Advice - Telefini Small Business Blog

Gone Fishing – Learning Strategy, Patience, & Courage to Trust Your Instincts

Posted by Sheely Mauck on Friday, 04 May 2012 in General Help

With trout fishing season officially kicking off last weekend in Eastern Washington, I’ve found myself reminiscing about my childhood years of going fishing with my dad. This was the time of year that we’d go to renew our fishing licenses, pick out new bait and supplies, and of course grab some yummy snacks to take with us. We most enjoyed trout fishing in the multitude of lakes and rivers around Yakima. Reflecting on those experiences now, I realize that the hours spent along the riverbanks with my dad taught me the importance of strategizing, the virtue of patience, and the rewards of trusting your instincts, even if that meant going against common wisdom. All three of these lessons apply to being an entrepreneur or pursuing your professional goals.

Strategize & hedge your bets

After renewing our licenses, the next step was to refresh our supplies and develop a strategy. Rarely did my dad and I use the same bait or set up. I might start out with a float and some power bait (I know, definitely not the most natural bait out there). My dad would use live bait – fresh worms we dug up at our ranch or if at a river, he’d fly fish. We’d also choose different locations to test out. We figured if we diversified as much as we could, we would be able to figure out what the fish were into that day and make the most of our time. If we found that one strategy was really working better than another, we’d both employ it.

Hits: 51 0 Comments

Racing Against Time - 3 Strategies for Managing Your Procrastination Tendencies

Posted by Sheely Mauck on Friday, 20 April 2012 in General Help

I am a huge fan of deadlines. I’m an even bigger fan of using every second up to the deadline – after all, you’re not late if you complete a task before the deadline occurs, right? During school, I was definitely one of those students who stayed up all night finishing a paper and printing the final copy just minutes before class started. There were times when I didn’t even start writing a paper until the night before it was due. Regardless of how exhausted I was afterward, this pattern of behavior was actually reinforced, as for many years, I did better on the assignments I procrastinated on versus the ones I actually started days or weeks in advance. There is some evidence showing that procrastination can be good and even lead to innovation (see Whitney Johnson’s article on the Harvard Business Review Blog Network here). In general though, I’ve come to realize the overall quality of work decreases the more you procrastinate. Plus, the mental and physical effects of waiting until the last minute invariably take their toll on your overall productivity. Since my days at school, I have developed a few strategies to curb my procrastination tendencies, which hopefully you will be useful for you as well.

Scaffolding

There are countless reasons to procrastinate, though I find a key driver of my procrastination stems from my inner perfectionist that wants everything to be just right (if you haven’t already done so, check out my article on the challenges of being a perfectionist entrepreneur). I start to procrastinate if I begin to question or fear whether I’ll be successful or 100% perfect. By putting something off, I am essentially building my rationale for less than perfect results. The self talk goes something like this: “Well, of course I didn’t do well - I only worked on it for a few hours just before the deadline.” To combat this, I’ve utilized a strategy from my days in youth development, called “scaffolding,” in which you break down a high level skill or task into easily manageable pieces.

Hits: 68 0 Comments

Geek Appreciation Day – Tech Tricks from our Favorite IT Gurus

Posted by Sheely Mauck on Friday, 23 March 2012 in General Help

To be honest, I don’t know if there is an official Geek Appreciation Day, but here at Telefini, we’re taking today to recognize the hard work of all the wonderful “geeks” (a.k.a. IT Professionals) who are serving or have served us over the years. We know the outstanding support and service these professionals offer can tend to go unrecognized. After all, how many times have you called your IT person when things are actually working perfectly? In celebration of "geeks", I have listed a few tech tricks that can make both your life and your IT department’s world a little easier. At this point, I must mention that in Microsoft’s words, “I’m a PC,” so the tricks I’ve outlined below are for fellow PCs. Of course, we’ll be happy to do another article in the future with tech tricks for Macs (we’ll need to pull in our Mac friends though for the best advice).

Curing the “singing frog” syndrome

Do you remember that Looney Tunes cartoon with the old man and the frog who only sang when no one was around? Every time the man tried to show someone else, the frog would just sit there and let out a loud “ribbit!” Here’s a link to it on YouTube if you want to check it out here.

I always think about that poor man whenever I have a tech problem that “miraculously” solves itself as soon as I get someone to look at my computer. Or, how about the infamous strange noise coming from your car that occurs every moment except at the repair shop? I don’t yet know a trick for ensuring your mechanic hears the rattling noise in your engine. However, I have learned a great trick for at least proving to your IT person that a message popped up, a file is missing, or you don’t have access to the resources you’re supposed to have access to.

Taking a screen shot is a quick and simple way to show exactly what’s visible on your monitor. The next time you wish someone was around to see what you’re seeing (and prove that you’re not crazy), simultaneously hit Ctrl-Shift-PrtScn. The “PrtScn” stands for Print Screen, and usually appears in the very top row of your keyboard. Once you’ve hit Ctrl-Shift-PrtScn, you can open any word processing application, and paste the screen shot into a new document by either Right Clicking or hitting Ctrl-V.

I usually prefer Microsoft Publisher as it is quite easy to make simple photo edits (e.g. cropping the screen shot, rotating, or increasing the size), and it allows me to easily save just the screen shot as a picture, rather than having to save the full Publisher document. I’ve also used this trick when error messages have popped up and I want to show our IT department exactly when and where the error appeared. Screen shots can help your IT team troubleshoot and problem solve more quickly as they won’t have to spend as much time trying to understand exactly what the problem was – you can just show them, rather than trying to explain how “the flashy thing with the red circle and gray box keeps showing up.”

Hits: 84 0 Comments

Beware the Ides of March…

Posted by Sheely Mauck on Thursday, 15 March 2012 in Management & Business Development

...Don’t let your business repeat the mistakes of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar

Every year in my high school English classes, we’d focus on one of Shakespeare’s plays. While Julius Caesar was actually my least favorite, I always liked the line, “Beware the Ides of March.” In thinking about running a business, this quote, along with a simple analysis of the character, Julius Caesar and surrounding events, can provide some insights to ensuring your business strategy is successful. Disclaimer: I did not major in English Literature, and I fully admit that I’m focusing on a very narrow aspect of the play. Disclaimer aside, I see three key errors that every business should take heed to avoid.

Mistake 1: Ignoring or misreading warning signs

Very early in the play, Caesar and his entourage enter a public square. A soothsayer (fortune teller) approaches Caesar and exclaims “Beware the ides of March.” While Caesar asks the soothsayer to repeat his statement, he ultimately dismisses the soothsayer as a dreamer and goes about his way. The Ides of March (March 15^th in the Roman calendar) is the day Caesar is betrayed by his fellow men and faces his ultimate demise. Caesar continues to ignore potential threats when he dismisses Artemidorus who tries to give him a letter outlining the individuals involved in the plot against him. Beyond ignoring warnings that he’s in danger, Caesar and those around him grossly misread numerous omens and signs of foreboding until it’s too late.

Key Take Away: Understand your environment

Hits: 56 0 Comments

3 Tips for Surviving the Dreary Dumps of February

Posted by Sheely Mauck on Friday, 17 February 2012 in Info

It takes resiliency to live in the Northwest through the month of February. We’re known for the rain and never-ending gray days that even hide our beautiful mountain ranges - hence the phrase, “the mountain is out” when the sun happens to break its way through the thick blanket of dullness. February in Washington really pushes you to be strong. One of my favorite local authors, Tom Robbins has even lamented about the dreary, constricting, frustrating, disappointing month of February. In his novel Jitterbug Perfume, Robbins writes that:

“However more abbreviated than its cousins it may look, February feels longer than any of them. It is the meanest moon of winter, all the more cruel because it will masquerade as spring, occasionally for hours at time, only to rip off its mask….and spit icicles into every gullible face, behavior that grows quickly old.”

I love this description of February, and I highly encourage you to read the full passage. I can send it to you if you like. I write about February right now because I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling increasingly claustrophobic and antsy. There’s this lingering feeling of anticipation…for what, I’m not sure, but for something that never seems to arrive. Perhaps, it’s waiting for that warm, sunny day. Speaking of which, do you remember that rare stretch of beautiful, warm sun a couple weeks ago? It seems like it was ages ago now! As we wait for the shortest month to take forever to pass, I offer these three tips to survive the remainder of this lackluster month.

1. Bring the sunshine to you, even if it’s artificial

Let me be clear - I’m not referring to tanning booths. Rather, find ways to brighten your space, at home and work. Open the blinds, get light colored curtains, bring in new plants, or even consider getting those “daylight” light bulbs (I don’t know their official name). This may sound silly, but I even find that just changing the background image on my computer monitor to a sunny, beach landscape has made me feel a little better. At least I can day dream about a sunnier, warmer place.

2. Stay active

I know there are numerous reports and advice out there about the importance of exercise, but more than anything, I’d say it’s good to just keep moving. Go for a walk, go dancing, just do something that gets you out and about. I admit, as much as I have to drag myself to the pool, I always feel really good after a good swimming workout. Plus, you can reward yourself with a sauna afterwards. Whatever you choose, find something that gets your circulation going – walking, swimming, playing tennis, etc. My physical therapist used to reiterate how exercising simultaneously does wonders for your brain and cognitive capacity because of all that increased blood flow (I know she purposely reiterated this point to me, since at the time I was wrapping up grad school).

3. Plan for better days

I find that making some concrete plans for a spring trip, or even taking a weekend trip 50 miles away can help overcome those feelings of being stuck in the February rut. Go to the ocean, go hiking, explore a new city or town, or find a great a restaurant. Even locally, if I spend a day in Columbia City or explore Ballard, I feel better (I’m sure that’s partly because it ties into that whole staying active piece). Even a trip to Owen Beach in Tacoma can significantly brighten my spirits – if you haven’t been there, you should check it out sometime. For those living outside of Tacoma, Pt. Defiance (including the 5 mile drive) and Owen Beach could just be that perfect weekend trip. Go have some fun over this long weekend – weather be darned!

These are a few steps I take to help February pass more quickly and less painfully. Tell me what you find to be helpful. Do you have suggestions of new places to check out ?

Hits: 145 1 Comment