You might be the victim of busyness instead of business! This affects small business owner, big business owners and non-business owners alike. This “disease” can be pretty nasty and it may strike without warning. You don’t exactly know when it’s coming and you may not even be sure that you have it. But, it can creep in and suck away your productivity and your profits before you know what hit you.
So, how do you get rid of it? We are all hit with it at one point or another. So, here’s how to deal with it.
1. Have clear goals and vision
Some people write a To-Do list but that’s not enough. What are the MOST important things for you to accomplish that week and do they align with your goals. I have a notebook created in my Evernote just for Goals and so at the beginning of the week, I create my goals for the week. I map those to my overall goals for the quarter and the year.
2. Prioritize
What are my MUST-DOs? What ORDER must I do them in? If I don’t get to accomplish EVERYTHING this week, what are the most important things for me to accomplish? Once you have clear answers for that, then put the time on your calendar IMMEDIATELY. I’m not talking about creating a task. I’m talking about specifically BLOCKING OUT an actual time that you will dedicate to the task. Don’t leave it to chance.
3. Do YOU have to do it?
Part of the reason we have trouble with certain tasks is that we may not have the necessary skills to complete them. We then spend time learning how to build a website, work with every social media channel and write copy when that is neither our skill set nor our primary task. OUTSOURCE IT!! Seriously. This doesn’t have to be expensive. Sit at the beginning of the week and determine what tasks you can get off your plate. Then, spend 30 mins on Fiverr.com seeing who you can get to do these tasks. The $15-$20 that you may spend is worth WAY more than the time it would take you to do these things yourself. If you have a greater budget, then strongly consider a virtual assistant via oDesk.com, elance.com, eaHelp.com or another reputable virtual staffing company. I don’t have a specific recommendation here just yet.
4. Check the results.
Which tasks are actually producing revenue? Which tasks can you literally TRACK to show that they brought in profit? Did the 10 hours you spent on Twitter last week bring you any new leads or clients? If not, then you may need to look at that activity. Did the 3 hours you spent looking for a networking group on meetup.com produce any quantifiable results? Not saying that you should quit that activity. But, again, you might need to outsource some things or tweak your process to see if you can focus more on the activities that produce income. If you are not seeing any verifiable results, then consider eliminating the activity.
5. Create a repeatable energy routine.
What do you do in the morning? Your morning sets a critical tone for your day. Wake up. Perform a mind clearing activity (meditation, inspirational reading, prayer, etc.), then get in at LEAST 15 minutes of exercise activity. Then before you begin to check email or anything else, sit and organize yourself for the day. Review your calendar. See what’s upcoming. Most importantly, determine who you need to be and how you want to show up in order to achieve success that day!
These methods do not only apply to business or entrepreneurs. Use them in your overall life and then see what the difference is.