About the Author: John J. Walters is a freelance associate at Wasabi Ventures and CEO of MeetingCaptain.

I realized while I was filling out my invoice for last month that I’ve been working freelance for Wasabi Ventures for nearly a year now.  It’s been an education experience to say the least, and I thought I’d jot down a few things that I’ve learned from my boss during that time.  Not all of them will work for everybody (see numbers four and five), but hopefully you’ll find a few of them helpful.  Oh, and they’re in no particular order, for the record.

1.) Never be late to anything.  This usually means showing up early by as much as 15 minutes, as travel times can be unpredictable.  But lateness can ruin a first impression, or erode a long-standing one.

2.) Keep up with your email and your personal network.  It reflects very poorly on you when you can’t be bothered to answer a simple email — so no matter how many emails you get and how many people you have to connect with, do your best.

3.) Take short breaks/vacations.  Regularly scheduled time off is all well and good, but try to stay on top of emails and small projects in your spare time during these anyway, and don’t plan very many long trips that will keep you out of the loop for too long.

4.) Don’t sleep too much.  It seems like no matter what time I send my boss an email, day or night, I get a quick response.  This includes 4 am on a Sunday.

5.) Don’t go to bed when you travel.  I’ll admit I’m not sure exactly how he does this, but my understanding is you schedule as many meetings as possible during the day and keep up with the rest of your work at night.

6.) Enjoy life while you work.  Even though my boss seems like a workaholic robot sent back in time from the future to work way too hard, I frequently hear about short trips he’s taken with his family or quality time he’s spent at home.  Find some balance.  I guess the way he does this is by working hard at odd hours.  Scheduling is key.

7.) Make mistakes.  This is how you learn.  I can’t tell you how many times he has said this to me.  It’s both empowering and nerve-wracking, but it helps.

8.) Do stuff right away.  If you have a moment and identify something that needs to be done, do it right then and there or send a quick message to the appropriate agent.  This avoids too many things falling through the cracks.

9.) Stay up on the news.  Read quick articles and send them around to your coworkers to keep people in the loop and promote conversation.

10.) Know when to be formal and when to be informal.  Adopt the appropriate style for dealing with each scenario and individual to get the type of outcome you desire.  Different people like to deal with things differently.  If you go the distance for someone that will put them at ease.

11.) Go in a lot of directions at once.  Not every project will pan out, so don’t put all your eggs in one basket.  Test the waters, do your research, and don’t be afraid to try new things (see number seven).

So there you have it.  Eleven quick (and random) rules that you may or may not be able to easily integrate into your own work life.  I’m sure there are plenty more, but those are the ones that stuck out to me as I was mulling over my past year’s employment.  Best of luck folding them into your daily routine.

About the Author: John J. Walters is a freelance associate at Wasabi Ventures and CEO of MeetingCaptain.

I ran across the 100 Thing Challenge not too long ago and since then the idea has intrigued me.  My father had a colleague that strived to never own more stuff than he could fit into the back of his Honda CRX, which I guess is a personal variant on the idea of whittling your possessions down to a nice, round 100.  But are such goals merely artificial ways to achieve happiness through less attachment to physical things?  What about just a general goal of decluttering your life?

Regular Wasabi Ventures blog contributor Barbara Hemphill has written a couple good posts for us about the importance of simplifying ones workplace.  It’s amazing how good organization and self-management can help you get richer.  But where do you go from there?  What’s the point of being rich, besides providing for your loved ones and buying more toys?  Why did we get into this game?

J.D. Roth, the patient-yet-effective blogger behind Get Rich Slowly, asks these exact questions in an excellent article about the third stage of personal finance.  His answer, in a nutshell?  We all seek to get rich so that we can have the kind of life we want — not so we can have the kind of stuff we want.  Stuff may factor into that (I certainly wouldn’t mind having a garage full of well-polished cars and fancy motorcycles) but we need to remember that stuff can become a source of stress just as easily as a source of satisfaction.

The entrepreneurial game — and it is a game — has the potential to be far more satisfying than working your standard nine-to-five.  We get to be our own bosses; call the shots in our work lives as well as our personal lives.  That’s a big deal.  But it comes at the price of constant competition and frequent stress.  We need to know that we’re working towards something that really matters to us or else we’ll find ourselves wondering what the point of it all was when our own, personal sun begins to set.

Bill Gates and Warren Buffet recently announced that 38 other wealthy individuals (of which 30 are billionaires) have signed the Giving Pledge to give away half their fortunes.  Most of us will never be billionaires, but that doesn’t mean our gifts would be insignificant.  A lot of good can be done in this world with far less than a billion dollars.

My personal interest in the power of a few committed individuals started when I read Mountains Beyond Mountains, a book that chronicles the efforts of Dr. Paul Farmer and his quest to bring modern medical care to the impoverished nation of Haiti.  His incredible work (which has since spread to other poor countries such as Russia, Rwanda, Lesotho, Malawi, and Peru), was funded largely by one man — a wealthy business owner looking to do something worthwhile with his fortune.

If that isn’t a reason to play the entrepreneurial game then I don’t know what is.  Follow your bliss, start your own business, create some jobs, live like you want to along the way, and then find something truly meaningful to do with the proceeds when you’re finished.  Something great from something small.  Inspiring.

BARBARA HEMPHILL, CPO® is one of the country’s leading productivity experts. As a speaker and consultant on organizing, Barbara helps individuals and organizations create and sustain a productive environment. She is author of the best-selling “Taming the Paper Tiger” book series. In the forthcoming book, “Bushido Business,” Barbara joins Tom Hopkins, Brian Tracy & Stephen M. R. Covey, sharing how they learned how to be successful. For more information on Barbara’s speaking and consulting, visit www.barbarahemphill.com.

Have you ever found a lead on a scrap of paper after the prospect purchased from your competition?   Are you spending time recreating proposals because you can’t find a similar one you wrote a few months ago?  Do you run out of the door for an appointment at the last minute because you couldn’t find the brochures you really wanted to take?  Are you feeling overwhelmed?  If so, here are six simple steps to help you increase sales and decrease stress:

Make a date with yourself for getting your act together: Plan a minimum of three hours when there will be no interruptions.  Decide on a reward for yourself when you’re finished. Do anything you can to reduce your stress during the process – put on music, grab your favorite beverage, and get plenty of trash bags and recycling bins.

Take everything off your desk except what you must have or do: (A photograph or memento that reminds you of the reason you work is definitely OK!) Practice The Art of Wastebasketry. Research shows that 80 percent of what you keep you never use! Tossing or keeping is not a moral issue, but it is a practical one.  So how do you decide what to keep? Ask, “What’s the worst thing that could happen if I didn’t have this piece of paper?” If you can live with the results of your answer, toss it or recycle it.

Get the right tools for your business: Half of any job is using the right tool!  Put three trays on your desk: (1) In (2) Out (3) File. “In” is for new mail – papers you have not yet looked at.  “Out” is for items that need to go elsewhere, such as the post office, or to another room. “File” is for papers you need to file outside the reach of where you sit. Eliminate paper whenever you can!

Implement The File-Act-Toss System: Clutter is postponed decisions.  The good news? There are only three decisions you can make about what to do with any piece of paper or electronic file.  (1) File it in a Reference File in case you need it in the future. (2) Act on it immediately or choose a date when you will. (3) Toss, recycle, or delete it.

Create an Action Filing System: If you say, “I have to do that,” follow up with “When?”  If there isn’t an actual date, creating an artificial one will eliminate items falling through the cracks.  When you continually postpone doing something, ask yourself, “What’s the worst possible thing that would happen if I didn’t do this?” or “Is there an easier way to do this?” or “Could someone else help me with this?” Create a system for retrieving the information you need when you are ready to take action.  (There are many possibilities. If you’re not sure how to do it, an hour phone consultation with an expert could change your world forever!)

Create a Reference Filing System: If your existing filing system (paper or electronic) isn’t working, start over!  In this day and age, fewer and fewer people are keeping paper reference files – it’s costly and not very productive. But don’t feel overwhelmed at the thought of having to scan all those old papers. Instead, create an electronic filing structure for the new information, and add the old only as you need it.  (If you have both physical and electronic resources, and you want a way to collaborate, check out iPEP (www.iPEPonline.com)

Will this system turn you into a perennially “clean desk” person? Unlikely! Messy desks are the natural outcome of a hectic pace. A place for everything and everything in its place? Forget that, but it is half right. A place for everything means than when you want to clean up your office to meet a client, or just because you’re just sick of the mess yourself, recovering is no big deal. Some quick decision-making will clean off your desk in a matter of minutes and bring back a sense of control.

About the Author: John J. Walters is a freelance associate at Wasabi Ventures and CEO of MeetingCaptain.

After about eight or nine months spent working from home and about the same amount of time “playing house” I have come to the conclusion that the two are very much related.  Working from home is like raising a toddler.  In a word: challenging.

I know there are about bajillion articles out there about how to work from home, just as there are about a hojillion (which is larger than a bajillion) articles out there about raising a toddler, which I can identify closest to herding cats.  What sets this article apart from all of them is that I will talk about both.  At the same time.

Little kids thrive on routine.  Rather, if you don’t want to get run ragged by the seemingly endless energy of a child then you need to establish a routine.  Same goes for working from home.

When you work from home a strange phenomenon emerges.  Your friends think you sit around all day in your underwear surfing the internet; your co-workers think you’re available, ready, and willing to work all the time.  You get calls to hang out and run errands with your buddies (who can’t imagine that you might be busy) at noon on a Wednesday just like you get emails asking you to send over some file “ASAP” from your co-workers (who can’t imagine that you have a life) at 10 PM on Friday.

Balancing both is a tricky thing — it’s all too easy to get sucked into either world.  It’s tempting to postpone work for another time when you get an offer to do something fun during “work hours” just as it’s tempting to answer “just this one email” when you’re supposed to be spending time with the people that matter to you.

Just like the toddler, whose uninhibited world is awash with endless possibilities, you need some framework and structure to your day or else you might find yourself running around naked playing with toy swords when you should be eating your vegetables (or whatever the “mature” equivalent is to this).

Working from home offers remarkable flexibility, coupled with the fact that you never have to deal with rush hour traffic, which is nice.  It can be both a trying and rewarding experience, much like parenthood.  Yet while many of us will spend hours reading up on how to be better parents, we spend remarkably little time improving our own work habits.

Luckily for us, we have (hopefully) been prepared to overcome the obstacles of self-motivation and personal effectiveness by our parents, our schools, and our previous jobs.  We know when we work best, how we work best, and what “our best” is.  Being free from the cubicle empowers us to structure our workday around these three things.  But, as anyone who has seen Spiderman knows, “with great power comes great responsibility.”

I have found that if I want to take advantage of all the freedom that working from home has to offer, I have to limit myself in certain ways to ensure regular productivity.  I’ve already shared my system for doing this, as well as a decent starting point for the whole process.  But I’ll add to this a short list of some helpful hints and tips I’ve picked up along the way.

• Set yourself a daily schedule and keep to it.  Since no one will be watching how well you abide by it, you’ll have to find a system for staying honest.  I covered this in depth before.
• Find ways to want to get up and start your day so you can get to work earlier.  I find it helps me if I work out after I get up, but this can be anything for you, such as eating a hearty breakfast.  Remember that an added bonus to starting early is finishing early too.
• When you’re supposed to be working, say “no” to non-work requests that can easily be rescheduled later.  Flexibility is key here, because some things can’t be moved, and it’s very important to keep your work and your personal life balanced.  But remember that when you’re supposed to be working, you’re supposed to be working.
• Have an office and a work computer.  Do as much to rid these of non-work distractions as possible.  This will help you stay focused, as you will get used to working (not playing) when you sit down at your desk and turn on your computer.  Keep the online shopping and the funny pictures of cats for the family desktop.
• When you “leave work” — leave work!  If you don’t let yourself work constantly then you will force yourself to be productive in the times you are supposed to be working.  Again, a little flexibility goes a long way here, as sometimes an hour of downtime during a weekend can be a valuable opportunity to focus for the coming work-week.
• Use whatever productivity and motivational device you employed in school to keep yourself on track.  For me, this is making lists and checking things off.  For many, this may be waiting until the last minute to work “under pressure.”  If so, then set aggressive deadlines for yourself that you must meet to avoid procrastinating.
• Decide in advance on acceptable “break” activities, so that when you need to take one you don’t get sucked into something totally unproductive and time-consuming.  For example, I have several sites bookmarked that I like to read during lunch breaks that feature articles on a wide variety of topics in which I am interested, from business life to motorcycles.
• Don’t drink alcohol.  There’s a reason that you aren’t supposed to show up hammered to work.  In fact, it may be worthwhile to make a list of other things that shouldn’t be done at work that can be equally as distracting as booze, depending on the individual.
• “Show up to work” presentable.  I’m not saying you have to wear a coat and tie, but you should at least be ready to leave the house at a moment’s notice if required to do so, even if you will never be required to do so.  I find this helps me feel a little more like I’m “at work” even though I’m just in my office across the hall from my bedroom.
• Take note of what you’re doing and how it’s working.  Then always try to improve.  It’s always possible!

I hope this advice can help even some of the seasoned veterans.  You may ask why I’ve been so focused on productivity when writing for an entrepreneurial blog.  It’s because entrepreneurs often find themselves in working conditions outside of the norm.  Sometimes it takes a very concerted effort to keep our inner toddler in check and not run wild when there are companies to start and people to lift out of unemployment.