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A Time Management System for Creative EntrepreneursCompanion Workbook

Welcome! I am so glad you are here and I want to personally thank you for purchasing a copy of Instant Insights: A Time Management System for Creative Entrepreneurs. In this workbook you will find a printable version and color examples of the activities referenced in the book.

Buying the book was step one. Step two is to grab some pen, paper, crayons and your calendar and work through the tools in this book. I find that many creative entrepreneurs talk about wanting to be more productive and manage their time but when it comes to doing the work they resist and fail to make planning a priority. I invite you to commit to doing the work necessary to take your life and your creative business to the next level.

Here’s what you will find inside the workbook:

• A Core Values Assessment• A Time Management Checklist• The Time Audit worksheet• Sample Time Blocking• Sample Marketing Calendar

You will also find two videos on the download page with examples of “Clearing the cobwebs” and “Mind Mapping.”

Who is Dr. Minette Riordan?Award-Winning Entrepreneur and Best-Selling Author of The Artful Market-er: The Fundamental Business Guide for Creative Entrepreneurs, Dr. Minette Riordan successfully built a multi-media publishing company, turning a small quarterly newspaper into a monthly magazine with a circulation of 50,000 cop-ies distributed through over 300 locations around the Dallas Ft. Worth Metro-plex. She also hosted wildly successful family expos with hundreds of vendors and thousands of attendees.

When she first started her business, Minette knew nothing about marketing and sales. In fact the first time she stood up a local networking event, she was so nervous her knees were shaking and her face turned bright red. She was terrified to pick up the phone and make a sales call. But she knew if couldn’t master sales,

she wouldn’t have a business. What Minette finally discovered was that building relationships, being curious, and listening to people are the keys to sales success.

Minette went on to gross hundreds of thousands of dollars in that business and discovered that what she loved most was coaching other small business owners on how to grow their business.After 11 years in the publishing industry, Minette sold that company and relocated her family to beautiful San-ta Barbara, CA. She now runs her coaching & training business from her home near the beach. When she’s not working, she loves spending time with her family, taking long walks on the beach, making art or enjoying a glass of red wine. You can connect with her online at www.PathtoProfitAcademy.com.

© 2016 Dr. Minette Riordan. All rights reserved. www.PathtoProfitAcademy.com

Introduction

Values are the cornerstone of your relationships and determine what you believe about money, free time, work, friends, intimacy, clothes, politics, family, and spirituality. Values drive your actions and add meaning to your life. One of your essential assignments in business is to identify your values: first for your personal life and second for your business.

Each of us has a set of values which are easily identified and prioritized for you to make the best decisions; these values feel right to your gut, your heart, and your head. Imagine the freedom of knowing that you are making accurate decisions and never have to look back or think twice!

Do you remember a time when you made a wrong decision to lie - to skip a day from work and call in sick? When you examine that decision you’ll see that you knew what you were doing was wrong - like buying alcohol in high school - but you did it anyway. The voice inside that made you feel guilty or reminded you the action was wrong was your core value voice speaking.

You can of course ignore the truth about what you value but the voice never really goes away.

Know what you value as an individual.

Living a values-based life is equivalent to living a heart-centered life.

Your values hover in the background of your thoughts and emotions as ghostly reminders of what you believe is important: you’ll recognize them as strong desires that motivate you and lead you to action. Let’s take some time to rediscover what matters to you.

Instructions

1. Print out page 4 with the list of values words. First, put a circle around all of the words that you feel are im-portant, right, or necessary. Circle as many words on the list that are meaningful to you. Don’t think about it. Just start circling! Give yourself several minutes to do this.

2. Next, go back and put a star next to half of the listed words that are the most meaningful to you. These words are the core of what is important and what defines right or wrong for you.

3. Finally, narrow down that list by underlining, highlighting or marking ten of the words. These words drive you, internally motivate your decision-making process, and define you as a person.

4. You should do this assessment twice, following the same steps. Do it once for your personal list of core values and then revisit the list and focus on your business. There will likely be some cross-overs but also some differences.

The key here is to drill down to the critical core of who you are from a values-based perspective. Note that on your original lists from steps two and three, you probably found words that were important to your family, your community, or your church that feel like “shoulds.”

Core Values Assessment


Your goal is to create a very clear mental image of what matters to you in your personal life and your profession-al life. Our values can shift between work and home. Trust your heart and trust your gut because values elicit strong feelings.

Last step. Transfer your values in order of importance to a clean sheet of paper. One of the challenges you face is that if, after you do all this work (coming up with a great list of values and getting excited about how it can help you), you stick it in a drawer and forget about it. Keeping your values visible helps overcome this challenge of obscurity. Print your list out and hang it somewhere that you can see it.

Remember that it is okay to have several different lists of core values: your individual list, family list and a business list for example. In fact, I encourage you to create one list for your personal values and one list for your business values.

One last note: the list of 10 core values you are creating does not infer that other values are not important as well. We all have different ideas, emotions, and feelings attached to a variety of values. Don’t feel that you are limited to the top ten: just be clear that values you choose are true to you and not values you feel you “should” adopt because of race, religion, politics, community, or culture.

Write your list of 10 core values here with a few words about why they matter to you:1.__________________________________________________________________________

2. __________________________________________________________________________

3. __________________________________________________________________________

4. __________________________________________________________________________

5. __________________________________________________________________________

6. __________________________________________________________________________

7. __________________________________________________________________________

8. __________________________________________________________________________

9. __________________________________________________________________________

10. __________________________________________________________________________

Summary: Values are the guardrails on your highway of life, and they keep you from veering too far off the shoulder. They help you focus and define the most empowering choices to enhance your journey, whether your goal is passion, parenting, being a professional, or simply living with a purpose.


Accomplishment

Accountability

Accuracy

Acknowledgement

Adventure

All for one & one for all

Authenticity

Beauty

Calm, quietude, peace

Challenge

Change

Cleanliness, orderliness

Collaboration

Commitment

Common Sense

Communication

Community

Competence

Competition

Concern for others

Connection

Content over form

Continuous improvement

Cooperation

Coordination

Courage

Creativity

Customer satisfaction

Decisiveness

Delight of being, joy

Democracy

Discipline

Discovery

Diversity

Ease of Use

Efficiency

Equality

Excellence

Expertise

Fairness

Faith

Faithfulness

Family

Family feeling

Flair

Freedom

Friendship

Fun

Genius

Global view

Good will

Goodness

Gratitude

Hard work

Harmony

Health

Honesty

Honor

Improvement

Independence

Individuality

Inner peace, calm, quietude

Innovation

Integrity

Intensity

Intimacy

Ingenuity

Justice

Knowledge

Leadership

Love, Romance

Loyalty

Mastery

Meaning

Merit

Methodical

Money

Openness

Order

Originality

Patriotism

Peace, Non-violence

Perfection

Personal Growth

Pleasure

Power

Practicality

Preservation

Privacy

Progress

Prosperity, Wealth

Punctuality

Quality of work

Regularity

Reliability

Resourcefulness

Respect for others

Responsiveness

Results-oriented

Rule of Law

Safety

Satisfying others

Security

Self-giving

Self-reliance

Self-thinking

Service to others

Seeing clearly

Simplicity

Skill

Solving Problems

Speed

Spirit in life (using)

Spirituality

Stability

Standardization

Status

Stimulation

Strength

Succeed; a will to-

Success

Systemization

Teamwork

Timeliness

Tolerance

Tradition

Tranquility

Trust

Truth

Unity

Variety

Wisdom

Core Values List*This is not intended to be a comprehensive list. If there is a word you feel is missing here, add it to your list.


Below you will find a series of statements about the current state of your business and your life. Answer the statements with “always,” “sometimes,” or “never.” Take a moment to acknowledge and celebrate the good hab-its you already have in place. This list is not intended to be comprehensive. It’s intended to be a snapshot of the most important balls that you need to keep juggling. As you go through the list, notice how you feel about each statement. If a negative thought comes to the surface, acknowledge it and let it go. It’s just a thought, not a reality. Nothing on this list is impossible to establish in your life. Pay special attention to the statements that you resist. Again, just notice them and ask yourself, “Why am I feeling so much resistance?”

c I regularly set goals, plan and prioritize - on a daily, weekly, monthly and long term basis.

c I have consistent structures and systems in place to support me.

c I practice good time-management skills and am diligent with my calendar.

c I regularly take holidays, long weekends, time off.

c I have a clear line between home and work, even if I work at home.

c I ask for help when I need it.

c I am good at saying no to projects or people that take too much time and energy.

c I am okay with good enough versus perfect.

c I get regular exercise.

c I eat healthy foods.

c I enjoy a regular spiritual practice.

c I reward myself for my success!

c I am positive, passionate and enthusiastic - every day!

Time Management Checklist


Now that you have completed this quick assessment, let’s take it to another level. Take out your journal or some blank sheets of paper. Grab some markers or your favorite pen and let’s dig a little deeper into your experience of time. You can download a copy of this assessment above and this journaling activity here: www.pathtoprofitacad-emy.com/time-management-book.

Connecting to your Truth through Journaling

What is your TRUTH about struggling with some of these areas of time management? Pick three areas from the checklist that you would like to improve, and answer the following three questions for each statement.

• What is the IMPACT of not mastering this; how it is affecting your life and/or your business?

• What is the most powerful DECISION you need to make to improve this?

• What is one ACTION you will take, and by when will you take it?


Are you ready to do your time audit? Take a moment to fill out the form below and discover how much time you are spending on which activities. Are you being more productive than you think? Are you being less productive than you want to? Where are you wasting your time?

Step One: How many hours per week do you spend:Checking e-mail:Watching TV:Surfing the net:Napping:Sleeping:On the phone:Arguing:Instant messaging:On social media:____________:____________:____________:____________:____________:____________:Total Hours:

Step Two: What Are You Wasting Most of Your Time Doing?

Simply identify your three worst time wasters from above.

Worst Time Wasters (include # of hours)1. __________________________________ current no. of hours per day:_______2. __________________________________ current no. of hours per day:_______3. __________________________________ current no. of hours per day:_______

Step Three: How Much Time Can You Save?Now, how much are you willing to cut back on these time wasters and start replacing them with more productive activities? Track the time you spent doing the above activities this week, and see if you canimprove with fewer hours in at least three areas.For example, if you often spend two or three hours a day watching TV, are you willing to cut that back to one hour a day? That one cut could save you ten hours a week. 1. __________________________________ new no. of hours per day:_______2. __________________________________ new no. of hours per day:_______3. __________________________________ new no. of hours per day:_______

Step Four: Total # of Hours Saved Per Week: _____

Conduct a time Audit


Sample Time Blocking Calendar

Time blocking is one of the best time-management tips I have implemented in my business. When I don’t do this, I can see where it impacts not only my work-life balance but also my bottom line. I’m just like you—if I don’t plan for and commit to my marketing activities, they don’t get done on a regular basis. What happens when I’m not marketing? No new clients are flowing in!Time blocking your calendar means putting your Big Six into specific blocks of time dedicated to the different activities you are committed to accomplishing. You can download an illustration of a calendar using time block-ing here: www.pathtoprofitacademy.com/time-management-book.The basic concept is to write yourself into your own calendar and to block off time for completing tasks, which could include exercise, putting a pot roast in the slow cooker, making sales calls, or writing a blog post. The secret to success is to take back your time and make your Big Six the highest priority. Who knows? You might get all six done before lunchtime.

Two ways to get additional support from Minette:

I’m REALLY passionate about helping creative entrepreneurs who are struggling with time management eliminate overwhelm so they can grow their business without burning out. I am so passionate about time man-agement and productivity because I used to struggle with this issue myself. I tried every calendar, planner and app out there to to try to manage my time.

When I discovered a way to make time management both fun and effective I felt relieved and excited.

I created this Time Management System for Creative Entrerpeneurs because I wanted to help as many people as I could feel the same relief and excitment that I did. If you know you would like some personal support on creating your perfect time management system, I invite you to apply for a complimentary “Time Management Strategy Session.”

In this private 30 minute session, I look at 3 main areas: 1. What your challenges are when it comes to managing your time. 2. What your life would be like without these challenges. 3. I’ll give you my best recommendations to help you get to a place where you’re living a life without overwhelm and you are building your profitable business without burning out.

These recommendations have worked for many of my clients and I promise that you’ll get a ton of value from our short time together. We’ll also get to take a few minutes to explore whether we would be a good fit to continue to work together. No pressure, no strings attached... just a great conversation with someone who listens deeply, sees your magnificence and believes that you can transform overwhelm into grace and ease when it comes to managing your time.

Ready to schedule your Complimentary Time Management Strategy Session?First, fill out this brief questionnaire. Once you will out the few brief questions, we will be in touch to schedule your session. Here’s the link: https://drminette.wufoo.com/forms/my-perfect-plan-breakthrough-session/

Consider joining The Path to Profit AcademyAre you a creative entrepreneur who is feeling both overwhelmed and excited about building your business this

year? Are you ready for an income breakthrough but you are not sure where to start?

Now is the perfect time to invest in yourself and in your business. Make this year your BEST YEAR EVER by getting the support you need!

I have helped hundreds of creative entrepreneurs just like you to build profitable businesses by creating a vibrant, visual and effective business strategy that works for your creative spirit.

I am here to tell you that there is a better and easier way to make the money you deserve, to work smarter not harder and to finally get on the path to profit and stay there.

Get the tools and support you need to get on the Path to Profit, fast. You don’t have to do this alone!

Use the coupon code Time2016 for a $200 discount on your 12-month membership.

This is the perfect program for you, and I’m ready to walk you through exactly how, step by step…

When I first started coaching and consulting I mistakenly thought I didn’t need the fancy marketing strategy and business planning that I used to build my 6-figure publishing company. Wow, was I wrong.

I really floundered my first year in business, even though I knew that planning was what I needed. Once I sat down, put a plan in place and implemented my plan – I tripled my income! Planning works.

Don’t make the same mistake I did! In this 12-month group coaching program, you will discover the simple structure to create an effective marketing plan with step by step instruction, templates and handouts so that you can focus on what works.

Once I realized that I could use my artistic gifts and talents to create a marketing plan that works, I was so ex-cited. I mistakenly believed that I had to create a traditional business and marketing plan based on spreadsheets and analytics.

And now I’m going to teach you how to do the same plus I will provide you with the accountability you need to create sustainable success all year long.

Learn more about the Path to Profit Academy at:

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A Time Management System for Creative Entrepreneurs ...pathtoprofitacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/...• "e Time Audit worksheet • Sample Time Blocking ... 6. _____ 7