Be Unavailable In business, we are taught to take care of the customer and that the customer is always right. Somehow, we equate that with the notion that we always must be available and on-call. But that is not true. In fact, Women in Business are learning that being overly available can hurt our business success. Here are some tips to help you gain strength and accomplish more but allowing yourself to be un-available. DO NOT Disturb Time Let’s face it, people disrupt our workflow. It is not always intentional, but it happens. It can be a client, team member or even the family. But all these interruptions break our focus and add time to our already demanding days. I encourage you to have a block of time for NO distractions – None, Zero, Nada! Ok I know you are freaking out and saying it is not possible…. hear me out. You CAN do this. 26
You need 40–50-minute time slots where you can focus, un-interrupted and get your best work done. The truth is many of you are already doing this without even know it. Think about this…. If you are with a client, you generally are there with that client and focused on them. You are not answering the phone, checking your email or social media. You are on Do Not Disturb for that period of time. You CAN do this; you just need to shift your thinking and make these blocks of time an “appointment” and we women show up for our appointments. Protect Your Schedule People want to work with other successful people. If we are always available, they will not value our time as much, and they also may not see us as an expert in our field. If we have all the time in the world to be available, we must not have that much going on. (and let’s just be honest – none of us women have free
