Don't have time to read the article, listen to it here.
When my youngest nephew was 3 years
old, I made the mistake of calling him a 'young man' in a
(seemingly misguided) effort to let him know how grown up he was
acting. I say it was a mistake because he immediately began shrieking
as though, instead of offering a compliment, I'd grabbed a handful of
his thick blond hair and begun scalping him
When the sobs finally subsided
and I was able to once again make sense of his words, I realized that
for him,
jumping from carefree toddler to mature young man
-even if only verbally- was just too big of a leap. I had
unwittingly asked him to get a grasp of his entire childhood in one
bite. And it was more than he could swallow.
I was truly befuddled by his
dramatic response, since it didn't fit with the picture I saw
of his positive future. But I'll tell you,
there are times in
my business when I feel that same sense of overwhelm and pressure.
I don't usually give way to tears (although I'm occasionally tempted!)
but the way to my future, and all that I have to do to get there, can
sometimes loom large and daunting.
Anyone know what I mean?
There is a trick to making your
action plan manageable and that's to chunk things down. By
that I mean to focus on the separate pieces. The big picture is useful
for knowing where you're headed, and why.
But taking on the
whole thing at once is a great way of creating stress and anxiety.
Not recommended.
I've got 3 topnotch suggestions
for breaking the 'whole enchilada' into bite-sized morsels.
I
believe growing your business should, and can, be an enjoyable task
and not something that puts fear in your heart, or tears in your eyes.
Suggestion #1 -
Prioritize
If you take a good, hard look at your list of things to do, there will
be some that are less urgent than others.
Give yourself
permission to hold off on what's not essential so you can pay full
attention to what is. Finish each day by making a list of the
top 6 things (more than six tends to get stressful) you want to
accomplish the next day. When you sit down at your desk in the morning,
you're ready to go without wasting time figuring out what to do first.
Suggestion #2 -
Focus
on one step at a time
Despite popular wisdom, the brain really doesn't
multi-task well. It's true that we can
manage multiple
tasks simultaneously, but that's not the same as actually
performing
tasks at the same time. Have you ever noticed how hard it is to read a
book when you're listening to the news? Your brain can tune in to one
or the other, but not both. (A fine argument, in my opinion, for why
one should not be on the phone while driving. But I digress. . .) Take
that To Do list of six things and give each item your undivided
attention until it's done. Then move on.
Suggestion #3
-
Book
time for yourself
It's absolutely essential that you schedule time for
yourself.
Too often solo business owners get burned out, not
because they don't love what they do, but because they do it quite
literally all the time! All work and no play . . . -you know the rest.
So finish your six tasks and then go enjoy a cup of coffee, or better
yet, a nice bag of M&M peanuts. (Ooops, have I said too much?) Even
if all you can manage is to take a walk at lunchtime, do it. That time
away, to daydream, to read, to smell the roses, will do much more for
your business growth than unrelenting pressure to accomplish the next
thing.
