How to have a system

 I have just resigned from the company where I worked for more than 18 years. Sad as it may, I looked forward to trying my hand at freelance jobs online. The idea of working from home from this day on seemed appealing and I want to focus into it as my new career. I mean, how hard can it be, right? I have 20 years of solid corporate background in my career arsenal. But boy o boy, was I in for a surprise. The possibilities abound in the online world and therein lies the problem, it is a whole new ocean for me, and I didn't know where to start. 

There are a lot of things that I want to do, first, to find an online job to support my family's finances, so I considered virtual assistance, bookkeeping, accounting services, data entry, transcription, writing, graphic design, social media marketing, email marketing, e-commerce and all the other jobs being posted on jobsites. Second, I wanted to get back on my writing, start a blog since I considered myself to be a writer a long time ago but life somehow got in the way so my writing took a back seat. Third, I wanted to create a YouTube channel where I can share my life's learnings. Fourth, I wanted to make an e-book and fifth, I wanted to create an online course.

The result, I am overwhelmed by all the things that I wanted to do. And overwhelmed with the all the things that I need to learn.  In just a few days, my notebook was filled with a lot of information from all the webinars that I watched when before it was only filled with meeting schedules and report deadlines. I signed up with a lot of online jobsites and took different basic tests for my profile, I joined a lot of Facebook groups and read a lot of tips and tricks on how to land an online job. It's only been a week since I decided to get serious with my online career and I am overcome by information fatigue.

The past week was chaotic since my focus was jumping from one idea to the next. I need to focus on what I really want as of this moment. So this is where I need to have a system. The following are the steps I made for myself to avoid being swamped and getting tired needlessly:

A) Have a Goal

I needed to establish a goal as it will serve as an anchor in case I drift aimlessly in the online world. After some serious thought on the things that I wanted to do and become, I came up with my goal statement which is:

I want to become financially free, that is me living a simple life on a farm with my family- having a steady income from my e-books, online courses, blog site and YouTube channel. I would also like to help other women improve their lives and teach them about personal finance as this is where my interest lie.

B) Plan

The next step will be to plan or map out what I need to do to achieve this goal. From such a simple statement, the things I need to do are the following:

    1) Have a steady income from my e-books, blog site and YouTube channel.

         What needs to be done?

                a) Create a blog site

                b) Create a blog site

                c) Create a YouTube channel  

                d) Write an e-book

                e) Write an online course

    2) Simple life on a farm

            What needs to be done?

                a) Check out farm properties being sold in the area where I want to relocate

                b) Create designs for a small house

                c) Create a budget for the farm and small house

                d) Start saving for budgeted amount required for the property

    3) Help other women improve their lives and teach about personal finance

            What needs to be done?

                a) Become a trainer/public speaker

                b) Learn more about personal finance

                c) Learn how to be able to teach about personal finance

C) Implement

After planning out what to do, the next step will be to implement the things that need to be done. Here, I need to list down in detail how I will implement my plan. So for the steady income, it will be as follows:         

  1. Create a blog site

      1. write blog posts

      2. network with other bloggers for improvement and support

      3. check or research on how to monetize the blog site

  2. Create a YouTube channel

    1. Create YouTube content

    2. Practice filming self

    3. Learn video editing

    4. Improve

  3. Write an e-book

    1. Prepare your topic

    2. Learn how to write in an e-book format

    3. Write

  4. Write an online course

    1. Prepare your topic

    2. Learn how to make an online course

    3. Create an online course

Same goes for the rest of the identified things that need to be done.

D) Time Management

The next step after set up of implementation will be to set a schedule for each of the identified things that need to be done. I will need to create a block schedule for each activity, I can also sub-divide the activities into smaller ones so it would be more manageable for me to accomplish them. Having a schedule will also give me a tracking system on the activities that were already done and still to be done.

With this system in place, at least I have an idea on what to do and where to start. It will also help me achieve my goal easier because the distractions have either been eliminated or kept at a minimum. As with plans, these steps are not set in stone, I can always go back see where I need to improve but at least these steps will guide me in my journey to the virtual world.

Comments

Post a Comment