Doing it All
Those of you familiar with Stephen Covey’s writing, particularly his “7 habits”, will recognize the term Quadrant II manager. This idealized manager recognizes that time spent on the important but non-urgent aspects of her business are the most important for success. The Quadrant II manager spends time during the work day on long term planning, developing relationships, training staff to take on delegated tasks and virtually no time on answering email, plowing through an inbox and attending meetings.
Alas, most entrepreneurs are solo-preneurs, meaning they are the cook, maitre d’, busboy and bottle washer of their business. Many are women with families, desperately trying to keep all the plates on the tray without dropping any. In my opinion, this is why so many start-up businesses fail. They have to. There’s no way to manage that kind of chaos in the way most of us try to manage.
Let me repeat that last sentence. There is NO WAY to manage that kind of chaos, especially not alone. You cannot do it all, certainly not if you expect to grow a successful business. If you find yourself working night and day and still feel that you are accomplishing nothing, you know you are in the ‘doing too much’ trap, and it’s time to stop, take stock, and try a new approach.
Measure Your Productivity in Small, Consistent Action
I’m going to assume here that you have a long-term (5 year) and shorter term (6 months to 1 year) vision for your business. You will draw your daily activities and action steps from this vision, so it is critical to start with a blueprint that is clear and solid.
This Big vision will be accomplished in small steps, taking consistently over time. Once you acknowledge that you can’t possible ‘do’ everything you think you should do, have to do or want to do, all at once, you are free to ask the questio
“What is the best use of my time and energy today?”
Beth and James Hood have an emerging business (
www.wheresthemap.com), helping college students make their transition into the working world. They are funding the start-up on their own. They have a one and five year plan for income, products and impact and they are aligned with their company’s mission.
They break down that vision into smaller pieces that I call ‘spokes’, and that is what they focus on in their daily actions. For example, they have a long term goal of being sought after speakers on college campuses. The spoke they are working on is “Build a national platform for speaking”. Activities that might flow from that spoke are things like: Create a speaker and press kit, schedule 10 radio interviews a month, add 1000 people per month to website, refine presentation skills, etc.
Each day they might make a list of the 6 most important things they can do to move forward on their spoke. The actions are simple, small and measurable. They put no more than 6 on the list at a time. Then they schedule a two-hour chunk of time during the day when they can turn off their phone, and focus on taking those 6 action steps. If they don’t finish, they roll the items over to the next day, making sure to finish the carry-over items first.
AND, they include spokes that relate to the deeper values in their lives: their marriage, their home and physical environment, service to the community, spiritual practice. Each of these has a spoke and action items as well.
In this way, Beth and James have accomplished 6 steps toward their long-term goal in a short period of time during the day. Will they feel productive at the end of the day? You bet! They can measure their productivity in small actions taken consistently each day. And the list becomes a sort of diary of accomplishment that they can refer to for motivation.
Take 10 Daily Productivity Tips:
• Start with a clear vision
• Break the vision down (spokes)
• Chunk the spokes down into activities
• Make a list of no more than 6 that directly relate to the spoke
• (For maximum result, make the list the night BEFORE)
• Block out at least one hour for income generating activities, turn off cell phone, Blackberry, and close down email during that time.
• Roll over unfinished business to the next day, and do that first
What About Juggling All My Projects?
Start with taking honest stock of everything you are doing in your day. If you are like most of the entrepreneurs I work with, those projects were not chosen consciously. Take 10 minutes right now and make the following lists:
• The projects I’m currently working on
• The roles I’m handling in my life and business (parent, spouse, manager, thought leader, accountant, mail clerk…be honest and list them all)
• All the things that are on your mind that you AREN’T getting to (unfinished business, creative pursuits, new product ideas)
Now, looking through the filter of your long term goals, evaluate the roles and projects and see which ones emerge as priorities. Which are the ones that if you paid full and consistent attention would make the biggest difference in your feelings of vitality, your relationships, and your financial success?
If you take those top priorities and apply the method in the section above, you will see an immediate increase in energy and productivity.
How Will I Know When Enough is Enough?
As the bible says, the lilies of the field neither toil nor spin. “Enough” is a decision, not a thing. If you are clear on your vision, have balanced your priorities to include health, relationships, inner work in addition to your business, and you are taking small, consistent actions each day, you are doing the best you can. Act AS IF you’ve done enough, acknowledge yourself, give yourself time to rest and rejuvenate, and watch your results expand.