Everyone is so wrapped up in imaging workflow, but what about the workflow of the business?  I’m referring to the day in day out process of making decisions, answering correspondence, talking with customers and simply managing everything that comes across your desk or computer!

So, it’s a few quick tips for a Sunday morning:

1) The best advice I was ever given was “handle each piece of paper only once!”  Put that in contemporary terms and it simply means read the email, make a decision on whatever needs to be done and then dump it or archive it, but do NOT delay dealing with the question, request or issue in the email.  Do not save it on your desktop and review it several times a day! 

I worked for somebody once who just couldn’t make decisions.  His philosophy was, why decide today, when it can wait until tomorrow?  Sure, there are times when you have to give a decision ample time to review all the options, but this was on everything.   He’d put everything off, ponder the meaning of life and as a result often missed some great opportunities.  

Today’s market waits for nobody.  We’re an instant fulfillment society and often not answering somebody mimics the “Can you hear me now” attitude of a Verizon commercial.  Silence is not a strategy and delaying an answer is often perceived as negative.   “No news is good news” just doesn’t hold water today.

2) Prioritize your daily activities.  I’m not sure where life turned around on me, but I used to wake up, hit the bathroom, have some breakfast and then go to the computer!  (sorry, TMI)  Now I go straight to Google Analytics!  Where or when did I go wrong?  Seriously, look at the things you need to do every day and get yourself into a pattern.  Once I’m through my morning routine and in the office, I go straight to the blog, then to my email, then make a quick stop at Facebook.  If everything on the site is working right, I can then start in on whatever the projects I have in the pipeline.

3) Call people back!  If somebody made an effort to call you and you weren’t available, get back to them ASAP.  The same goes for email.   Make everything in your business that’s related to communication a priority.   If you schedule clients during the day then do the same with your outgoing phone calls.   

4) Make marketing a priority!   Part of your workflow needs to include time for new projects.  You need time to be creative and do whatever you do to get those creative juices flowing.  For me, it’s the music playing in the background that helps to drive the thought process.  (Anybody else using Pandora – it plays on the computer all day long!)  Some times all I need is  just a short conversation with a friend or associate who I admire.  But if you don’t make the time then you can’t create sounding boards for your ideas.

5) Be a lunch slut!  Okay, it sounds offbeat, but it’s not really.  I’ve often referred to myself as the biggest lunch slut in the photo industry!  But here’s what I love about lunch – unless you’re flat out on a project that won’t let you take a break, you’re going to need to eat.  So, why not do it with a friend or an associate?  Why not use the conversation time over lunch to not only catch up, but bounce a few ideas off of new ears?  You listen to yourself all day long, but you don’t get the same response as the expression on somebody’s face listening to a good or bad idea when they’re sitting across from you.  So, add lunch once a week with somebody out of the office to your priority list and workflow.

6) Archive it – File it – Get rid of it!  Being a pack rat is fine, but when you’ve completed something get it off your desk and away.  It will accomplish nothing to have stacks of papers or tons of handled emails staring at you all the time.   You need to clear space on your hard drive in your computer and in your head.

7) Keep a journal or diary…I’m not talking about the diary my sister had in fifth grade, but a simple notebook of things you work on during the day, notes from phone calls etc.  I’ve found it really helpful to keep a spiral notebook on my desk and when it’s full I start another one.   I can already see those of you who are Crackberry and i-phone addicts rolling your eyes, but for me it still works better to write out the information long hand rather than load it into my computer.  I remember it better if I’ve written it down instead of typing it.

8) Last but not least,  recess and nap times were terrific when we were little kids, but how come we forgot about them when we got older?   You need a break now and then so take it!   You don’t have to have a little rug to sleep on like you did in kindergarten, but pulling your brain out of the daily routine for a few minutes and going to “recess” will definitely help you get organized.

In reading this over, I’m not sure what the title should really be….but I’ve always been a fan of using Sunday mornings to be a little more analytical and reflective.  It’s a great time to think about how you can make your business stronger, your life a little more enjoyable and spend more time doing what you love to do instead of what you have to do!