Imagine a Samurai warrior who “kind of” understands how to use a sword. He is “somewhat familiar” with a bow and arrow. In hand to hand combat he’ll “figure it out” if allowed enough time for trial and error.

It sounds absurd when, for a Samurai, his level of proficiency determines his survival. He has no choice but to pursue mastery so, day in and day out, he trains — eventually attaining a level of intimacy with his tools that borders on unnatural (Samurai would name their swords and considered them to be part of the living world).

Anyone reading this blog post is probably classified as a “digital worker.” Operating systems and software packages are your sword and shield. Yet, in this context, similar statements are not considered absurd, but are commonplace and expected:

“I’m not great with Photoshop, but I can crop a photo if I have to.”
“I think I can do that, just give me a chance to Google it.”
“I can create a Powerpoint presentation but don’t understand all the advanced features.”

We limp along in our digital workplace hindered by our lack of familiarity with the very tools we use to create, perform, and get the job done. We tolerate mediocre capability in ourselves (and each other) seemingly because no one is holding each other to higher standards.

We are constantly struggling to get our tools to do what we want, we waste a lot of time figuring them out. This is due, most immediately, to inadequate training but it boils down to an almost universal acceptance of ignorance.

Software is not complex. In fact, a lot of thought is put into making it as user-friendly as possible. If you struggle with a certain software or performing certain tasks, it’s not because it is challenging, it’s because you haven’t invested the time to train, learn, and master your tools.

It is incredible that people spend at least 8 hours a day using software that is that is so intertwined with their livelihood yet they are okay with squeaking through the day with just enough skill and knowledge to do what they need to. They don’t concern themselves with anything more than what is necessary leaving countless, powerful features underutilized. They have constricted their performance by only learning what is necessary.

They awkwardly stumble through the day, ignorant to how they could be working faster and producing better results.

First, master your operating system.

Pick up a guide to your operating system and read it. Then pick up an advanced guide to your operating system and read that. In fact, don’t just read. Do the exercises and take notes. Then reread it six months later. When you are running up against a deadline, you don’t want to get hung up because you don’t know how to install a printer driver.

Then, master your software.

Make a list of the software that is most closely tied to your productivity. Is it the Office suite? Don’t be so arrogant to think you are proficient. You’ll be amazed what you don’t know about Microsoft Word (let alone Excel).

Read through the software’s documentation. If there is a list of keyboard shortcuts, print them out and post them somewhere in plain sight. If the software is common enough, seek out a tips and tricks guide. If it is a more obscure app, subscribe to the developer’s blog or find a user group and monitor the discussions.

Finally, master your workflow.

Define each task you complete and create a process or system for how it should be done. Put a lot of thought into it. This is where the rubber hits the road and, chances are, unless you’ve done this before, you probably aren’t doing things the best way possible.

Google for other’s tips and tricks for the best ways to handle different situations. There are very efficient ways to do even simple things like checking your inbox and voicemail that you are probably unaware of.

Work without thinking…

When you work, you want to free your mind to concentrate on the task at hand. If you constantly run into knowledge gaps that take you off that focus, you are killing your productivity, creativity, and efficiency.

You should be able to perform tasks without thinking about how to do it. It should become second nature and that only comes through study, practice, and dedication.

It’s not a difficult thing to do, you just need to hold yourself to higher standards, commit, and invest yourself in becoming a better digital worker… one who actually understands his or her tools.

Related posts:

1. Flow State and Computer Work: Get More Done, Faster, and Better.
2. Beginner’s Guide to Small Business Outsourcing – Part 1

Outsourcing can be intimidating to start and there are quite a few pitfalls along the way for beginners. Some people try hiring someone on Elance a few times, have a horrible experience, and, unfortunately, go back to doing everything themselves.

Drawing on my knowledge as the owner of an outsourcing company, I am starting a three part series of posts that will help you avoid many of the common mistakes, lay out a strategy that will give you the greatest chance of success, and help you get the most value out of outsourcing.

Part 1: Deciding what to outsource

Deciding what you will outsource is what determines the value you get out of outsourcing. All the leverage resides right here, before anything is even delegated. Many people forget this and don’t put enough thought into this all important planning phase and find that, though they are outsourcing quite a few projects, they aren’t getting any value out of it — they are just as busy and stressed as ever and their business is not moving forward any faster.

Investing a little thought and time into picking the right projects and tasks to outsource ensures that you get the most out of your outsourcing. This is the plan I generally propose:

Step 1: List off ALL tasks and projects within your business

Don’t just list off the projects you think are good candidates for outsourcing. Don’t just list off the ones you don’t feel like doing yourself. Just dump everything your business does into a list. Here are some prompts to help you get everything onto paper:

• Recurring tasks
• One off tasks
• Tasks required for new customers
• Marketing tasks
• Administrative tasks
• Bookkeeping tasks
• Advertising tasks
• Neglected tasks
• Procrastinated tasks
• Favorite tasks
• Tasks you hate doing
• Time-consuming tasks
• Fun tasks
• Tasks you’ve planned but haven’t executed
• Large tasks
• Small tasks
• Things you should do but don’t

Step 2: Can it be outsourced?

Go through your list and cross off those tasks that cannot be outsourced. Be careful that you are not crossing off tasks that could actually be outsourced – there are typically very few activities that need to be done by the business owner.

STEP 3: Determine your value criteria

What is valuable to you at this point? What matters most? Do you need more time? More money? Do you need to feel less stress? Do you need to move your business forward?

Pick your top two or three most important value criteria and rate each item on your list of projects on a scale of 1 to 10.

For instance:

Find new advertising opportunities
Time savings: 7
Make money: 9
Average: 8

Taking the average of those ratings should give you a good idea of which items you should begin outsourcing.

In Part 2 of this “Beginner’s Guide to Outsourcing” I will be discussing how to pick the best outsourcing provider and the preparation work necessary to making sure things go smoothly.

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1. How to Stop Not Delegating
2. Focus & Get Projects Done Faster

It’s easy to find yourself working on several projects at a time but it is horribly inefficient.

Like dropping a photo of a triple bypass in progress over the Wendy’s drivethrough menu might motivate me to find a healthy alternative, I’ve found a succinct little illustration that helps keep me focused.

When I start to add another project to my task manager, this little image pops into my head and I add it to my “Someday/Maybe” folder rather than my “Current Projects” folder…

This is an illustration of two different ways to attack three projects.

In the first approach a project is worked on for three days until completion and then you move onto the next three day project, complete it, etc. This illustration is probably more helpful:

The other approach is to work on one project for a day, switch to another the next day, the next, back to the first, etc. This isn’t meant to be representative of typical behavior, only to show the impact of switching between projects.

Focused approach:

Average completion time =  6 days
Best completion time =  day 3
Worst completion time =  day 9

Unfocused approach:

Average completion time =  8 days
Best completion time =  day 7
Worst completion time =  day 9

This is the point: The more you try to take on, the longer it takes to get any one thing done.

1. Even though you worked on each project for three days – your average completion time is two days less by seeing one project through till completion and then moving on to the next.
2. Your best completion time is 3 days with the focused approach and 7 days with the unfocused approach.
3. Your worst completion time is no different.

If you have the discipline to see projects through without having to switch to something else to break the monotony, you’ll get projects done faster than you could by switching constantly between projects. You are spending the same amount of time, expending the same amount of energy, but you are getting things done faster than your “unfocused” competitors. Your clients will like it and you’ll know you are using your time in the most efficient way possible.

Of course, in the real world, you can’t work on only one project at at time because you’ll hit a dead end, be waiting on someone else, another project has something urgent come up. However, I do think it is still important to limit the number of projects in motion at any given time and to switch back to that original project as soon as forward movement on it is possible.

As a business owner, I feel it is my responsibility to constantly generate ideas that will move the company forward. If more than a few days pass without some new way to market or improve our company, I don’t feel quite right. I’m sure most small business owners feel the same way.

But, as your list of unexploited opportunities and un-executed idea grows, the gnawing feeling you should be doing more intensifies. “Look at the opportunities I am neglecting!” you think to yourself.

The temptation is to start working on as much as you possibly can so that none of your ideas feel left out and you feel oh-so-productive. “I made progress on 10 initiatives today!” you proudly say to yourself as you close the screen on your laptop at the end of the day. I call this the shotgun approach to getting things done. It’s deceptive because you are getting a lot done. The problem is nothing gets done as fast as it could.  (a.k.a. the illusion of productivity).

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1. Think app helps you focus

One of my favorite statistics is that 85% of drivers think they are better than average drivers. (In case you are mindlessly skimming, that’s mathematically impossible.)

We are all prone to overestimate our abilities, especially in certain areas — our love making prowess, our relative intelligence, or how funny we are — just to name a few notorious examples.

This phenomenon is widespread and psychologists have coined the term “illusory superiority” for what we layman might call: “not realizing you suck at something.”

In most instances, our illusory superiority is benign (and may actually give us some needed confidence as we go about our day), but I’d like to point out one area you may not suspect you have a problem even though you probably do: delegation.

We all feel our instructions are clear, our deadlines reasonable, that we are a pleasure to work with, etc., etc. However, if we remain humble enough to admit our delegation skills could use work, and make a few simple changes, we can dramatically improve the results and leverage we get from delegating assignments.

Here are just a few tips we’ve picked up and found helpful during our work as virtual assistants (essentially professional delegatees):

1: Fit the assignments into the big picture.

Explain the relevance of what you are asking them to do. By giving the delegatee your intent and context, they will be able to use their own judgment and intelligence to make the final results more relevant and useful. Kept in the dark, they are only able to follow instructions when, with most assignments there are many opportunities along the way to enhance the end result, and answer questions, by knowing where their piece fits into the puzzle.

2: Explain the desired result, not the steps to getting there.

Famously, Napoleon Bonaparte would give his field commanders a specific result he was trying to accomplish (a mission statement) rather than outlining a series of rigid instructions to follow. They had the freedom to act as they saw fit as long as the mission was accomplished. This allowed them to use their own judgment and make decisions on the fly, as needed, during unpredictable combat situations.

Usually, taking the time to explain the steps of accomplishing something only insults the person on the receiving end. It’s a good idea to give warnings or mention important details that are easy to overlook, but the bulk of your instructions should be spent detailing what the end result should be.

By putting your focus on what you are getting back, you are more likely to be pleased with the results. You are more likely to communicate your unconscious expectations, more likely to come up with ideas about what you would find useful, etc.

3: Make procrastination difficult

We are all busy and procrastination is an almost universal part of the human condition. Make it easy for your delegatee to meet timelines by making it difficult for them to procrastinate or delay work on your project. By asking for frequent reports and updates, a delegatee is forced to move the project forward consistently. You’ll know that the assignment wasn’t completed last minute and feel more at ease as you are kept in the loop on its progress.

4: Always provide feedback

Every assignment is an opportunity to further improve someone’s ability to perform on your behalf. Not providing feedback – both positive and negative – is missing an opportunity to get more value out of that relationship in the future. Also, it is insulting to the person who did the work that you did not even care enough to check the work and make suggestions or give compliments. Any time spent analyzing and submitting feedback will pay dividends in the future as this person becomes more capable and confident acting on you behalf.

5: Never discourage questions

When asked a question you feel was answered in the initial instructions, it’s always tempting to fire back with a tart, “Like I already said…” However, all this does is make you seem petty and the other person scared to get clarification in the future. Whether or not the instructions seemed clear to you, they probably weren’t as clear to someone else, so it’s important to remain both patient and humble as someone pins down the details. Ultimately, the fact that they took time to ask a question at all is an indication that they are trying to do a good job; their intention certainly isn’t to waste your time.

Delegation is the easiest way to boost your productivity. By empowering someone to effectively act on your behalf, you effectively multiply your ability to execute projects. It is the ultimate productivity boost.

Related Blogs

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1. How to Stop Not Delegating
2. Flow State and Computer Work: Get More Done, Faster, and Better.

A few weeks ago I “had” to justify the purchase of an iPad as a business expense. I’ll admit, rationalizing the purchase of a piece of hardware you haven’t handled, and don’t yet know the apps/capabilities it will have, is not easy.

However, I was able to come up with 10 fairly solid reasons I “need” it for work based on apps I know exist and apps I can reasonably expect to exist very soon:

1. LogMeIn on the iPad will allow me to exit my sometimes noisy office (for instance, when I need to find a quiet place for a conference call) and still have access to my desktop.
2. 3G will allow me to get work done while on the road, out to lunch, and other situations when I have no wi-fi.
3. The Wallet or 1Password iPad app will allow me to safely access sensitive information away from my desk. For instance, when I am placing an order on behalf of a client.
4. At home, the tablet form factor lends itself to a more comfortable, relaxed work style suited to half-work/half-lazy time – creating a presentation while watching movie, for instance. Also, I probably won’t be yelled at for working all the time as the iPad won’t be associated with work.
5. A dedicated place for task management. When it comes to task management, I am torn between paper and the incredible, feature-rich Mac apps (Omnifocus, Things, The Hit List). Paper is great because it doesn’t get lost in a sea of open window pollution – it sits there on my desk, in plain sight, haunting me. The iPhone apps are great but the screen-size does limit their usefulness to occasional reference and on-the-go additions. By having the Omnifocus iPad app on display at all times, it offers a best of both worlds solution.
6. Information intake, processing, and storage. Part of being a business owner is staying aware of trends, on top of the latest and greatest in technology, marketing, strategy, and constantly learning. For me, a lot of this takes place on my iPhone, in bed, as I’m falling asleep. I go through my RSS subscriptions, send what appears useful to Instapaper, from there I read through it, and anything worthwhile gets emailed to my inbox for placement in our company wiki the next morning. Inefficient? Very (but it does make me sleepy). With an iPad, this all becomes easier. No longer am I staring at a 5″ x 2.5″ screen (or whatever the dimensions are) which definitely makes reading easier but I fully expect that the additional screen real estate will be leveraged by app developers to make this whole situation easier. For instance, dragging a blog post to a “bin” for Instapaper, email, etc. rather than having to click hold, bring up a menu, select the service I am interested in, etc. A small thing? Yes. But I think we all share the problem of information overload these days and anything that makes sifting through and processing information easier, and faster helps relieve the bottleneck.
7. By having an iPad and using the apps, I will be in touch with the unique aspects of app design for the iPad making developing our own iPad app that much easier and the end result that much better.
8. It’s amazing what I remember I didn’t get done but should have – research, sending files, etc. – on the drive to an offsite meeting. Having the iPad there to play last minute catch-up – word processing, presentation tweaks, emailing files, etc. – will be priceless and save precious time over trying to get it done on the iphone. The Dropbox app, which houses all my business files, makes this all possible.
9. Networking. The iPad has gotten enough buzz and media attention that it’s on most people’s radar. It’s a great conversation piece. When I’m in public using the iPad and someone stops to gawk, it’s inevitable that the conversation will turn to, “What do you do for a living?” at some point.
10. I just really, really want one… err… it will improve my morale and job satisfaction.

More than anything, after seeing what developers have been able to do with iPhone apps, I am confident that the increased processing power and screen real estate is going to open doors to productivity and business apps I haven’t even imagined. Two days till iPad day (04/03)!!!

Related Blogs

• Apple iPad Review: Laptop Killer? Pretty Close. | Walt Mossberg …

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2. This Week’s Top Three: Grow Your Business, Double Your Sales, and Improve Your Blog

1. Notelife – A flexible repository for: the miscellaneous information that we encounter throughout the day but don’t have time to process, great ideas as they strike (notes, audio, and pictures), and even getting work done on the move (draft emails, blog posts, etc.).
2. Omnifocus – After trying, literally, every task management app on the iPhone, I have decided on Omnifocus because of its location awareness. Being a small business owner I do work at home and work at the office and having a task management app that excludes irrelevant work is priceless.
3. Dropbox – Have all the files you need with you at all times and peace of mind knowing they are safely stowed away on your computer and backed up in the cloud. (Integrates with many of the following apps…)
4. Quickbooks Online – Not technically an iPhone app, they have a web-based iPhone site that gives you access to your books if you use their online service – which, as an aside, I find quite capable relative to the desktop version after recent improvements.
5. Bills ~ on your table – Never miss a payment again. Keep track of upcoming payments due to vendors and government agencies. Organize by category, view stats, beautiful interface, cloud sync, and more.
6. Carbonfin Outliner – Perfect for planning, syncs with the cloud, and is easily accessed for later transfer to your project management solution of choice.
7. Dragon dictation – Dictate and then email it. Great for when you are driving or just need to get something short out of your head fast.
8. Calengoo - The best app for accessing your Google Calendar (trust me on this one – head and shoulders above the competition).
9. Documents to Go Premium – Edit and create Office documents on the go. Geek bonus: Google Docs access.
10. ScannerPro – If you keep receipts in your wallet long enough, the ink rubs off and the IRS gets angry. Immediately scan them and, geek bonus, store them in your Dropbox.
11. PomodoroPro – I’ve already discussed the specific benefits of the Pomodoro method – this app keeps you focused, motivated, and productive by timing your Pomodoro’s and keeping a daily total.
12. GoodReader – They have perfected the PDF reading experience on the iPhone. Geek bonus: keep your PDF library in Dropbox and connect to it through this app.
13. 1Password – You’ve got enough to worry about it… tracking down your log in information shouldn’t be burning any time or brain cycles.
14. Lynda.com – Downtime? Learn some new software.
15. Lumosity Brain Trainer – Sharpen your mind.
16. Breathpacer – When you are relaxed and calm you can focus and do your best work.
17. Momento – Keep a business journal and use tags to group threads of important information you have documented such as hires, new clients, predictions, ideas, etc.
18. LinkedIn – What app list would be complete without social networking?

Looking forward to the iPad…

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2. This Week’s Top Three: Grow Your Business, Double Your Sales, and Improve Your Blog

I downloaded the free Pomodoro Technique ebook close to a year ago, skimmed it, and decided it wasn’t for me – I tend not to do well with structure when it comes to time management. About a month ago I noticed a few Pomodoro Technique iPhone apps  springing up, purchased one, and decided to give it a go.

My results using the Pomodoro Technique have been spectacular. I am in love. Here’s why:

• It forces you to pick a specific intention.
  One big problem with the free form, unstructured approach to time management that I naturally gravitate toward is that my time tends to get spent on the squeakiest wheel. Very little thought goes into where my time would be best spent. At most, I would stop several times a day and say to myself, “What should I be working on right now? What would I like to get done?” Part of the Pomodoro Technique is deciding what you will accomplish before starting the timer. This forces me to prioritize and pick where my time would be best spent rather than reacting. I am more focused (by knowing my intention, I know when I am off task).

• It forces you to reevaluate your intent every 30 minutes.
  I get into the zone pretty easily so time has a way of getting away from me. It’s not uncommon for me to “wake up” and find that I’ve spent fours hours on a project, that I shouldn’t have spent four hours on, and neglected to do something else. By stopping and reevaluating where the next Pomodoro should be spent, I am able to maintain awareness of when I should stop working on one project and begin something else.

• I get competitive with my past self.
  Competition brings out the best in me and I find myself constantly trying to beat my previous days record on Pomodoro’s (I use the Dayta iPhone app to track them). Never before has it been possible for me to measure my productivity so I’ve never been able to leverage my competitive nature to become more productive.

• I have a different perception of time.
  It’s hard to describe but time feels more measurable and discrete than it ever did before and I feel like I have more control over it. It’s as though, by giving units of time a name that is closely tied to productivity (a “Pomodoro”), I have shifted into thinking of my time as something that is spent more concretely, the way I would spend a dollar, rather than the more ambiguous concept of “spending time” I had before.

• I am much more aware of where my time is going.
  Another step I have taken to improve my time management is to define my roles as a small business owner (accountant, business development, manager, marketing, etc.). By tracking where my Pomodoro’s are spent, I am able to measure exactly how much time and attention I am giving to each role giving me a perspective on where my time is going and what roles are being neglected.

I am very pleased with the benefits I’ve gained from using the Pomodoro Technique and recommend it – if you, like me, have an aversion to structured time management, maybe take it as a sign you need something like this.

UPDATE: For Mac users only: I just discovered the super awesome, free Pomodoro Desktop.  It uses growl, allows you to label your Pomodoros, track your Pomodoros, and has more features than you’d think a Pomodoro app could have. HIGHLY recommended for anyone using the Pomodoro Method on a Mac.

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Here’s a homepage that loads quick, gives you access to Google, and will keep you on focused on what’s important:

http://www.bettermy.biz

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Have you ever worked hard all day but failed to accomplish anything significant? You worked like a dog, but you didn’t move your business forward an inch.

You probably said something to yourself like, “Today was not a good use of my time. I worked all day but didn’t get anything done that really matters. If I keep doing this, I’ll never make any progress.”

You had “the epiphany,” the one every small business owner has at some point: you have to do less to do more. You reach a point where what seems paradoxical, becomes the key to getting your business to the next level. You need to stop doing some things in your business so that you have more time to focus on important, business-building activities that only you can take care of.

Nevertheless, probably not much has changed since that important realization. You are probably still spending your time doing things you shouldn’t and neglecting to do the high-leverage work that actually moves your business forward as opposed to just maintaining and staying afloat.

You know what the problem is: you can only do so much. If growth and forward movement is going to happen, at least if it is going to happen soon, you can’t continue doing everything yourself. You need to start delegating.

For you to actually change you approach to managing your time and delegating, it will take a conscious, committed decision on your part that you’ve reached a new stage in your business. A stage where you’ve gotten busy enough that you trying to do everything yourself is actually holding your business back. A stage where delegation is key to future growth. You’ve got to internalize this to the point that you commit to start delegating and focus on freeing your time.

Perhaps the best way to internalize this is to imagine how much progress your business could make if you had 40%, 20%, or even just 10% more time to focus on business-building, strategy-oriented tasks.

Once you’ve committed to making the necessary changes, the following 3 step process may help you get there faster.

STEP 1: Find someone to delegate to

You need someone to delegate to. Of course, I hope that you will use our small business virtual assistance service. For small business owners like you, we offer the opportunity to have someone on hand to help you without the committment and cost of hiring someone to work onsite. The ability to purchase small quanities of time and use them flexibly over the course of the month makes it suprememly affordable and convenient. Finally, getting access to our entire small business team – all of their talents, skills, and resources – means that you are getting tremendous value for a flat monthly fee.

STEP 2: Clarify your “do”s and “do not”s

Make two lists: one list is what you should be doing – those high-leverage, profitable, business-building activities that make a big difference to your bottomline – the second list is those things you shouldn’t be doing – either because you procrastinate them, you aren’t good at them, or they simply aren’t the best use of your time. These two lists will give you clarity – you’ll know exactly what you should and shouldn’t be spending your time on.

Post those lists in clear view from your desk. You want those two lists memorized. You want to remember them constantly throughout the day. When you start on one of your “do not” tasks, a red flag should be raised in your mind and you should know to stop and delegate. When you look at your “do” list and realized you haven’t touched it, you should think back to what you spent your day doing and add those things to your “do not” list.

STEP 3: Make delegation simple, easy, and reflexive

Spend time considering how to make delegation likely to happen. You want to eliminate potential barriers to delegation such as resistance from yourself. You know yourself better than anyone. What communication tool are you most likely to turn to? This is one of the reasons we allow clients to send in tasks so many ways (IM chat, email, phone, dictated audio, web form, fax, etc.), we want delegating to us to fit into your natural working style. Whatever you decide on, you need to make it systematic, quick, and as simple as possible.

Once you’ve decided on how you are going to communicate the task, decide on what information needs to be passed along. We recommend you pass on four pieces of information: 1. What you want done, 2. When you need it back, 3. How long you think it should take, and 4. A description of what the final result should be ideally.

Taking these three steps makes you dramatically more likely to actually begin delegating tasks so you have more free time to spend on business building – or just relaxing.

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July has been a slow month for us. Traffic to our site is down, and there has been a proportional decrease in the flow of new clients coming in. It’s nothing to panic about, it’s just enough to leave me feeling unsettled and therefore very motivated to do something about it.

It has been this uncomfortable slowness that has ultimately made this one of our more successful and productive months. In fact, the work we have done this month will be critical to our future success as we’ve been forced to squeeze more out of less. The discomfort and stress of a lull has led to a much stronger business.

Less traffic to our website forced us to focus on improving our lead capture and follow up. We’ve refined and added to our capture mechanisms and are continuing to add to our follow-up. We’ve switched over to a new CRM and follow-up service (Infusionsoft – which I’ll be writing a review on very soon) and it’s been a fantastic transition.

When traffic picks up again, we’ll get more out of it. Rather than getting 2 leads for every hundred visitors, we’ll now get 7 or more. Better follow up means that more of those leads will eventually become clients. We are talking about at least a 300% boost in lead capture efficiency and that doesn’t account for the more effective follow up. I’ll trade a slow month of sales for that.

When slow times hit, it’s a kick-in-the-pants to get things done that are easy to put off when new clients are rolling in effortlessly. The work that goes into the lean times eventually allows you to more fully capitalize on the times of plenty.

I’ve never operated a business when we weren’t in a recession (we started just as the recession was setting in) and I’m starting to think that is a blessing. When the economy picks back up, we’ll have a tight, efficient operation forged by the constant pressure of a down economy.

I guess this post doesn’t have any brilliant insight you can’t find anywhere else it’s just a reminder to see the silver lining to a tough economy, the opportunity that lies hidden in struggle, and the optimism and strength we can gather from looking at things through a positive lens when it would be easy to do otherwise.

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