If you’re like me, you probably have about 50 projects going on at the same time, right? Ever get the feeling that you just can’t keep up with everything? That no matter how many todo lists you have, you’ll never get to the end of things because you keep getting interrupted? That you’d be able to start something if you just had a place to start?

Well, I just came up with a new way to keep my busy days organized. I use a standard graph paper notebook (I like graph paper as it allows me to doodle/draw as well as take notes) in my every day business life, but I wasn’t using it to track todos (I was using Mac Stickies instead). I decided to combine my journal notes with a more visual approach to my task list.

On the right-side page, I write the date followed by two circles. The top circle is labeled AM and the bottom circle is labeled PM. Off each circle, I allow up to three lines to shoot out–these are basically time slots for activities.

In other words, I allow six major time slots per day. If I have to send a bunch of emails or make calls, I group them all under one time slot (they normally don’t take that long). Here’s the magic part–each time slot represents a task/item that must get completed, no matter what. I figure that three things max in the morning, and three things max in the afternoon should give me plenty of opportunities to knock stuff out.

By the way, if I have a meeting, it takes up a slot. That way I don’t overcommit on any given day.

On the left-side page, I write notes that relate to the tasks on the right side. This setup is also good for meeting minutes and such, keeping my business todo items and my journal more organized.

Another good thing: I can schedule tasks out as many days out as I want just by filling in pages in my notebook. Of course, I don’t want to go crazy there–I tend to only schedule pages out a few days in advance if I know there is something really important happening.

So sorry that I haven’t blogged in a while. I focused most of the late summer finishing up Geek to Peak and getting it to the editors. Then I took a two-week vacation to Ohio to visit Uncles, etc etc. To make up for past sins, here’s a quick sample of the first few pages. I think you’ll find it a good book to have if you’re gonna start a new freelance career.

Let’s make a deal, right here, right now. 
I’ll start with a promise. This is not going to be your usual book about starting a business. It won’t contain any familiar chestnuts about choosing a snazzy business name, buying a Yellow Pages ad, hiring a graphic designer to create a pimpin’ logo, and doing everything you can to be the hottest thing on the scene. It’s going to deliver realistic, targeted advice for the technical professional seeking to make his or her own way as a freelancer or consultant. In fact, it’s going to focus on your first 365 days in business, because that’s where you lay all the groundwork for your career.  

What’s more, 90% of the advice will be centered on marketing yourself as a technical professional, using techniques that will build your visibility and credibility. 

Because I know most of you hate marketing, I make a further solemn promise to give you the kind of advice that won’t make you feel like a jackass when you follow it. 

That’s my part of the deal. 

What’s your part? 

It’s simple, really. Before you proceed, you’re going to agree to a simple little thing. It’s not such a big thing at first glance, but by agreeing to it, you make yourself ready to absorb what’s in this book. We only have a few hours together, but in those few hours, I hope to make your first year in business a roaring success.  

Okay, here’s what you have to agree to: 

My name is [insert name here] and I am a complete and total ninja bad-ass in [insert name of technical prowess here]. 

Read that line a few more times to yourself, then say it out loud a few times. Walk up to your nearest significant other (if you have more than one, then all righty), spouse (ditto), brother, sister, parent, dog, or just a mirror and say it. Then repeat it a few more times, but mean it this time. Don’t read another friggin’ word of this book until you’ve got that down.  

If you’re in a bookstore just leafing through this thing, trying to decide if you want to buy it or maybe splurge your hard-earned bucks on a John Mellencamp retrospective instead, go ahead and do it anyway. Just walk up to a store clerk or that really cute guy/girl in the next aisle. Go ahead. I’ll be here when you get back. 

If you’re incapable of saying it to yourself or others, then I have some bad news for you. You’d better get to the point where you can say it, and believe it, and live it, and BE it, or your career in technical consulting will be awfully nasty, brutish, and short, to paraphrase Hobbes. 

Don’t despair, though, if you’re too scared to say it to someone else. Not yet. Just say it under your breath a couple dozen times. By the end of this book, you will be saying it to everyone. You’ll be chomping at the bit to say it. I promise. 

If you can say it out loud, right here, right now on this very first page of this book, congratulations! You’ve taken the first step. As the Consultant to the Consultants (Alan Weiss) once said to a group of us who had gathered to hear him speak in Austin, Texas, the biggest obstacle to consulting success is … low self-esteem.