I had nowhere near 100% utilization (in consulting) between May 15th and October 15th but I didn't get a single line written for Appointment Reminder in that interim. I just couldn't find the mental bandwidth or the kick in the pants I needed to dig in and start writing out the full system ex-nihilio.
What eventually worked for me was getting myself about 2.5 months of a breather from all consulting commitments and getting BCC past the busy season. I've been able to devote almost 100% of my time the last two weeks to AR, and it is progressing faster than any project in my life.
I also hired a virtual assistant and have been aggressive about firing off things to her rather than spending an hour or two chasing them down myself. I'll write it up after I have some results to show, but it has been a real stress saver to know that e.g. bookkeeping for January through October is now in the "being accomplished" pile rather than the "have to put it off to tomorrow because I've got code to write today" pile.
I Googled for VAs from the Philippines and picked a service which looked reasonable.
I'll be happy to recommend them after they produce recommendation-worthy results, but I'm barely started with her yet. The first task was only partially successful, but that wasn't her fault. (I had her cancel a service that I've had AOLesque difficulty canceling. They wouldn't talk other about it, but she did get a direct line to a CSR with cancellation authority for me to call, so I was done in two minutes on the phone instead of an hour.)
If she can reduce my bookkeeping backlog from ten hours to one, then I'll spend an hour singing their praises on my blog. (And then figure out some more grunt work to get rid of.)
I interviewed a few VAs from Philippines recently. But things did not take off from my end, I still have their contacts on records, if you want, drop me a note (see my profile).
What eventually worked for me was getting myself about 2.5 months of a breather from all consulting commitments and getting BCC past the busy season. I've been able to devote almost 100% of my time the last two weeks to AR, and it is progressing faster than any project in my life.
I also hired a virtual assistant and have been aggressive about firing off things to her rather than spending an hour or two chasing them down myself. I'll write it up after I have some results to show, but it has been a real stress saver to know that e.g. bookkeeping for January through October is now in the "being accomplished" pile rather than the "have to put it off to tomorrow because I've got code to write today" pile.