to what is needed.

However, sometimes you can be spending so much time working in the business that you are not working on the business. You must make regular time to be creative as you continue to develop your service/product and therefore your business.

Time is needed for such things as:

1. Reading recent research articles

2. Watching relevant webinars

3. Meeting with others for their ideas on the product

4. Writing marketing material

It is time to schedule “creativity time” in your schedule If you find:

• Articles are piling up on your desk, floor, or computer

• Months have passed and you have not viewed conference videos you registered for

• You have not written the marketing newsletter you had planned on writing

Albert Einstein said, “Creativity is intelligence having fun.” Entrepreneurs enjoy working on their business, we just need to plan the time for it. Do you presently plan specific time for this? If not, it is time to do so.

This week, start working on the Creativity aspect of your business by doing the following three things:

1. Determine a specific day this week and designate it as creativity time 2. Determine a specific amount of time you will spend. My suggestion is to start with 2 hours. 3. Determine what specifically you will do and stay focused on it.

As you would not cancel an important meeting unless there was an emergency, do not cancel this creativity time. Guard it. Recognize how crucial this is for the research and development of your business. Recognize this is your ‘art form’ as the business you created is an expression of what is important to you. In addition to moving your business forward, it will also bring you joy and fulfillment.

May God richly bless you this week as you carefully plan this time and let your intelligence have fun!

Bonny, Christian Women at Work

A Quality Improvement Approach to Your ACE Schedule (4 min read)

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” Ecclesiastes 3:1

As entrepreneurs, business owners and/or managers, we are responsible for setting visions and planning, but we are also responsible for reviewing the success of our strategies. We set a goal, determine a process and then “just do it”. However, we must also take time to review if we are staying committed and if we are on track.

This is the same for your ACE schedule. Planning your time well so you can complete your tasks is crucial for your business. As we start a new process and are motivated to succeed, it is important to look back and see what barriers came up.

Take exercise for example. As a physiotherapist, I regularly review research on what motivates people to exercise and what are barriers for them. What can potentially keep them from doing what they know is healthy, fun, medically necessary and will make them feel physically and mentally better? Being motivated is usually quite easy but determining the barrier(s) to taking the “completion step” can be multi-factorial. Barriers to exercise often include things like time, not liking exercise, having never done it, not knowing what to do, not having the equipment, not having transportation, not having someone to exercise with, fear and cost.

How did you do with “Acing the A in your schedule” last week? In summary, the 5 steps were:

1. Make a list of all the things you have not yet completed.

2. Determine if they are relevant, appealing, worthwhile, something only you can do and/or if this is something you have always wanted to do.

3. Highlight what you have decided to keep on your list.

4. Determine the top 3 you are going to plan time for.

5. Set a “meeting” in your agenda to work on and/or complete your top 3

If you have not started your ACE schedule, please go back to last week’s memo for the details and begin this week!

If you have started this schedule, have a look back at your week and ask yourself the following 2 questions:

1. Was your schedule realistic? Looking back, did you try to put too much into your schedule? Or perhaps there were too few things and you had time left over in your “meeting” because you were able to accomplish things in a timely manner. Sometimes, taking too long to start something can make it seem very daunting and when you sit down to complete it, you can see it was not so bad! This ACE schedule, utilized over time, will provide information to you on how long things will take. Thus helping you become more and more accurate in how much time to budget for certain activities.

2. Were there internal or external barriers? Internal barriers are things such as procrastination, fatigue, distraction, lack of preparation, or the fact that you simply did not refer to your schedule. External barriers would be things such as an emergency, computer or other mechanical malfunction, and/or another urgent priority.

In Quality Improvement, we look at “Man, Method, Material or Machine.” Which of these four areas may be the cause of not completing what you set out to complete?

Looking back on your week will enable you to see what worked well and what you might need to “tweak.” Remember, there will always be times when unusual things come up, but they should not be the “norm.” Did you notice at least one barrier? If you answered fatigue, maybe the real problem is you are not getting enough sleep. Was distraction your barrier? Maybe the real problem is always keeping your emails and Facebook open. Pray about the barrier you discovered and ask God to give you wisdom on how you can overcome it.

Give yourself one more week to work on the “A” or “Action” in your ACE Schedule. You have already made a list of what needs to be done and/or completed. I hope you checked off all the completed ones in your planner as that is very gratifying! You may have some new ones to add to your list and/or your schedule this week.

I would encourage you to look at your weekly schedule this week and continue to set meetings for yourself to work on the “A”s. Also, look at the month ahead and see where some of these “meetings” can take place if the project or task is going to take a longer time.

May God richly bless you this week as you plan and guard your time to accomplish what you need, and want, to do.

Have a great week!

Bonny, Christian Women at Work

Benefits of an “ACE” Schedule to Get Things Done

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” Ecclesiastes 3:1

Entrepreneurs tend to have their minds full of things to think about, complete, create, analyze, improve and…and….and! We seem to be wired that way. Often, we find ourselves trying to complete one thing, but our mind starts to wander to something else. It is hard to fully focus when many “undone” things still need to be done. This is often the case when there are many simultaneous projects, responsibilities, and opportunities. We may find ourselves being terribly busy but having difficulty completing what needs to be completed. We may not be able to change the abundance of creative ideas that seem to naturally come to us, but we can change our effectiveness in following through.

Does that sound like you? If you want to be more successful and effective, it is time to develop an “ACE” Schedule. This is a simple management approach in which you specifically guard time in your schedule to ensure things are accomplished.

The three components of an ACE Schedule are:

Act: Designate specific time in your schedule to work (action time)

Create: Designate specific time in your schedule to create (creativity time)

Enjoy: Designate specific time in your schedule for enjoyment (fun time)

“Act, create and enjoy” are broad and general categories. You put in the specifics in terms of the time to get specific things done, the time to spend creating, and the time to just relax, exercise and enjoy. See below for some ideas on how the ACE schedule works and how it can work for you.

Act: An ACE schedule is one where you will designate time in your schedule to do your work. It is the time to complete tasks and responsibilities. Not 80% but 100%. You may need to designate a few hours, or you may need to designate a few months. It does not matter how big or small the project. Designate the time as you feel is needed. Look ahead in your schedule and block it off like a meeting. Guard that time unless there is an emergency. Remember, small amounts of time are important as they add up to a large amount of time.

Create: An ACE Schedule is one where you will designate specific time in your schedule to create. Do you sometimes find yourself working on something and then a great idea comes into your head? It is tempting to start to “unpack it” but that is not the time. Write the thought down and any ideas that have come to mind. Do not take more than two minutes to do this. Then, return to what you were doing, knowing there is a “thinking time” scheduled for another time.

Enjoyment: An ACE schedule is one where you designate time in your schedule to rest, exercise and have fun. It is time to just stop working or developing a new business idea. Although entrepreneurs love to create, research, and develop, it is healthy to take some time away from it. You can be more productive if you are rested and refreshed. Give this a good try!

This week, take time to prayerfully look at your schedule and start planning “Act” time to complete tasks, “Create” time to research and develop your business ideas and “Enjoyment” time to relax, exercise and have fun. Join us next week as we talk about “Tips to Having an ACE Schedule.”

Have a wonderful week! God Bless,

Bonny, Christian Women at Work