This weekend also seems to sum up 2009 for me. I’ve severed business relationships that were taking more than they were giving. I’ve spun off several blogs from Sparkplugging that just didn’t fit the small business niche. I’ve dumped toxic people out of my life. I’ve stopped pursuing PR opportunities. I’m turning down speaking gigs. And I’ve stopped doing anything for my business that doesn’t have a tangible ROI (Return on Investment).

Like I said last week, I’ve never been happier, or more profitable.

A Silver Lining in Almost Losing it All

If there was a silver lining in my health scare this spring, it was that it forced me to cut the dead weight in my business & life and focus only on things that matter: my family, my happiness and my financial security. And I will be the first to admit that it probably took facing a potentially deadly diagnosis for me to be willing to let go of so much.

It’s not a path I recommend, truthfully.

But I do recommend getting rid of crap in your business and your life that isn’t directly making you happier, healthier, or richer. I might have more dead weight to cut – but I’m flying higher than ever now that I’m not carrying around so much baggage that was holding me back. And that includes a dumpster full of junk that is now out of my house!

So This Week is all About the UN-To-Do List!

Do you have anything you do that you’ve realized isn’t really worth the time and effort you’re putting into it? Do you have clients you should have fired months ago? Do you go to events that produce no good leads? Do you spend time socializing networking online instead of getting work done?

At this point, I’m kind of hard pressed to come up with another thing I need to get rid of – but I can think of one conversation I’ve been putting off that I MUST have this week. And it will determine the future of one of the bigger projects on my plate.

So this week, I promise I will have that conversation, or Kiva gets $100.

So what are you NOT going to do this week?

Remember to check out the stories, conversations and $5,000 sweeps at You.Propelled on DivineCaroline, as they have sponsored this series of posts that has been getting my butt into gear this fall!

Lately I’ve been giving a ton of thought to the whole internet fame thing – and the last 6 months have completely changed my attitude about PR for PR’s sake. I used to think that any publicity is good publicity. But after experiencing it, I can honestly say it ain’t all that. Sure, it’s a huge ego boost, and sure, it opens doors, and sure, I could be leveraging all of my big PR moments into book deals, big name clients, more speaking gigs, and more television appearances.

But that is not the business I want to be in.

When I started Sparkplugging, I wanted to create an advertising and affiliate based website that would generate passive income even when I was helping my kids with their homework or out boating with the family. The business of internet fame is the exact opposite of that – not only did I have to work to become ‘famous’, I had to work even harder to maintain it. The impact on my work schedule was gruesome – and the impact on my bottom line was similarly pitiful.

This summer I completely backed away from all of my PR and social media promotion, and focused solely on creating content and search engine optimization. And by the end of August, I earned more in 30 days than I had all last year.

The reason I say this is because I had no idea how much time I was wasting on something I thought was important to my business – only to find that simple hard work is what really pays the bills.

It’s not glorious work.

I won’t be getting on TV any time soon for it.

Nobody has asked to interview me about it.

I’m not getting any speaking gigs because of it.

And I’ve never been happier with my business.

So, my Monday Motivation question for our readers today is this:

If you are struggling with your business, are you doing anything that isn’t giving you a return on your investment of time or money?

And if you just buckled down and did the unsexy, boring, and tedious work that needs to be done, how much better off do you think you would be?

In the spirit of decidedly unsexy, my Monday Motivation to do list is:

• Finish my YTD balance sheet by noon on Wednesday
• Clear out 200 emails from my inbox by end of day Wednesday, and
• Pay two bills before I go to sleep tonight

If I don’t have all of this done by the end of the day tomorrow, I’ll throw down another $250 loan to Kiva entrepreneurs.

I’m grateful to RGN and the You.Propelled community, as it’s because of their sponsorship that I am getting so much done lately. You can thank them for my reappearance on this blog, because otherwise I would still be search engine optimizing and creating content for my kids network. I’d encourage you to get something done and enter a proclamation on their site, because it’s even more satisfying than crossing something off your to-do list (because I’m so unsexy like that).

So what are you going to get done today?

This post is sponsored by Propel® for the You.Propelled Program.

The lessons I’ve learned in the last 4 months probably surpass the lessons I’ve learned in my first 3 1/2 years of blogging. Many of them were lessons I really didn’t want to learn, to be totally truthful with you. But I’ve come off one of the best summers of my life, so I’m grateful for all that I’ve gone through.

I’m finding, now that it’s almost September, that the whole ‘back to school’ season isn’t just a big expensive wardrobe makeover for my kids, but it’s something I’ve never outgrown. Every fall I get the urge to buckle down, start new things, and focus on getting work done. Kind of like a New Years Resolution – only kicked off by Labor Day instead!

So today I am reviving an old “eMoms at Home” tradition that probably only a handful of you remember: Monday Motivation. Every Monday I would make my to-do list for the day public, and hold myself accountable with consequences if I didn’t do what I said I was going to do. Our ad network also just launched a new motivational community on Divine Caroline and it all seemed like a great excuse for me to whip my butt into gear and get some stuff done this week! (Plus, if you share something you did to streamline or enhance you life today at You.Propelled, you can be entered to win $5000.)

Today I will:

• Grab a conference call with the wonderful Kelly McCausey
• Clean out 500 emails from my inbox
• Run 2 errands
• Walk my kids home from school

If I don’t have these things done by the time I go to bed tonight, I will donate $250 to Kiva.

So what are you going to get done today?

This post is sponsored by Propel® for the You.Propelled Program.

But the real and wonderful reason I know I am going to pull this off is because I have a new VA who is infinitely better at responding to emails than I am. @JerseyMomma, I you!

But before I say Sayonara for good, I need one last push to clean out my inbox. Between being out of town for BlogHer and launching SparkplugU, my email situation has never been more bleak.

Try 747 emails. Hurl.

So let’s usher out Monday Motivation with a bang, shall we?

Step 1 – let us know what you are going to get done today, tomorrow, or this week (your to-do list, so to speak).

Step 2 – put it in a comment below or a post on your own site.

Step 3 - let us know what will motivate you to get it done – a reward, consequences, or whatever you need to think that will ensure you do what you say you are going to do. I’ve found that the public announcement and accountability is a particularly great motivator, but throw down consequences if you really need a kick in the pants to get stuff done! Unless, of course, you are working towards a new laptop too, in which case I think the reward is particularly motivating.

This week I will commit to:

I quite literally can’t face 747 749 emails in one day. So I am going to promise that every day I’ll knock off 150 emails from my ‘balance’ – including all of the emails that come in daily. I’m not sure that I’ll get much else done this week, actually!

So by the end of these days I will have this many emails left in my inbox:

Monday: 600

Tuesday: 450

Wednesday: 300

Thursday: 150

Friday: 0!!

If I don’t get all of this done by the end of the week, I will give one lucky Monday Motivation participant a 6 month pass to any class they want to take on SparkplugU.

So all you have to do to be in the running for this SparkplugU 6-Month Pass is to leave a comment or write a post with what you are committing to getting done this week before Thursday July 24. (I might just give away the pass anyway… wink.)

So what are you going to get done this week?

PS – Our first SparkplugU class launches tonight with Kelly McCausey’s Podcasting Bootcamp. If you want to register for this class and you happen to win at the end of the week, I’ll refund your registration fee!

That being said, you were all so dang sweet last week – yeah, I was having a bad day. And yeah, your comments made me feel tons better.

So here’s the Monday Motivation drill:

Step 1 – let us know what you are going to get done today, tomorrow, or this week (your to-do list, so to speak).

Step 2 – put it in a comment below or a post on your own site.

Step 3 - let us know what will motivate you to get it done – a reward, consequences, or whatever you need to think that will ensure you do what you say you are going to do. I’ve found that the public announcement and accountability is a particularly great motivator, but throw down consequences if you really need a kick in the pants to get stuff done! Unless, of course, you are working towards a new laptop too, in which case I think the reward is particularly motivating.

We don’t care how you get it done, we just want to support you in reaching your goals.

Today before I go to sleep I will:

• Clean out my inbox of a relatively “light” 270 emails (I was better about maintenance last week!)
• Prep for my Blog Talk Radio interview tomorrow with USAToday’s Anita Bruzzese on her show Smash the Ladder (as in the corporate kind)
• Make some Adserver updates
• Follow up on a killer PR lead from Peter Shankman’s Help a Reporter list

And by the end of the week I will:

• Finish all remaining pages on my new project (almost ready to break the news about it, too!)
• Write up a review of the Sony Cybershot that I was graciously given to test
• Take my kids somewhere fun
• Put up the Business Inspiration Blog Carnival

Ann, I’m going to take your advice – if I get all of my stuff done, I will take a whole day next weekend to go shooting (as in the photo kind). AND if I don’t get all of this done, no coffee for me for a week!

So what are you going to get done today?

That all being said, I didn’t get my stuff done last week. I swear that somethings got to give soon, and it just might be my hair as I pull it out in frustration with all the things on my plate right now. I admit it – I am terribly overcommitted and things are slipping through the cracks. And yes, I know you’ll tell me to get a VA, and good god do I need one, but I don’t have the budget for it right now.

I don’t quite know how I could have prevented myself from getting here, but learn from my misfortune and don’t get yourself into a position where working 90 hours a week still wouldn’t be enough (and no, I’m not working that much, but I am working way more than I want to be).

There’s a lesson in here, I know it. And when I find it, I’ll let you know.

So here’s the Monday Motivation drill:

Step 1 – let us know what you are going to get done today, tomorrow, or this week (your to-do list, so to speak).

Step 2 – put it in a comment below or a post on your own site.

Step 3 - let us know what will motivate you to get it done – a reward, consequences, or whatever you need to think that will ensure you do what you say you are going to do. I’ve found that the public announcement and accountability is a particularly great motivator, but throw down consequences if you really need a kick in the pants to get stuff done! Unless, of course, you are working towards a new laptop too, in which case I think the reward is particularly motivating.

We don’t care how you get it done, we just want to support you in reaching your goals.

Today before I go to sleep I will:

• Clean out my inbox of 396 emails
• Make To-Do list for the week

And before the end of the week I will:

• Clean my office top to bottom
• Figure out my BlogHer travel arrangements as much as possible
• Post two guest posts
• Finish all new banners & text links for our new affiliate program
• Finalize my course outline

If I don’t get all of this done by the end of the week, I will not Twitter for two weeks. YIKES.

So what are you going to get done today?

As I started out today I was poking around in Google Analytics and it was a little depressing to see that the growth I had projected wasn’t where I wanted it to be. Switching domains actually caused a dip, not growth. I then thought of that post – not because I’m on the verge of another tipping point, but more because I felt in-between tipping points. And sometimes it’s hard to stay motivated when you are on a plateau. But then I started playing around with their (new?) Benchmarking feature, that allows you to compare your site to that of the rest of your niche, in your size bracket. I was pleased to see that we were kicking arse on that front.

Sometimes we find it hard to see what we have done, instead seeing what we haven’t done. I know I am guilty of it. It was ironic that I was at first focused on our plateau, only find that no matter where our growth is, we are doing very well for our industry. I think there is a ‘glass half full’ everywhere, as long as you are willing to look for it.

So today, I wasn’t feeling very motivated. But I can take a few more little steps this week – hopefully you will join me.

So here’s the Monday Motivation drill:

Step 1 – let us know what you are going to get done today, tomorrow, or this week (your to-do list, so to speak).

Step 2 – put it in a comment below or a post on your own site.

Step 3 - let us know what will motivate you to get it done – a reward, consequences, or whatever you need to think that will ensure you do what you say you are going to do. I’ve found that the public announcement and accountability is a particularly great motivator, but throw down consequences if you really need a kick in the pants to get stuff done! Unless, of course, you are working towards a new laptop too, in which case I think the reward is particularly motivating.

We don’t care how you get it done, we just want to support you in reaching your goals.

Today before I go to sleep I will:

• Clean out my inbox of 304 emails

And before the end of the week I will

• Finish Pamela Skillings’ Escape from Corporate America (Last week I committed to two chapters. I got sucked in and read half the book. )
• Do minor updates to WendyPiersall.com (which has been neglected for.ev.er.)
• Write a course outline
• Develop pages for cart
• Develop a rough sales funnel outline

If I don’t have all of this done by the end of the week, I will clean my garage this weekend. ICK.

So what are you going to get done?

So I decided to show up today. Imperfect and all.

So here’s the Monday Motivation drill:

Step 1 – let us know what you are going to get done today (your to-do list, so to speak).

Step 2 – put it in a comment below or a post on your own site.

Step 3 - let us know what will motivate you to get it done – a reward, consequences, or whatever you need to think that will ensure you do what you say you are going to do. I’ve found that the public announcement and accountability is a particularly great motivator, but throw down consequences if you really need a kick in the pants to get stuff done! Unless, of course, you are working towards a new laptop too, in which case I think the reward is particularly motivating.

We don’t care how you get it done, we just want to support you in reaching your goals.

Today before I go to sleep I will:

• Clean out my inbox of 387 emails
  This is probably the very last thing I want to do today. *sigh*

And before the end of the week I will:

• Train Shannon on Professional Cart Solutions
• Talk to Selene about a small design project
• Finalize new products to develop
• Write up 5 pages of copy for new project
• Read two chapters in Pamela Skillings’ Escape from Corporate America

Leverage :: If I don’t have all of this done by the end of the week, I will not allow myself onto Flickr for 7 days. Since I’ve recently rediscovered my love of photography, this would KILL me!

So what are you going to get done today??

So it’s time to start planning for summer now. Last year my 94 Ways to Keep Kids Busy for the Work at Home Parent post was so dang popular it made it to the front page of Digg. In fact, it was so popular that it was the reason I spun off Shannon’s Seasonal Kids Activities blog. She focuses on kids crafts and activities that only need materials you likely already have in your home, like her recipe for slime, making Origami balls, and some super cute spring crafts.

But for me, keeping the kids happy in the summer is only half the battle. I tend to want to go outside and play instead of work, and I admittedly have a harder time focusing with all the chaos in the background. So I’m toying with the idea of coming up with some kind of summer work schedule. I’ve resisted that kind of structure in the past, but the business is getting to the point where I don’t know how else I’ll manage everything that is going on. So, Brandie, do you have any time management suggestions for us?

Today, though, the kids are still in school. And I’m going to milk every last minute they are there. I’ll get a little ambitious this week with Monday Motivation, and here’s how it works:

Step 1 – let us know what you are going to get done today (your to-do list, so to speak).

Step 2 – put it in a comment below or a post on your own site.

Step 3 - let us know what will motivate you to get it done – a reward, consequences, or whatever you need to think that will ensure you do what you say you are going to do. I’ve found that the public announcement and accountability is a particularly great motivator, but throw down consequences if you really need a kick in the pants to get stuff done! Unless, of course, you are working towards a new laptop too, in which case I think the reward is particularly motivating.

We don’t care how you get it done, we just want to support you in reaching your goals.

Today before I go to sleep I will:

• Set up a conference call with Lijit to get them set up on Sparkplugging
• Create a house ad for the ProBlogger book
• Get through the 252 emails in my inbox
• 3 loads of laundry

And by the end of the week I will:

• Have a project timeline in place for a new ‘Sparkplug U’ project I’ve been planning in my head for months
• Go for two bike rides
• Update my 10 Days to a Better Blog eCourse (which still says we’re ‘eMoms’, and still hasn’t been moved to the new domain yet!)
• Send an update email to my mailing list
• Make cookies for my hubby, our 10 year anniversary is this week!!

If I don’t have all of this done by the end of the week, I will go without coffee and tea for a week (Oh, I HATE it when I fail when I throw down that leverage!!).

So what are you going to get done today or this week?

I’d so like to NOT do Monday Motivation today based on how my day is going so far, but I have an unruly inbox that I must. get. through. today. It’s been too long since I’ve been able to set aside a Monday to clean it out, and I’m now up to a frightening 537 emails that are looming over my head. ICK.

So, what is Monday Motivation anyway?

Step 1 – let us know what you are going to get done today (your to-do list, so to speak).

Step 2 – put it in a comment below or a post on your own site.

Step 3 - let us know what will motivate you to get it done – a reward, consequences, or whatever you need to think that will ensure you do what you say you are going to do. I’ve found that the public announcement and accountability is a particularly great motivator, but throw down consequences if you really need a kick in the pants to get stuff done! Unless, of course, you are working towards a new laptop too, in which case I think the reward is particularly motivating.

We don’t care how you get it done, we just want to support you in reaching your goals.

With all that’s going on today, I’m only going to commit to one thing before I go to bed tonight:

• Clean out my inbox of 537 emails

But by the end of the week, I’ll also commit to:

• Setting up Webmaster Tools for all new blogs
• Create three badges for our authors to use on their blogs
• Clean up the rest of my house by Wednesday
• Send out 5 guest blogging inquiries
• Finish my SOBCon presentation

Leverage :: If I don’t have all of this done by the end of the day Thursday, I will go without coffee for a week (I hate it when I throw that down, because I HATE going without my coffee!!).

PS : thanks so much Brandie for holding down the fort last week while I was in Houston!

So what are you going to get done today?

I’m supposed to be well rested and revived on Mondays. But in preparation of launching with a new name *tomorrow* (we hope!), I worked over 25 hours this last weekend. My kids are so getting tons of mommy time when this is over!

And in honor of our last day as eMoms at Home, I thought it only fitting that I wear my Technorati Hottie shirt, because it’s going to be a while before I can put this thing on again.
Am looking just a little bit tired in that there photo…

So needless to say, with all the work that still needs to be done, I’m not in need of motivation as I am in need of, well, sleep. But Monday Motivation MUST GO ON, so let’s get this over with so I can get back to work and give you anxious readers your brand new site!

So, what is the Monday Motivation drill?

Step 1 – let us know what you are going to get done today (your to-do list, so to speak).

Step 2 – put it in a comment below or a post on your own site.

Step 3 - let us know what will motivate you to get it done – a reward, consequences, or whatever you need to think that will ensure you do what you say you are going to do. I’ve found that the public announcement and accountability is a particularly great motivator, but throw down consequences if you really need a kick in the pants to get stuff done! Unless, of course, you are working towards a new laptop too, in which case I think the reward is particularly motivating.

We don’t care how you get it done, we just want to support you in reaching your goals.

Today I have so much to do that I don’t want to make my usual promise of getting through my inbox – and I apologize profusely to any of you who are waiting for a response from me. But there are a couple of things that I HAVE to get done today:

1. Finalize new author contracts and send them to at least 6 of our 13 new writers
2. Respond to any outstanding advertising inquiries
3. Send out 5 emails to contest sponsors

Leverage :: If I don’t have all of this done by the time I go to sleep tonight, we won’t launch tomorrow and you will KILL me! But I’ll also give one of you $100 cash, just to keep in tradition with my usual tradition of building accountability into my day.

So what are you going to get done today?

Yet behold, the signs of life:

Repeat after me:

I will not play hooky until my deadlines are met.

I will not play hooky until my deadlines are met.

I will not play hooky until my deadlines are met.

So, what is the Monday Motivation drill?

Step 1 – let us know what you are going to get done today (your to-do list, so to speak).

Step 2 – put it in a comment below or a post on your own site.

Step 3 - let us know what will motivate you to get it done – a reward, consequences, or whatever you need to think that will ensure you do what you say you are going to do. I’ve found that the public announcement and accountability is a particularly great motivator, but throw down consequences if you really need a kick in the pants to get stuff done! Unless, of course, you are working towards a new laptop too, in which case I think the reward is particularly motivating.

We don’t care how you get it done, we just want to support you in reaching your goals.

Today before I go to sleep I will:

• Clean out my inbox of 462 emails
• 3 loads of laundry
• Finish changing WordPress settings all new blogs
• Create thumbnails for each blog
• Call Kelly McCausey

If I don’t get all of this done by the time I said I would, I will give a Kiva Entrepreneur another $250.

So what are you going to get done today?

This week is my crunch week. Next week, I guarantee you my house will look like this.  I am praying, *praying*, that we can relaunch next week with our new name. Of which yes, since you asked, has been chosen & obtained, and will remain a secret for just a little bit longer.

I have so much to do I can’t even begin to figure out what to put on my Monday Motivation list… but since this little kickstart to the week is starting to become a popular habit among many of you, I had better pull myself together and figure out what needs to be done.

What is the Monday Motivation drill?

Step 1 – let us know what you are going to get done today (your to-do list, so to speak).

Step 2 – put it in a comment below or a post on your own site.

Step 3 - let us know what will motivate you to get it done – a reward, consequences, or whatever you need to think that will ensure you do what you say you are going to do. I’ve found that the public announcement and accountability is a particularly great motivator, but throw down consequences if you really need a kick in the pants to get stuff done! Unless, of course, you are working towards a new laptop too, in which case I think the reward is particularly motivating.

We don’t care how you get it done, we just want to support you in reaching your goals.

Today before I go to sleep I will

1. Set up emails & adserver with new domain information
2. Clean out my inbox of 203 emails
3. Send out new logo info for authors to review

And before the end of the week I will

1. Have all pages set up in new root level blog
2. Have all settings/plugins/widgets set up in 2 new blogs
3. I’m scared to commit to anything else because that is a crapload of work right there

If I don’t have all of this done by the end of the week, I will have 15 pissed off authors on my hands. I’m quivering in my bunny slippers at the mere thought of that.

So what are you going to get done today?

Last week was both extremely unproductive and yet I moved mountains. I opened up the discussion on rebranding eMoms at Home, and I got an earful. I spent every waking minute on naming, branding and research. Which unfortunately meant that I didn’t do a few things on my list from last Monday. So I picked three random participants from that day, and will the following people please send me a 125×125 ad for your site:

Selene M. Bowlby

Ria Kennedy

Suzie Cheel

This week I’ll have to throw down a little steeper leverage, because my inbox is spiraling out of control and I’m close to a decision on a new name. Which means no. time. for. slacking.

So what is leverage and what is Monday Motivation anyway?

Step 1 – let us know what you are going to get done today (your to-do list, so to speak).

Step 2 – put it in a comment below or a post on your own site.

Step 3 - let us know what will motivate you to get it done – a reward, consequences, or whatever you need to think that will ensure you do what you say you are going to do. I’ve found that the public announcement and accountability is a particularly great motivator, but throw down consequences if you really need a kick in the pants to get stuff done! Unless, of course, you are working towards a new laptop too, in which case I think the reward is particularly motivating.

We don’t care how you get it done, we just want to support you in reaching your goals.

Before I go to sleep today I will:

• Clean out my inbox of 504 emails (I’m SOooooo bad!!)
• Do four loads of laundry
• Spend 30 minutes on author contracts
• Email Megan
• Meditate

I’d usually also put up a list for the week, but knowing I have a mountain of work ahead of me, I’m not going to commit to specifics. I’ve found the hard way that jumping into a rebrand is way more unpredictable than I ever could have imagined!

If I don’t have all of this done by the time I go to bed tonight, I will give a Monday Motivation participant $300 cash.

There. That should make sure I don’t get off track.

So what are you going to get done today?

Speaking of which, Char threw down a reward to a Monday Motivation participant if she didn’t get her list done – and she didn’t, which might have had something to do with their new family member Fritz:

So that means that Andrea gets some free advertising on one of Char’s blogs. Now aren’t you glad you were productive last week?

Today I’ll throw out the same offer – a free banner ad that will be featured in a new theme I am rolling out very soon – so if I don’t get the stuff done below, one of you fine readers gets a free month of advertising on this site!

So what the heck is Monday Motivation anyway?

Step 1 – let us know what you are going to get done today (your to-do list, so to speak).

Step 2 – put it in a comment below or a post on your own site.

Step 3 - let us know what will motivate you to get it done – a reward, consequences, or whatever you need to think that will ensure you do what you say you are going to do. I’ve found that the public announcement and accountability is a particularly great motivator, but throw down consequences if you really need a kick in the pants to get stuff done! Unless, of course, you are working towards a new laptop too, in which case I think the reward is particularly motivating.

We don’t care how you get it done, we just want to support you in reaching your goals.

Before I go to sleep today I will:

• Clean out my inbox of 308 emails
• Put up GoDaddy’s new ad campaign
• Set up my adserver for the new theme across all blogs
• Write up my rebranding post

And before the end of the week I will:

• Have new logo created
• Have everything Steve needs to him by Tuesday
• Legal contracts to authors updated and sent
• Posts up about SOBCon and for my Inspired Entrepreneur blog

If I don’t get this done by the time I said I would, heck, one of you – let’s make it three of you – get a month’s worth of advertising for free on eMoms at Home.

So what are you going to get done today?

The secret to success today is M.O.M. or Motivation, Organization and Masterminds.

Motivation

Lay it on the line. Get it Done. Rewards. Penalties. Holding yourself accountable. These are all terms and phrases that Wendy and I use to talk about our motivation, but the reality of it is that without motivation, you will get nothing accomplished. My biggest motivating factors are the desire to be successful and the desire to work from home. Some weeks are easier than others to keep the fire burning, but ultimately I know it all comes down to how much I want it.

Have you ever heard this saying? “A Goal Without a Plan is Just a Wish“  It is so true! Monday Motivation gives you an opportunity to re-evaluate your goals and work your plan for success every single week.

Organization

Everyone has their own style for organizing the tasks at hand and often times the biggest challenge is finding a method that really works. The strategy that I have adopted over the years is a combination of tagging email as it comes in (via Thunderbird) with color coded tags and my own custom to-do list in a binder.

You have to come up with a style that will work for you, whether it is using Outlook’s task management features, using a web-based tool such as Hi-Task, file folders on your actual desk, or managing it through your PDA. It’s not how you stay organized, but that you get it done.

Masterminds

One of the biggest challenges of working from home or building your own business is often the solo aspect of it. When you are in a traditional office environment there are brainstorming sessions, meetings, accountability structures, and plenty of socialization. When you work from home, a lot of those benefits are replaced by others – like working in your bunny slippers, no commute, and being able to tend to family needs more easily.

The best solution for the solo challenge is to find a few like minded professionals in your niche and form a mastermind group. Wendy wrote a whole guest post at Successful Blog on the benefits of mastermind groups and how to really use them as a part of your own professional development. I can’t even begin to tell you how much being a part of a mastermind group has boosted my productivity, knowledge, and online success.

Let’s Get Started

The Monday Motivation drill goes like this:

Step 1 – let us know what you are going to get done today (your to-do list, so to speak).

Step 2 – put it in a comment below or a post on your own site.

Step 3 - let us know what will motivate you to get it done – a reward, consequences, or whatever you need to think that will ensure you do what you say you are going to do. I’ve found that the public announcement and accountability is a particularly great motivator, but throw down consequences if you really need a kick in the pants to get stuff done! Unless, of course, you are working towards a new laptop too, in which case I think the reward is particularly motivating.

We don’t care how you get it done, we just want to support you in reaching your goals.

Char’s Plan

Since it is already past noon in my office and I have accomplished quite a bit already, before my day ends I will:

• Do 3 loads of laundry
• Get my Ultimate Blog Party posts up
• Wrap up one site design (and it is so close to being done)

This week I will:

• Get caught up on all client update requests
• Empty my inbox (no, I can’t even share that number with you – too big)
• Make significant progress on a new client site design
• Finish the redesign of one of my own sites
• Post on at least one of my sites each day

And since I am on Wendy’s turf this week, if I don’t get it all done, I will design a 125×125 ad banner for one lucky commenter and offer up a month’s worth of ad space for that banner on one of my websites (winner’s choice). In order to be eligible for this payout, should I lose steam, you have to comment on this post or link to it via your own Monday Motivation post.

Char Polanosky is a freelance web designer and the voice behind Essential Keystrokes and Casual Keystrokes (plus a few more).

I worked my a$$ off in February making that happen. Today, allow me the indulgence of showing off my new Home Office Ninja booty! A new Sony VAIO! W00t!

I was so excited to start work on Monday on my new machine that I cleaned my office top to bottom yesterday just so I could get to work right away this morning.

Dang, that makes me sound dorky.

Anyway, here’s the Monday Motivation drill.

Step 1 – let us know what you are going to get done today (your to-do list, so to speak).

Step 2 – put it in a comment below or a post on your own site.

Step 3 - let us know what will motivate you to get it done – a reward, consequences, or whatever you need to think that will ensure you do what you say you are going to do. I’ve found that the public announcement and accountability is a particularly great motivator, but throw down consequences if you really need a kick in the pants to get stuff done! Unless, of course, you are working towards a new laptop too, in which case I think the reward is particularly motivating.

We don’t care how you get it done, we just want to support you in reaching your goals.

Today before I go to sleep I will:

• Clean out my inbox of 279 emails
• Fung Shui my desk
• Do 4 loads of laundry

And before the end of the day Thursday I will:

• Write a post-dated entry for ShoestringSmarts
• Write an entry for Inspired Entrepreneur
• Spend 1 hour building a media contact list
• Make a coaching appointment
• Send Steve all remaining graphics for new templates

If I don’t get all of this done by the time I said I would, I’ll donate an extra $200 to Kiva entrepreneurs this week.

And you might want to check out what others are doing to get motivated on Mondays…

• WAH(Web)Mommy
• Cara’s Coffee Break
• Casual Keystrokes
• From the Park Bench
• Marcia’s Take Charge Blog
• Genesis is also going to start a Motivation Monday interview series

While this really works for me, I had an interesting reversal of this scenario happen this weekend. I had been avoiding going through my old statements and spreadsheets to get ready to file my taxes for this year. You would think that with the amount we think we’ll be getting back PLUS these new tax rebates in place, I’d be motivated to plow through and get it accomplished. And you’d think that fears of the IRS coming after me for not filing would scare me to do it.

But it wasn’t – every weekend came and went, and on Monday I was feeling guilty again for not doing my taxes.

So this last weekend, I tried a different approach. Right now, I’ve been using a temporary computer since my old laptop died. I *realllllllllly* want a new laptop. So I made a deal with my hubby and my coach: if I do the taxes, I get the laptop.

You can bet I spent all freaking day on Sunday doing tax prep work. My appointment with H&R Block is tomorrow at 3:30pm.

I have to say I was kind of surprised that I finally got myself to do this thing through a reward rather than consequences. I guess that if you are going to set up a reward system for yourself, it really only works if the rewards are things that are big enough to get you to act. While that might present a bit of a problem for our pocketbooks, I’m excited to try and figure out more ways to motivate myself through rewards.

Rewards sure are less stressful than worrying about giving $250 to Kiva or dying my hair jet black.

Here’s the Monday Motivation drill.

Step 1 – let us know what you are going to get done today (your to-do list, so to speak).

Step 2 – put it in a comment below or a post on your own site.

Step 3 - let us know what will motivate you to get it done – a reward, consequences, or whatever you need to think that will ensure you do what you say you are going to do. I’ve found that the public announcement and accountability is a particularly great motivator, but throw down consequences (or find a kick-butt reward!) if you really need a kick in the pants to get stuff done!

We don’t care how you get it done, we just want to support you in reaching your goals.

Today before I go to sleep I will:

• Clean the kitchen, hallway, & my office – done!
• Bust through the 224 emails in my inbox
• 3 loads of laundry
• Write my outline for focusing on increasing profitability
• Outline color sets for new themes

And by the end of Saturday I will:

• Do everything I need to do on my end to get enrolled in the Forbes and Mom*Logic ad networks with Adify
• Work two more hours on my friend’s blog
• Write a guest post for Liz
• Write up questions to interview Lisa Druxman and Lisa Lam
• Create vision boards with my kids
• Finalize some legal contracts

If I don’t get all this done by the time I said I would, I will give up coffee *and* tea for a week. Now I know I started out chatting it up about rewards, but honestly, I can only afford one $1100+ dollar reward a week, ya know?!

So what are you going to get done today or this week?

Except for February.

Living in Chicago SUCKS in February. It’s snowy, dirty, dark, miserable, and *everyone* has cabin fever as we long for spring. Just about the only thing to do in Chicago in late winter is taxes and cleaning. …woot. /sarcasm

So I’ve decided I want to get a jump on spring and do a little cleaning today. We’ve cleaned the house this last weekend, but today I plan on cleaning up my office. I’ve cleaned it a lot recently, but just give my kids 30 minutes or so and all my hard work is for naught.

So tops on my list today is making my office a sparkling heaven, one which makes me feel like airy & light, and makes it easy to stay on top of my never-ending list of things to do. If you need a kickstart, Brandie recently wrote a great series on Organizing your Home Office (Parts 1, 2, 3) that will make it a snap for you to get going.

Here’s the Monday Motivation drill.

Step 1 – let us know what you are going to get done today (your to-do list, so to speak).

Step 2 – put it in a comment below or a post on your own site.

Step 3 - let us know what will motivate you to get it done – a reward, consequences, or whatever you need to think that will ensure you do what you say you are going to do. I’ve found that the public announcement and accountability is a particularly great motivator, but throw down consequences if you really need a kick in the pants to get stuff done!

We don’t care how you get it done, we just want to support you in reaching your goals.

Today before I go to sleep I will:

• Clean/dust my entire desk & office
• Make my sleeping arrangements for the SXSW Interactive Conference – done!
• Change my flight for SXSW to go to Blog Network Camp – done!
• Empty out my inbox of 195 emails
• Take my kids to Baskin Robbins for a treat for cleaning their rooms

And to keep my momentum up from last week, I’ll also commit to having done by the end of the day Friday:

• Create my ad rate card & advertising promo package
• Set up 4 blogs
• Work 2 hours on my friend’s blog
• Find and buy a domain name for my brother
• Bring my car into the shop
• Write up copy for 3 landing pages

Leverage :: If I don’t do everything I said I would do, I will dye my hair jet black (yikes!). Last week, I wasn’t able to get one of my things done because I had a login issue on my other blog. So I reserve the right to not enforce this *only* if something out of my control prevents me from doing it.

So, what are you going to get done today or this week?

But when I go too long without being able to keep myself disciplined with my work, I start taking more drastic measures to get myself back on track. In the last few weeks, I have been eating better, drinking tea instead of coffee, taking vitamins, doing creative projects, and getting out of the house more often. But when these things weren’t bringing me back to my normal level of focus, I knew I had to bring out the big guns.

I hired a business coach. And not just any coach, she’s also been one of my best friends for over 8 years. I can’t bull$hit this woman, and she and I both know it.  She has also helped 5 women grow their businesses to over $1 million dollars in revenue. So I get the best of both worlds, a shoulder to cry on and a tough business-savvy entrepreneur-wrangler.

You’ll hear more and more about our work together, but for now, it means I have my nose to the grindstone and it’s not exactly pretty. I’m fine at creating my own motivation – it’s the discipline I need a little help with.

So today I’m going to do two lists – today’s list and this week’s list. Hope you’re willing to get things done with me this week!

Today before I go to sleep I will:

• Empty out my inbox
• Install two programs on this computer
• Do three loads of laundry
• Clean my office that the kids trashed this weekend
• Post two more articles to this blog and my Inspired blog

By the end of the day Friday I will:

• Have new theme mocked up
• Buy ticket for SXSW (unless for some weird reason I decide to drive)
• Work 1 more hour on my business projections
• Work at Starbucks at least one morning
• Email two old colleagues from Socrates.com
• Create new vision board
• Meditate 3 times

Leverage :: If I don’t have all this done by the time I say I will, I will donate an additional $250 to a Kiva entrepreneur (or 10 Kiva entrepreneurs if they still have that annoying $25 limit going on!).

So what are you going to get done today, tomorrow, or this week?