End of June already???

It's the end of the month already and I've been so swamped that I have neglected to post much of anything. Sorry about that!

The Extreme Business Makeovers event was a smashing success on the 19th-21st. Over a week later now and I'm still getting people sending me emails and cards to thank me for putting it all together. I've got to say, it was an incredible lineup of speakers and each one not only delivered different expertise, but they have the same deep care for our participants that I have!

So, now that 2008 is half over, it seems an appropriate time to measure where I'm at for the year ... what's working, what's not and how to maximize the strengths and workaround the weaknesses.

Which leads me to the topics of balance and structure - not something that a typical "creative" type like myself excels in. I tend to bounce back and forth between juggling 50 projects at once or getting ultra picky and ultra focused on a particular project. The end result is the same ... a lot of busyness and much less fruitfulness. And, I've also done a lousy job at consistently taking care of myself by getting enough sleep and eating regular small meals versus my feast or famine pattern. Do you ever feel challenged in that area?

Well here's how I'm handling it for myself. First, I've created a block schedule, as per my friend, Stephanie Frank's advice. In it, I account for Focus Time (for projects), Flex time (general office stuff/communications, etc...), Family Time and Free Time. By making sure I have that Focus time when the door is shut, the phone is off and I'm not checking emails, it's much harder to get sidetracked or distracted by the tyranny of the daily urgent stuff and neglect the big projects that have huge payoffs.

Also, starting tomorrow, I'm taking a couple weeks for a working vacation - first to go to Hendersonville, NC to visit with my Mom and Dad, my sister and brother-in-law and their kids and another of my brothers. Then, after that, we head to the Outer Banks of North Carolina for a mini reunion with my In-Laws and my wife's sisters and their husbands and children. With 13 grandchildren and 8 adults all staying in the same house, that should be a fun time. And, of course, the time out-of-pocket will give me the time to come back to the office ready to implement my new schedule versus if I didn't have that transition time for my mind.

On the positive side, I'm working on a book and should have a really large chunk of it done by the time I return! I'll save the details about that for another day.

If I don't post before then, have a super and safe 4th of July holiday! Be sure to take time to be grateful for this incredible country we live in!

All the Best,
Thom