More Than WE Know

I know. I know. You’re traveling. You’re busy. There’s a maid.  Why should you have to pick up after yourself? 

Well, I’ll tell you why - you’re less likely to leave something behind.

Take a look at your room -

See the jumble of bedcovers?  Underneath is the novel you were reading before falling asleep last night.

See the towels on the counter in the bathroom? Underneath is your favorite tube of lipstick.

See the newspapers scattered on the coffee table? Underneath is the powercord to your cell phone.

So, before you check out, do yourself (and the maid) a favor.  Straighten the bed, pick up the towels, throw out the newspaper, and pick up any other clutter you see.

You’ll be amazed at what you almost left behind.

I’m actually pretty good at this one considering I’m in a hotel two or three weeks a month - but last December I left a bottle of prescription anti-inflammatory medicine at a hotel in New York. What about you? Have you ever left something in a hotel room??

photo credit: markresch

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I already mentioned yesterday to look behind you when you are heading out on a walk so as to recognize landmarks from the other direction.

But it is also important to look behind you as you get out of a plane, train, automobile or restaurant.  In the rush to gather up your belongings and hurry out of the vehicle or booth, it is easy to leave something behind in or under your seat.  So, once you are standing, turn around and scope out the seat and the surroundings to see if you have left anything.

I have to admit that even though I know this tip, I have had to learn it the hard way - several times over.

I have variously left:

• a handwoven cloth bag at a sidewalk cafe in California
• a paperback novel in a taxi in New York City
• a cellphone in a department store in Phoenix
• a blackberry on a train in New York
• a fanny pack (with my passport!) on a plane in Thailand

Amazingly, I got my cell phone,  fannypack and my blackberry back….the novel and bag went on to delight new owners…

So, in this instance, do as I say, as opposed to what I have done - before you leave - turn and look behind you!!

What’s the most important thing you’ve ever lost? Did you get it back?

You all know the story of Hanzel and Gretel - they scattered breadcrumbs behind them in the forest so they’d be able to find their way back home again.

Of course, I don’t recommend literal breadcrumbs (they didn’t work out too well for H&G either). But I do recommend that you always know how to get back to where you are going when you’re in a strange city. 

While you probably know the name of your hotel, you may not know the address or the phone#.  If you get in a cab with a driver who isn’t familiar with that hotel, or there is more than one of that chain in the city, you will have a hard time getting back. 

The simplest method is to pick up a brochure when you check in.  It can be anything with the hotel’s address on it - a brochure, stationary, a pen, a matchbook, etc.  As long as it has the address, you can be assured you’ll be able to find it again.

Special considerations for walking:

If you’d like to get out of the hotel for a walk be sure to turn around and look back at the hotel when you leave. Get a picture in your mind as to what it looks like from that perspective.  That way you’ll be more likely to recognize it when you come back.  And be sure to take a look at the nearest major cross-streets.  You’ll have an easier time asking for directions back to the intersection than back to the hotel.

Also, the concierge will most likely have a map of the neighborhood which can help you to navigate you way around.

And of course, all of these tips are even more important if you are traveling in a country in which you don’t speak the local language!!

So, tell me - what do you do to keep from getting lost when you’re in a strange city? Have you ever gotten lost?  

photo credit: duoloz cats

I’m traveling out of the country this week.  Whenever I  travel I’m amazed at the amount of luggage some women bring on business trips.  I see some struggling with unwieldy suitcases that limit their ability to get around the airport, catch a cab, etc.  When I am traveling, one of my goals is to travel as lightly as possible.  

So, I thought I’d share the contents of my suitcase.  And you can let me know, could I have gotten by with even less? Or was there something essential you would have brought that I missed?

First the climate, I’m in Phoenix right now and am traveling to the UK.  The weather will be a bit cooler and damper than I’m recently used to.

So, I’m taking a raincoat and a red wool cape (doubles as a great blanket on the plane - I don’t like to use the ones from the airlines…)

I’ll bring an umbrella if I can find one…

I’ll be in business meetings all day so my wardrobe:

• 1 Black suit (2 sets of slacks) 
• 1 red jacket
• 1 black/white sweater
• 2 black shells (can be handwashed/air dryed in hotel)
• 1 black tunic top
• 2 red/black/gold scarves
• 1 black pair of shoes
• lingerie, nightgown, slippers and pantyhose
• toiletries

 All the clothes above color-coordinate with each other and can be mixed/matched for various outfits.  

 I also color coordinate with the clothes I am wearing on the plane - in this case black jeans and a red/beige/black striped button down shirt.  When I go out in the evening any of the tops I am bringing will also go with jeans.

The only thing I’m not bringing this week is some workout clothes - the hotel doesn’t have a gym so I’ll get some exercise walking on the beach in Brighton.

I’m only going for a week but if I were going longer, I wouldn’t pack any more. I’d simply make use of the hotel’s cleaning service.

As for electronics, I’m bringing:

• laptop, powercord
• blackberry, powercord
• electrical converter (traveling internationally)

On the plane, I’ll carry the laptop, blackberry, a notebook, a few pens and a paperback and of course - my passport, driver’s license, credit cards and a bit of cash/travelers cheques.

So, what do you think - could you do it with less? did I miss something I need?

photo credit: squeakymarmot

In last week’s post I wrote about how I don’t want to work a four hour work week.  I’d rather have a business that I enjoyed so much, any thought of time simply disappeared, so that forty hours felt like four.

Later last week I met with a client who was in exactly that position.  Her business was so enjoyable that it was consuming every waking moment.  It was interfering with her ability to spend time with her family and on her hobbies. 

She had intentionally left the corporate world because she wanted more flexibility in her schedule. And now here she was in her own business, recreating the same kind of crazy schedule herself.

On the surface this appears to be a simple time management issue - reschedule priorities, delegate, delay, delete tasks, until everything fits within the time available.

But after we spent some time digging deeper, we realized that this issue was not just about learning to schedule time more effectively - it was about fear and self-confidence.

When my client was first starting her business, she felt she needed to always be available. She was in such a hurry to fill her client roster, that she agreed to appointments at any time regardless of what it meant to her personal life.

This might have been appropriate in the first few months of building her business, but it is not a sustainable practice.

In order to build the life she wanted, she was going to have to learn to say no to some opportunities.  And she was going to have to have confidence that her prospective clients would still want her services even if she were not always available.

Limiting your availablity has many of the same fears and issues associated with it as does asking for more money. 

Setting boundaries is difficult for many Women Entrepreneurs.  Many times one of our main motivations to go into business is to help other people. So limiting our availability or asking for more money both feel uncomfortable and selfish.

It’s important to remember that you are building a business that must meet your needs as well as your customers.  If you don’t create practices that are sustainable financially, physically and emotionally, you won’t be around long enough to help any customers. 

After some further consideration, my client came up with a “work schedule” that felt right to her. It allowed her to take her children to school and be home when they got home. It allowed her to see clients or attend networking events two nights per week and to work from home one night per week. But it kept her Wednesdays, Fridays and weekends free. 

It was great to see her physically relax as she set boundaries to safeguard her time and health.

As we worked through her schedule she began to realize that many of her clients probably could accomodate her new schedule.  They might have preferred their old time slots, but they would rather adjust their scheules and still work with her, than go work with someone else.

She also needed to realize that not everyone would agree to the new schedule. Some might leave. And that’s okay. She’s building a sustainable practice and those clients are not the ones she needs to sustain it.  By leaving, they were freeing up her energy and time to focus on obtaining new clients who could fit her schedule.

So, how about you? Are the hours you are working sustainable? Are you honoring your own time as much as your customers?  If not, what’s holding you back?