An Inspiring Morning with the Better Business Bureau: A Must-Attend for Small Business Owners

I recently had the pleasure of attending a small business workshop hosted by the Better Business Bureau (BBB), and it was truly one of the most impactful events I've experienced this year. The day was packed with four dynamic presentations, each offering valuable insights for small business owners and nonprofit leaders. If you're looking for opportunities to learn and grow your business, keep an eye on the BBB's future programming.

The day started with an engaging presentation by Evanthia Karageorge, the director at the BBB. Evanthia shared her journey, from graduating from VCU to her current leadership role. Her message resonated deeply, emphasizing the critical role of mentorship for new employees. She astutely pointed out the significance of executive presence coaching and confidence-building in nurturing the growth of young professionals. Hearing her passion for removing barriers and improving communication and trust within the workplace was inspiring. 

Next up was Kate Scott from the Virginia Council on Economic Education. Kate spoke passionately about the vital importance of small business owners supporting financial education in our schools. She shared a moving personal story about how education opened doors for her, highlighting her organization's mission to provide inspiration and knowledge to underserved communities. Her dedication to breaking the cycle of poverty through education was truly compelling.

We then had the honor of hearing from Karl Leonard, the Sheriff of Chesterfield. Sheriff Leonard shifted gears to discuss the importance of trust and proper resourcing within leadership. He illustrated this with a fascinating anecdote from his time at the Pentagon, where critical, even life-or-death, decisions were made using something as simple as index cards. His point was clear: such high-level management and decisive action are only possible when a team is exceptionally well-trained and built upon a bedrock of trust.

The final speaker, Jeff Katz, brought a crucial element to the forefront: the power of active listening. Jeff provided practical examples of how listening without the immediate intention of responding can profoundly strengthen relationships. His key takeaway was that by truly listening, we can better understand and serve others, ultimately leading to greater earning potential and a more significant impact.

Throughout the event, small business owners and nonprofit leaders had valuable opportunities to connect and share their perspectives on communication, relationships, and financial management. I personally walked away with 14 pages of notes scribbled on my trusty 3x5 notepad!

My biggest takeaways from this enriching workshop were:

1. Be intentional about how you present yourself to others. Your presence and demeanor matter.

2. Focus on listening to other people's needs. Truly understanding others is the key to effective interaction.

3. Understand that having a small number of great relationships is better than thousands of meaningless ones. Quality over quantity in connections.

4. Great things happen when you partner with others. Collaboration can unlock incredible opportunities.

5. You need a support network to achieve your goals. No one succeeds in a vacuum.

It's worth noting that the BBB offers these valuable workshops monthly for its members. This is just one of the many benefits of being a BBB-certified business. In addition to these learning opportunities, certification also includes marketing support through its podcast, radio spots, and website.

If you're a small business owner or nonprofit leader looking to invest in your growth and connect with a supportive community, I wholeheartedly encourage you to explore the Better Business Bureau and their upcoming events. It's an investment that can truly pay dividends.

ADHD Tip 2: Master Time with the Pomodoro Technique

The Challenge of Time and Tasks

Individuals with ADHD often face significant hurdles when it comes to starting tasks (procrastination or feeling stuck, sometimes called ADHD paralysis), maintaining focus amidst distractions, accurately perceiving the passage of time (time blindness or time agnosia), and seeing tasks through to completion. Large projects can feel overwhelming, leading to avoidance, while even simple tasks can be hard to initiate without a clear structure or sense of urgency.

Introducing the Pomodoro Technique

Developed by Francesco Cirillo in the 1980s, the Pomodoro Technique is a time management method designed to break work into focused intervals. The classic structure involves:

1. Working on a single task for a timed interval, typically 25 minutes (one "Pomodoro").

2. Taking a short break, usually 5 minutes, when the timer goes off.

3. Repeating this work/break cycle.

4. After completing four Pomodoros, take a longer break of 15-30 minutes.

This technique acts as an externalized executive function support system. It provides the structure, time awareness cues, task initiation prompts, and break regulation that the ADHD brain often struggles to generate internally.

Why Pomodoro Works for ADHD Brains

This simple structure offers numerous benefits tailored to common ADHD challenges:

1. Combats Overwhelm and Paralysis: The Pomodoro Technique makes large, daunting tasks feel less overwhelming and much easier to start by breaking them down into small, timed chunks. The focus is just on the next 25 minutes, not the entire project.

2. Addresses Time Blindness: The ticking timer provides a constant, external, and concrete awareness of time passing, directly counteracting time agnosia. Over time, tracking how many Pomodoros tasks take can also improve time estimation skills.

3. Boosts Focus through Monotasking: The technique encourages dedicating focus to one specific task during the work interval, discouraging counterproductive multitasking and reducing susceptibility to distractions. The relatively short duration aligns well with the ADHD brain's potential ability to hyperfocus intensely for limited periods.

4. Provides Structure and Urgency: The timed intervals impose a clear structure on the work period and create a gentle sense of urgency, prompting focused effort within the allotted time.

5. Manages Energy and Prevents Burnout: The mandatory short and long breaks are crucial. They provide necessary mental resets, prevent the buildup of mental fatigue, and combat boredom, helping to sustain effort over longer periods without leading to burnout, which can often follow periods of intense hyperfocus.

6. Creates Motivation and Reward: Successfully completing each Pomodoro interval provides an immediate sense of accomplishment. Tracking completed Pomodoros offers visible proof of progress, acting as an external motivator and potentially providing small dopamine boosts.

Implementation Steps and Tips

1. Choose Your Task: Select one specific task to work on. If it's large, break it down into smaller steps that might fit within one or more Pomodoros.

2. Set Your Timer: Use a kitchen timer, phone app, or dedicated Pomodoro website/app (see resources below). Visual timers can be particularly helpful.

3. Work with Focus: Work only on the chosen task until the timer rings. Actively minimize distractions: turn off phone notifications, close unnecessary browser tabs, consider website blockers, or use noise-canceling headphones. If you have unrelated thoughts or tasks, you can quickly jot them down on a separate list to address later, then immediately return focus to the Pomodoro task.

4. Take Your Short Break: When the timer rings, stop working immediately. Use the 5-minute break to completely step away from the task. Stretch, get a drink of water, and look out the window. Avoid activities that can easily suck one in, like checking email or scrolling social media, as the goal is to refresh, not drain, mental energy.

5. Repeat and Take Longer Breaks: After completing four Pomodoros, take a more substantial break (15-30 minutes) to rest and recharge more fully before starting the next cycle.

6. Track Your Progress: Consider keeping a simple tally of completed Pomodoros. This visual tracking can be motivating.

7. Adapt and Experiment: The 25/5 cycle is just a starting point. The technique's effectiveness often hinges on its adaptability. Experiment with different work/break intervals (e.g., 15/3, 30/5, 50/10) to find what best suits one's focus patterns, energy levels, and task type. Starting with just a few Pomodoros per day can prevent overwhelm.

Potential Challenges and Solutions

• Distractions: If focus consistently breaks before the timer ends, try further reducing environmental distractions or consider shorter work intervals.

• Forgetting the Timer: Use phone alarms or app notifications as reminders to start/stop timers.

• Waning Motivation: If the technique starts to feel stale, try adjusting interval times, changing the type of timer used, or incorporating a small reward after completing a set number of Pomodoros.

• Overlong Breaks: Set a timer for breaks. Getting up and moving during the break can help reset focus better than passive activities. When the alarm goes off, you can transition back into productive activities.

• Breaking Flow: Sometimes, the timer might interrupt a period of deep focus. While it is generally advised to respect the timer to prevent burnout, some find it helpful to occasionally finish a thought or small step before breaking. Experimentation and self-awareness are key. Be kind to oneself if a session doesn't go perfectly.

Pomodoro Resources:

• Choosing Therapy - Pomodoro for ADHD Guide: https://www.choosingtherapy.com/pomodoro-technique-adhd/

• Deepwrk - Pomodoro for ADHD Explanation: https://www.deepwrk.io/blog/pomodoro-technique-adhd

• Boardmix - Pomodoro Benefits & Implementation: https://boardmix.com/tips/pomodoro-technique-adhd/ (Boardmix also offers a tool with a built-in timer)

• ADDitude Magazine - Expert Using Pomodoro: https://www.additudemag.com/its-about-time-2/

• UTC CPE Blog - Detailed Steps, Pros/Cons, App List: https://blog.utc.edu/center-professional-education/2020/07/02/how-can-the-pomodoro-technique-help-me-finding-power-through-productivity/

• Timer Apps : TomatoTimer (https://tomato-timer.com/), Marinara Timer (https://www.marinaratimer.com/), FocusKeeper (iOS), Focus To-Do (iOS/Android).

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If ADHD is hindering your productivity, working with an executive coach could help you build the habits, routines, and skills you need to focus and follow through more consistently. If you are interested in learning more, schedule a discovery call. We can discuss how we can help you better manage your ADHD.

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Time Management Tips for Small Business Owners

What is keeping you up at night? Are concerns around rising costs due to tariffs, the disruptive force of AI, or pressure to attract and retain talent causing you stress? When you own a business, you must be able to keep track of the changing macroenvironment and make small adjustments to ensure you are growing profits while meeting the evolving needs of various stakeholders. When faced with competing priorities, you need frameworks to help you evaluate which path you should take. The business schools and consulting experts will say you need foundational documents like a company mission, vision, and core values to inform your strategy, but how do you convert ambiguous documents into a practical strategy?

Your Path to Time Management

Your company's mission, vision, and core values serve as a compass that guides you when faced with multiple decisions and uncertainty about which direction to take. Using these three foundational concepts can help you evaluate your to-do list and determine which tactics align most with your business aspirations. Business strategy is more about what you choose not to do than what you do. Staying committed to your values, knowing why your business exists, and working towards your long-term goals will give you confidence and certainty. 

Conduct a brain dump to identify key tasks.

As you begin your day, list all the potential actions you can take. Think as broadly as possible. Consider what you could do to attract more customers, develop your employees, expand partnerships with key partners, and implement other strategic initiatives that could help you grow your business. By emptying your mind and getting it all on paper, you will gain clarity about all the possibilities before you. With this clarity, you can prioritize what actions you want to take to move towards your long-term goals. 

Set your priorities for key tasks.

Once you have made this list, you must begin evaluating how these potential actions align with your company's mission, vision, and core values. Analyzing these tasks against these foundational documents can help you determine their relative importance. Determining their relative importance will make it easier to prioritize which tasks to do today versus those to put off for tomorrow. Planning future tasks can be an effective strategy for reducing the stress and anxiety associated with an extensive to-do list. 

Determine the urgency of key tasks.

Now that you have evaluated the tasks based on relative importance, you can consider them based on urgency. If you determine that a task is urgent and important, you know it should be prioritized and completed as soon as possible. If you determine that a task is urgent but unimportant, look for someone to whom you can delegate it. The delegated task can go to employees, contractors, or vendors. When you identify that a task is not urgent, then you have an easy decision. You can either delete it from your to-do list or schedule to tackle it in the future. Correctly classifying tasks based on their urgency and importance can help you prioritize effectively. 

Bring it all together.

As a small business owner, your most limited asset is time, which makes time management vital to business success. It is also the one thing you can never get back. Taking the time to prioritize your to-do list can help alleviate the stress and anxiety that come with owning a business. Will you make mistakes? Of course you will, but that is part of the learning process. What is important is not that you are error-free, but that you learn from each experience. By documenting your potential actions, making decisions based on your foundational documents, and evaluating the impact of those decisions, you will learn, grow, and improve every day. Running a business is a journey. Enjoy the ride. 

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If you have read this far, thank you for taking the time to review this blog. Running a small business is one of the most challenging yet rewarding endeavors you can undertake. If you would benefit from additional support and guidance running your small business, please email Executive Coach Dorian Cunion at dcunion@yourpathexecutivesolutions.com or book a session to learn more about our services.

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