Reality Bites ~ Goal Setting

I recently attended a business seminar, dedicated to the WAHM. It was fantastic. It covered the usual topics – sales techniques, marketing and promotion, networking, and the all important goal setting. The unique bit about this one was that it actually acknowledged some of the issues with running an office from home, particularly with young kids.

Not only that, but the advice imparted in this seminar – I could actually follow!!! I really could do this.

Especially the goal setting stuff. We were given some practical tips on how to set realistic, achievable goals. One of the suggestions was to finish each day off with your To Do List for the following day. Making it realistic and achievable.

The To Do List would generally contain things such as collecting the post, checking and responding to those e-mails you could respond to immediately, bookkeeping, sending invoices, banking, work on updating your website or promotional material, and working on your future marketing strategies… you know, the usual. It even suggested, as part of the realism and achievability of the To Do List and goals, to allow for the unexpected. I would even work my lunch break into mine.

Yes, Yes, YES! I can do this!!

Until I put it into practice. Not suggesting the advice was incorrect or anything – but here’s how it works for a REAL Business Mum…

My To Do List (which I painstakingly worked out – partly because of the mess on my desk, and that in my head) consisted of pretty much the above.

My day consisted of none of the above. Well, I lie, I did check e-mails, immediately the moment I got up, whilst simultaneously praying that the kids would stay in bed long enough for me to respond to as many as I feasibly could.

Fortunately, my PC takes a bit of time to boot up, so was able to manage to pour the cup of coffee that appears second on my To Do List (immediately after "Boot Computer Up"). As for the rest of the day, well I kind of left things off like:

"Entertain Mother In Law who drops in unexpectedly, expecting lunch and a cup of tea made "just so" whilst she comments on how my business is not really serious, is it now dear and have I thought about getting a "real job" now that one of the children is at school"

Like:

"Remember to strip the bed that the toddler weed in because hubby didn’t quite get the nappy on right last night at bedtime"

"Remember to wash sheets"

Oh, and things like:

"What the hell is that smell coming from the bedroom. Oh, that would be the sheets on the bed that I’ve forgotten to strip"

"Why are you wearing those clothes, they’re disgusting? You got them from the washing basket? What’s wrong with clean clothes from your cupboard? You don’t have any? All your clothes are in the washing basket? Oh."

Then of course there’s the all important things I’d completely forgotten to include, like:

"Prevent children from braining each other with the wooden train set"

"Prevent trip to the Royal Children’s Hospital by stopping the washing basket races down the stairs from proceeding any further than they have"

"Field call from concerned neighbours resulting from the screams emanating from the bedrooms where I have placed them"

"Feed children" (how come they have to eat so often. Its not like I do)

"Pick child up from school because he’s throwing up & ‘we can’t possibly keep him here’"

So, in order to keep my goals realistic and achievable, my daily To Do List consists of two To Do’s:

1. Boot up computer
2. Pour Coffee

Anything I achieve beyond these two things is a bonus!

And that’s reality.

Article Source: http://www.therepozitory.com.au

Written by Mad Cow (aka Amanda Cox), wife, mother of three boys, WAHM and founder of fluff-free reality parenting website www.realmums.com.au who can pull off a business meeting with mashed pumpkin in her hair

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