Yikes! Where did the year go? Most of us are probably wondering the same thing as we move into back-to-school time.

And what did we accomplish so far in 2009 so far? Is everyone on track? Do we know what track we are on? Do we know which track we want to be/should be on?

I use Outlook and have set up Categories so that I can make notes in my Calendar about how I am spending my time. Recording is Green, Marketing is Gold, Training is Yellow, Business is Blue, Volunteer work is a lighter Green and Personal stuff is Orange…that sort of thing. The Orange is winning by leaps and bounds since April when my mom moved out here from New York State.

But it’s not all mom time. Some of it is morning coffee time with my friends. Some of it is exercise time. Some of it is theater time – and lately a lot of it has suddenly been blog time. But the good thing is that despite this increase in time spent on personal things, my income is holding steady.

After being in the voiceover business – on and off full-time since the early 80’s – I am only recently realizing the problem with trying to be all things to all people. I am versatile – no doubt about that – but I am finding that because I have been doing so many different kinds of things for so many different people, the sheer number of clients I have is daunting.

It is hard to keep up with everybody and remember what kinds of projects I’ve done for them – especially those who I haven’t work for in several years who suddenly pop back in. Especially if it was a very small $$ job. One where I had to quote, record, edit and invoice. There is research involved – looking up past invoices – checking email threads – to be sure who the person is on the other end of the phone or email – so that I can then quote, record, edit and invoice. (Not that there is anything wrong with invoicing! Or recording! Or even editing.)

But it really is time to start capitalizing on my talent and experience, so the Gold (Marketing) and the Yellow (Training) categories have been more visible in my Calendar as I hone in on the areas that will help me keep the Green ($$) coming into my bank account as the level of Orange in my Calendar increases.