The Pros and Cons of Availability

While I'm not an advocate of doing business 24/7 or bringing your Blackberry to the lunch table, I do believe that you can operate from anywhere these days. The reason I mention this is that good friends of mine have been planning a trip to Florida this week. One of them just lost his job and thought that he may need to stay home in Connecticut to make phone calls, follow-up on leads and suffer.

A wise colleague of mine has a penchant for saying, "I carry my office with me in my pocket," meaning that wherever he is, he's open for business. It could be the car, an evening at home or actually at his desk with file folders in hand. He is 100% reachable, if he wants to be.

It's amazing that we have that capability these days, but I do want to advocate for the flip side of the availability issue, too. Read my blog about the times when I've found it best to be UNAVAILABLE. Please post comments and share how you manage your availability.

The important piece here is that you consciously decide when and where you want to do business. What are your priorities? What's most important? Is there room for both? You run the office. Don't let the office run you.

It's easier to manage the balance between your business and your life when you know your core values.

Do you know your core values?

It's particularly challenging for entrepreneurs to prioritize. However, I've personally found that defining what is and what isn't okay for my entrepreneurial life has helped me recognize my core values. This in turn has helped me establish boundaries and realize when it's in my best interest to say no.

In my book Soul Proprietor, 101 Lessons from a Lifestyle Entrepreneur I share Lesson 101 - "Truly understanding your core values will make some choices easier to refuse."

Here were the three values I identified for myself early on in my career:

• Having time for the people I care about.
• Feeling valued for what I do.
• Keeping my life uncomplicated.

In my book I share an experience that really tested my values. A high-ranking executive wanted me to create my custom designed eggs as a gift for each of the corporation's key employees - a thousand to be exact! After some thought, I realized that all three of my core values would be challenged by this opportunity. Since my bottom line is not measured in dollars, I said no to the executive.