Do you feel like there’s never enough time each week to get everything done in your business?
What about the rest of your life…feeling overwhelmed with all the stuff you have to do?
If a 20-minute fix could give you 200 minutes back, would you want it?
I thought so. Here’s the scoop, as quickly as I can (since I know you’re busy).
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PART 1 – THE PROBLEM
The biggest reason we feel like we have too much to do is…we’re doing too much.
I know, I know. That’s probably not helpful yet because you KNOW you’re doing too much. You KNOW there’s more on your list than you can handle and that’s the problem, right?
No. That is NOT the problem, it’s the symptom.
The problem isn’t that you HAVE too much to do, it’s that you BELIEVE you have too much to do because you don’t have clarity on what you actually should be doing!
Here’s what I mean.
Most of us get into business with some goal in mind. Maybe it’s more freedom, more fulfillment, or just more money.
But somewhere along the way we get sidetracked.
Like an automobile out of alignment, we start drifting from our original course and before long we find ourselves in a section of town that we weren’t intending to visit at all – Busyville.
There are so many things that seem like they “need doing” and we BELIEVE we have to do them all, and so we do.
Now we’re juggling too many balls, spinning too many plates, and feeling like a failure most of the time.
But there’s a fix.
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PART 2 – THE SOLUTION
The answer to busyness isn’t hiring a new team member (although that’s nice) or signing up for a new service or software package to make us more efficient (although that’s great, too.)
It’s knowing for sure which things we SHOULD be doing, and which things we shouldn’t.
The solution is to remember WHY we’re here (our Purpose), WHO we are (our Brand) and WHERE we want to go (our Strategy), and then start dropping the tasks that aren’t in alignment with those three things.
You see, when our Purpose, Brand and Strategy are aligned, we KNOW what we should be doing and we can SEE what we need to stop. That clarity enables us to free up time by getting rid of the wasteful activities that don’t actually contribute to our goals.
When those things AREN’T in alignment, we’re more likely to keep muddling around doing whatever “pops up” because we don’t know what else to do…
…and there will never be a shortage of things popping up to distract us.
SO, here’s my challenge to you:
1) Schedule 20 minutes this week and sit down with a pen and paper.
2) Find a quiet place where you won’t be interrupted and put your phone on “Do Not Disturb”.
3) Take the pen and paper and write
• WHY are we in business?
• WHO do we want to BE and who are we here to SERVE?
• WHERE are we going in the next 12 months?
4) Set a 5 minute timer, close your eyes and let your mind drift back to why and when you started your business (or took the job, etc.).
5) When the 5 minutes are up, take the pen and paper and start filling in your answers, then start adjusting your actions to match.
I believe this exercise will give you the clarity you need to free up that extra time you’ve been wishing for.
I’ve seen again and again in my own life and in the lives of the clients I serve that when we know WHY we’re here, WHO we are and who we serve, and WHERE we’re doing, we’ll know exactly what we need to keep doing, and what we need to let go.
Clarity and focus are the antidote to overwhelm.
You can do it.
–pg
p.s. Maybe you’ve NEVER gone through the process of sorting out your Purpose, Brand and Strategy in the first place. If that’s you, let me know. I’d love to help!
Photo by Wonderlane on Unsplash
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