I recently had the opportunity to sit down with a local business owner of a very successful business. I love chances like this, I
quite often hope for opportunities to sit down and talk to the entrepenuers of our community and pick their brains.  I love seeing what is behind the business front and what it takes to make that business successful.  You would be surprised!

He told me about the systems that they have in place to provide the financial information that he and his partner look for to run their companies.  At first everything seemed to be what you would expect.  A POS system and accounting software, but as we talked further I also discovered that there was a separate program for payroll, the accounting software isn’t up to date and reports were being exported out of the accounting software and manipulated in Excel to create a custom report.

Of course all of the information going into the accounting software is manually entered!  Wow!  Of course this overwhelming!  Honestly I was blown away!  I of course ask right away WHY?   As someone who works hard at simplifying procedures I was stunned.  But then I started to think about all systems and procedures.  
 
These are always put in place by someone to help simplify their business, job, day etc…  But one person’s systems may not work for someone else. Does that make them wrong?  No, it makes them right for that person.

But with that being said there is always room for improvement and an outside opinion can always be beneficial.  Or at least it will help you define your WHY to your systems and procedures.

There are a lot of different software programs out there that can help you and your business.  But if you are not using them to their full capacity are you really helping yourself or are you creating more work for yourself by doubling up on something that your all-in-one software can do for you, if you are willing to learn and change.

It never hurts to revaluate your systems from time to time, businesses needs change often there for the way you handle your daily business may need to as well.

I am a list maker, an obsessive one at that. This is what helpsme keep my life organized. Actually on my list for Sundays I actually allocate time to write my to do list for the upcoming week. If it is not written down then, I'm sorry, it just doesn't happen.

I would love to think that I was a little crazy; maybe do something right out of the blue but with all honesty that might just spend me into a tizzy! But when a surprise aka life does happen, the best thing to do is to write a list! This is the best way to put your goals, ideas, priorities right there in front of you.

It is also a good way to tackle your fears. For example if you have a project, task or any other daunting item on your agenda that you are not sure how to tackle, write it out in point form. Before you know it you will be able to identify what the best way to tackle this project is.

You would be surprised at how long some of these tasks actual take. How many times have we all said, "I can't start that now, there is no way I have enough time!" Well when a plan is laid out, half the work is already done.

My husband makes fun of me that I need to know what I am doing for the next six months. Well in some situations, he is right. But this is one of the many things that I work on, being more spontaneous! Is it spontaneous when you schedule the time to do something spontaneous?

I know that many Moms’ out there have lists and to do things coming at them like a firing squad while they are in the shower, on the phone, driving... the places are endless. How is one supposed to remember all of this? I take pride in my iPhone! There are so many Apps to help out our everyday.

There are times that I actually think about going back to my daytimer, just in case something happened to my phone! But the thought of lugging around a book again vs. my fun little phone does not excite me. So for the time being, my life, MY ENTIRE LIFE, is kept on my phone! I am a faithful backer upper! I've learnt that lesson before in the past!

Lists of any sort, grocery, to do lists, only work when it works for you! Set time out each day to organize it. You may only need
thirty seconds, and you may need time each week to map it out, but once you get into a routine of doing it, I promise you that it will change your life!