3 Habits to Improve Productivity

Most business owners when they first start out are excited to be their own boss.  They’ll be their own best boss ever!  When in reality, they wind up being their own slave driver because they’re passionate about what they do, and that’s what it takes to get things done.  Those days, weeks or even months of burning the midnight oil can take it's toll on anyone, and could actually be diminishing your productivity.  Keeping healthy and reasonable habits amid your demanding lifestyle could help make the most of your efforts and keep you sane in the process.

1. The early bird really does get the worm.

     Staying up late to get work done may seem like a good idea, sometimes it seems easier to stay up later than wake up earlier.  However, not all 8 hour time blocks are created equal.  Staying up late creates more obstacles to productivity, even biological reasons, like your body producing melatonin once the sun goes down to make you sleepy.  Waking up early gives you the advantage of mental clarity and energy for your work day.  Staring at a computer screen in the dark, or even worse, taking work to bed with you, interrupts your work AND your sleep so you don’t get good results from either.  Your brain needs it’s rest and recuperation time to be able to handle tomorrow’s tasks.  Unapologetically enforce your own bedtime.

2.  Straighten out your goals before meeting others'.

     How often do you wake up to missed phone calls, urgent emails and even before your coffee is done brewing, you have already jumped into work like yesterday never ended?  Take a moment for yourself to get off the phone call/email treadmill.  Take 10 deep, slow breaths or heck, light a candle and mediate, whatever it takes to get you focused on the goals YOU want to achieve for the day.  It may seem too simple to matter, but taking a moment for yourself is stress relieving which helps you better handle the day ahead.  Focusing your energy on specific goals you set for yourself also helps drive your day more productively rather than just reacting to what’s going on around you.  Take the wheel.

3.  A healthy mind starts with a healthy body.

     Everyone hates this one.  But the simple fact is that exercise consistently keeps you feeling great physically and emotionally while boosting your energy level.  Yes, it’s hard to tear yourself away from work, but at least 30 minutes a day isn’t that big of a sacrifice for the payoff you reliably get.  It keeps you balanced and energized and your brain functioning at top capacity.  An added bonus, it will most likely help you know when bedtime is as well.  

     Incorporating these things into your daily routine might be difficult at first.  The temptation to fall back into your long but only partially productive hours can seem easier, but only because you’ve been practicing bad habits for too long.  Think of your new habits as an investment in your business.  If you’re not doing well, how will your business thrive?

     

New Year’s Resolution - Avoid Accounting Regrets

One thing that I hear a lot from clients is that they don’t really know how to separate their business accounts from their personal accounts. This can make end of the year accounting a pain, not just for your accountant but for your business too.

As a New Year’s resolution you should consider paying yourself a salary if you’re self employed. I know this may sound a little bit weird since the money comes into a business that you own, so it makes sense to just use the money of the business to cover any expenses, right? Well the problem with that is that the IRS does not really see it that way. A business and an individual are two separate entities, this of course depends on how your business is setup but most businesses including LLC’s will benefit from keeping separate finances.

What you may not realize is that this will make it easier for you to track profit and loss. For example, if you’re paying yourself a consistent salary, then you’ll know exactly how much of a profit is left every month from the incoming transactions that a business has. There are many benefits from doing this but a lot of small business owners don’t realize that they should and probably have to do this to run a more efficient business.

On the flip side, if you pay yourself a salary you know how much money you can spend every month and budget accordingly. Business owners face the additional challenges of not having a steady paycheck, this can be especially difficult for those who have grown accustomed to having a job working for someone else. Knowing how much money you are paying your employees from a business stand point is important, and you should consider yourself an employee of your company.

Setting up a salary for yourself should not be so difficult, just look at your bank statements from previous months and approximate how much net income you’ve accrued constantly every month. Make sure to leave some buffer for unexpected expenses but at the same time make sure you’re being compensated fairly to avoid dipping back into the business account.

This New Year, make a resolution of being a better business by avoiding a whole year of accounting regrets, you'll be glad you did come tax season.

Welcome to Accounting Works Solutions

Most of my clients come to me for accounting purposes and guidance, but what I do is so much more than that. I familiarize myself with current tax laws, manage payroll, expenses and income and finally and most importantly, I build relationships. I am no the kind of business manager that steps away from a client once we have an account, instead we build connections and friendships. I don’t do this because I have to but I do this because I like to.

This may sound a little silly to you but I actually really love what I do, otherwise I wouldn’t be doing it. It brings me joy to make my clients life easier and make a positive difference in their company. I’ve learned so much doing what I do, that the next logical step for me was to share my knowledge with clients, friends and well anyone who is willing to read and educate themselves.

Accounting Works Solutions has worked very hard to make itself a successful business and I have such an amazing team behind me that it was almost impossible to fail, however as any business owner knows it’s still hard out there. So, I would like to offer my knowledge on best accounting practices, tips & tricks and just general updates so you can keep yourself in the loop of the latest trends and news when it comes to managing your business efficiently. As always we are here for you in case you ever have a question or need guidance, I hope you all enjoy our blog!

-Stephen

(804) 915-7040