I know this is a rhetorical question for most people, as most of us tend to have lists, if we are organised. However, for most of us, they are getting longer and longer, and for the rest of us, we just have a mental to do list that we feel is more and more full.
I certainly can understand the stress, and sense of frustration at this problem, and have spent a considerable while attempting to resolve the issue, in such a way as to streamline my day, or at least, to be more productive and efficient, such that I could finish my day feeling I have accomplished something.
As a self employed business owner, I am even more aware of the need to be as organised as humanly possible, and had to work with systems that either I, or others had created that I knew worked.
Have you ever felt that you are simply doing more and more, but achieving less and less?
If so, I can understand and hope to point you in the direction of some ideas that have worked for others, and than can, in turn work for you. At the end of the day, you need to be prepared to make a conscious change that will take effort, and may even seem to be counterproductive at first. The reason for this is that our subconscious minds are used to doing things a certain way, and any change will at first, be resisted, until we persevere, and form a habit. This can take as much as twenty one days to achieve, but if you are able to look ahead, you will find the results astonishing.
To explain further, let me paint a real picture for you. I came across a small business owner, that like me, did everything herself, and naturally, being a perfectionist, always set up more systems to do better, and as her business grew, so did her workload. This in turn, lead to moire lists, and things to do, that simply reached a point till she collapsed, and ended up in hospital. Can you relate to this being a potential problem in your life?
One way to deal with this problem is work out the priority of your tasks, as this will help you to decide, as a business owner, what tasks are earning you your living. As an example, spending three hours a day reading your emails is not earning you your income. You still need to be reading, but this can be done in a block of time, rather than all day, like I used to do as well. Another example is to look at every task that only you can do, due to a specific skill set, that earn you an income, and what can be outsourced.
Even if you are worried about the expense of outsourcing, let me tell you it need not be any where as expensive as you might think, when you know the right places to go. Much of this work can be outsourced online these days as well.
If you are still resisting some of these ideas, let me ask you, "Can you still achieve an income if you are in hospital, on your back for a month?" Most people will say no, and that is understandable. However, by utilising some proper time management techniques, you are more likely to achieve more in less time, and with less stress. Just by working in blocks, and not flitting from one task to another, and back again, will massively increase your effectiveness.
