Fighting Procrastination
|
Are you procrastinating or are
you trying to do too much? Or is it both? I am pretty good about not
procrastinating. I do what I need to do sooner rather than later. I get it
done so I can move on to other things.
But I am terrible at limiting the things that I want to get done and I have
little control of the important Have To Do's such as updating a client's site.
Which always leads to a lot of things not getting done. To the outsider
looking in, it looks like I'm procrastinating. Then it hit me, if I had less
to do, I could get more done.
So about a month ago, I looked at my goals for my business. I looked at what I was currently doing and asked myself "Is what I'm doing actually helping me achieve my goals?" For most of what I was doing the answer was a big huge "No". But my business couldn't stop doing most of what it was doing, on the contrary it needed to do more. I was spending a lot of time doing work that I could have someone else do for me and still achieve the same results. So I hired someone to help me out. I also cut one client down to consulting only and let go another. They required more of my time personally with little return. The work was something I couldn't farm out, be able to manage, and still make money. It was a tough decision and a risk. A risk that I wasn't totally prepared to take but a necessary risk that I had to take to grow my business. These changes have freed me up to do the more important things that would help my business reach the next level. Yes, I have less money in my pocket now, but I also have more time to concentrate on taking my business to the next level which will lead to higher profits in the months to come. So how does this tie into procrastination? Because I was taking on so much, I couldn't get everything done. I was procrastinating on things because something would always come up that seemed more important. It was a never ending cycle. There is always going to be something that is important that has to get done "Now". By hiring help, I don't have to do all the little things that take up all of my time. A lot of the important Have-To-Do's were passed off to my help. The important things still get done and the results are the same. I do have to still manage the work load but instead of spending 10-20 hours a week doing the immediate important things. I spend 3 hours a week managing and delegating what has to get done. It has freed up time for myself to get the other equally important things done. To help free up your time and kill your procrastination. Ask yourself these questions
--Am I doing things that keep
me from doing more important things that will help my business?
--Can some of the things I'm
doing be delegated to someone else and still achieve the same results?
--After freeing up my workload,
what can I work on to create more profits?"
To help with the process, start small. I hired help on an "as needed basis". Some weeks I have 30 hours of work to pass off to my help. Other weeks I have 2 hours. But with passing my workload to my help, in 6 months I will have built my business up to the point where I can hire part time or full time help.
--
Copyright 2011 Jeff Mendelsohn Liquid Mechanix Studio, LLC www.liquidmechanix.com 419.297.3364 |
Planning beyond Procrastination
|
Getting a plan on paper is a
big challenge. Yes, you heard me, paper. I use the computer to craft, create
and refine my plan, but in the end, my plan for the year is on a single piece
of paper that is with me all the time. This allows me to jot down changes and
corrections to update later no matter where I am; doesn't require
electricity, or a connection.
In Brian Tracy's "Eat the Frog: 21 Great Ways to
Stop Procrastinating", the beginning of getting a plan in order is
"Setting the Table".
If you have ever had a dinner party and you are running behind, a set table
will let the guests know "Yup, the plan for a dinner party is in
place."
In the business world, I call
"Setting the Table",
getting a plan. Although this step may seem easy, here is a process that will
help you build the plan.
For example, if your vision is:
"Publish a
book by end of year". Then you might think
writing the book is the first step. Are you sitting at your desk writing
right now? If not, you may need to back up just a little. Your list might
look like this:
--Create outline
--Do research
--Write chapters
--Contact editor
--Get edited copy to publisher
Each of these can be further
broken down like this:
--Write Chapters
--Write each day from 7AM to 9AM
--Complete Chapter One by February 1 2012
This start does several things;
it identifies that you will schedule two hours every day to write. These two
hours a day will lead to a chapter by February first ready to go on to
chapter 2. By doing this planning, you have gotten into your schedule, made a
time commitment and now have something to hold yourself accountable.
The failure of most plans are
two fold:
No deadline
To big of projects.
Back to "How to Eat a Frog".
This book has a great humor elements and the term comes from Mark Twain saying
"If the first thing
you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the day with
the satisfaction of knowing that that is probably the worst thing that is
going to happen to you all day."
Frog Rules:
Challenge yourself to "Set your 2012 Table"
with two major goals on paper this week that will make 2012 great, break them
into their appropriate tasks and schedule them on your calendar.
If all else fails, buy yourself
the Do it Later 2012 Non-Planner
to help you NOT get your work done!
Linda Fayerweather MBA
EA
419.897.0528
Like us on Facebook
Tweet us
at Twitter
 |
