Posts Tagged ‘Getting things done’

Personally I think it is lame to repost blog posts by Seth Godin. Granted he is the king. Everyone agrees you can’t go wrong reading Godin’s marketing advice but it is HIS advice, you can read it at his site.  The Working Miracles Blog is, or should be, about my POV.

So – just so you know – I am cheating:  I know it and now you know it.

Here is My Excuse

When people ask me what I do I answer, “I am an entrepreneur”. Depending on the person, I might add some clarification.  I might tell them I have rental properties. I might say I have high quality, fully automatic cappuccino/espresso machines that I put into offices and public places. I often tell them I am a business coach.  Sometimes I will add,” I also have investments that I manage”.

Getting Things Done

I have “multiple sources of income”.  Usually is diversity is not only prudent but interesting. Wearing multiple hats keeps me actively using all my skills, talents and knowledge in a way that both challenges and engages me.  Sometimes however the management responsibilities of my three or four business ventures converge to create a mini version of the perfect storm.

This week is one of those perfect storm weeks. 

• It is a short week since I spent the Memorial Day weekend at the beach.
• The rental property is newly vacant. It needs cleaning and maintenance as well as arranging showings.
• For the first time in almost three years one of my cappuccino machines needs repair. The repair process requires shipping parts over international borders. (Don’t get me started on that story.)
• I have a great new book by John Jantsch of Duck Tape Marketing about setting up a referral system for your business. I want to not only read the book and review it for you, but to set up a smooth running referral system for Working Miracles Small Business Coaching.

Time Managment - That is Why…

So, that is why I am cheating and suggesting you read this blog post by Seth Godin instead of offering brilliant exposition from my own mind.  Go ahead.  Take a look and answer the questions about “What Do You Do?”  Especially number 16.  “What does busy look like?”

I’d love to hear your vision.  What did you learn about yourself and your business (or businesses) by reflecting on what you do?

If you feel stressed out and overwhelmed, chances are it is because you feel like you don’t have enough time to do what you want to do at the level you want to do it.

Small business owners consistently tell me they don’t have the time they need to do all they need to do.  These people are often attached to cell phones and quick to answer every call, generous with their meetings but flexible with the agenda and loquacious e-mail responders, in addition to building their businesses they are often responsible for families, household chores and committee memberships.

With all this activity it is not surprising these entrepreneurs feel oppressed by the demands on their time. Secretly, they also feel important and powerful.  Make clear and sometimes difficult choices about what is important can wrest back control over your to-do list and make you more productive and ultimately successful.

Urgent but Not Important

Tasks fall on a continuum:  urgent to not urgent and important to not important.

It can be urgent to get the presentation completed before the meeting.  It is important to take time to think about the message you plan to deliver.

Most of us spend our time dousing the flame of the urgent.  We are used to dealing efficiently with each urgent task without giving thought to its importance or unimportance until our days evaporate like spilled Red Bull in the heat.

Taking time to identify and address your important but not urgent tasks is a powerful time management technique that can effectively move you along your path to creating something meaningful.

Creative Tension

When choosing what is important, it helps to first establish a little creative tension.

Creative tension is that gap between our goal, what we want, and what is real right now.

The goal is the number you need to generate each month to cover expenses. Or the number that, for you, means financial independence. Real is the number you actually made last month.  Creative tension is found in the gap.

For example, a client of mine, I’ll call her Alice, started with a direct sales cosmetics company with the intention of generating $2000 to supplement her retirement.  After 18 months in the business she discovered her business was $3000 in debt.  When she stopped being busy long enough to look closely at her expenses, she discovered the debt came from joining networking groups and regularly attending $20 a plate networking lunches. 

Alice had a well deserved reputation as an active and contributing member of several  networking groups. Her days were busy and she was well respected.  She felt important.  She was living her vision of a successful business owner. Unfortunately, caught up being busy and popular Alice lost track of her important goal – sales.

Photo by Scoobymoo

Get Real

It can be difficult to choose the important but not urgent tasks you could be spending your time on.  The important tasks may be dull or difficult.  Think of the difference between a networking lunch with friends and completing 45 follow-up calls over lunch at your desk.

The key to recognizing when important tasks are becoming urgent is in recognizing reality. 

Try This

Define it: What is it you want?  Name an outcome or a figure.

Measure it. Measure your results.  Measure accurately and honestly; measure often.

Focus on the gap.  What actions can you take to close the gap?  These are your important tasks. These are your priorities. Do them first every day.

For example, if Alice had set a specific goal for her networking activity, say a five times return on her monetary investment, or a specific number of qualified leads and measured the results, she would have reallocated her time long before her debt grew to $3000.

Keeping your eye on the expected outcome and getting very real data about the actual outcome is a leadership skill.  This is just one of the strategies small business owners use to succeed.

Okay it is the start of the 4^th quarter, time for a new Action Plan and time to get organized.

Photo by Nedral

David Allen, author of “Getting Things Done” says the first step to getting organized is to gather everything that is an “open loop”; that is everything that is not done and put it in your in box.

I find myself reluctant to do this part.  I am afraid to acknowledge all my open loops.  It will be overwhelming.  Yet those open loops are exactly what needs to go into my written plan.  And, I promised my mastermind team that I would have my plan ready for them next week so.  Killing two birds with one stone I started on one flat surface in my office.  Here is what I found:

• About a dozen discount coupons that expired two months ago.  Easy decision. This is category #1 trash.
• A pile of rough drafts from a project that is now closed. 
  • The final draft becomes Category #2 “No action needed now”
  • The marked up drafts become  Category #1 trash
  • Two product warranty booklets.  (I know there are more around somewhere) become Category #3 – Potentially useful information. 

That is it, only three categories. This isn’t really so hard.

I use my new label maker and a new file folder and make a folder called “Product Registration” both booklets go into the folder, as will the others when I find them. 

I have not yet purchased a file cabinet so the “Product Registration” folder goes into my in box – for now.

Speaking of training executives in time management, Allen says “Teaching them the item-by-item thinking required to get their collection buckets empty is perhaps the most critical improvement I have made for virtually all the people I’ve worked with.”

There are a few more items on my chosen flat surface:

• A mailing announcing networking events I may want to attend. 
  • Trash the July, August  and September dates
  • Move the October events to my tickler file.
  • A pile of quotes and estimates for remodeling the master bath
    • Make a folder
    • Place in my action in box
    • An article about containing the cost of funeral expenses I collected for a client. 
      • Make a label – easy and fun with the label maker
      • Category#3: Useful information.
      • File under “F” for funeral

It Wasn’t So Bad

That previously useless flat surface is now cleared except for three empty paperweights and the evidence that I’ve been dusting around those piles for months.

To recap:

1. Collect everything you have laying around
2. Ask yourself, “Is it actionable?” 
3. If the answer is no, trash it or file it.
4. If the answer is yes, decide what you need to do next.