Each Monday, Wendy and I (along with a growing list of others) post our to-do lists, weekly goals and plans for everyone to see in a Monday Motivation post. Since Wendy is still at SxSW, she has put me in charge of Monday Motivation at eMoms today.

The secret to success today is M.O.M. or Motivation, Organization and Masterminds.

Motivation

Lay it on the line. Get it Done. Rewards. Penalties. Holding yourself accountable. These are all terms and phrases that Wendy and I use to talk about our motivation, but the reality of it is that without motivation, you will get nothing accomplished. My biggest motivating factors are the desire to be successful and the desire to work from home. Some weeks are easier than others to keep the fire burning, but ultimately I know it all comes down to how much I want it.

Have you ever heard this saying? “A Goal Without a Plan is Just a Wish“  It is so true! Monday Motivation gives you an opportunity to re-evaluate your goals and work your plan for success every single week.

Organization

Everyone has their own style for organizing the tasks at hand and often times the biggest challenge is finding a method that really works. The strategy that I have adopted over the years is a combination of tagging email as it comes in (via Thunderbird) with color coded tags and my own custom to-do list in a binder.

You have to come up with a style that will work for you, whether it is using Outlook’s task management features, using a web-based tool such as Hi-Task, file folders on your actual desk, or managing it through your PDA. It’s not how you stay organized, but that you get it done.

Masterminds

One of the biggest challenges of working from home or building your own business is often the solo aspect of it. When you are in a traditional office environment there are brainstorming sessions, meetings, accountability structures, and plenty of socialization. When you work from home, a lot of those benefits are replaced by others - like working in your bunny slippers, no commute, and being able to tend to family needs more easily.

The best solution for the solo challenge is to find a few like minded professionals in your niche and form a mastermind group. Wendy wrote a whole guest post at Successful Blog on the benefits of mastermind groups and how to really use them as a part of your own professional development. I can’t even begin to tell you how much being a part of a mastermind group has boosted my productivity, knowledge, and online success.

Let’s Get Started

The Monday Motivation drill goes like this:

Step 1 - let us know what you are going to get done today (your to-do list, so to speak).

Step 2 - put it in a comment below or a post on your own site.

Step 3 - let us know what will motivate you to get it done - a reward, consequences, or whatever you need to think that will ensure you do what you say you are going to do. I’ve found that the public announcement and accountability is a particularly great motivator, but throw down consequences if you really need a kick in the pants to get stuff done! Unless, of course, you are working towards a new laptop too, in which case I think the reward is particularly motivating.

We don’t care how you get it done, we just want to support you in reaching your goals.

Char’s Plan

Since it is already past noon in my office and I have accomplished quite a bit already, before my day ends I will:

• Do 3 loads of laundry
• Get my Ultimate Blog Party posts up
• Wrap up one site design (and it is so close to being done)

This week I will:

• Get caught up on all client update requests
• Empty my inbox (no, I can’t even share that number with you - too big)
• Make significant progress on a new client site design
• Finish the redesign of one of my own sites
• Post on at least one of my sites each day

And since I am on Wendy’s turf this week, if I don’t get it all done, I will design a 125×125 ad banner for one lucky commenter and offer up a month’s worth of ad space for that banner on one of my websites (winner’s choice). In order to be eligible for this payout, should I lose steam, you have to comment on this post or link to it via your own Monday Motivation post.

Char Polanosky is a freelance web designer and the voice behind Essential Keystrokes and Casual Keystrokes (plus a few more).

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