Don’t make it an ‘own goal’ for your business
Hello
My name is Debbie, mother of two boys, amazing wife (Mr D.E.B.S. agrees) and a virtual assistant. I became a virtual assistant to help small business owners with their paperwork woes. With 20+ years experience in an admin environment I love solving problems and finding a better, more efficient way of doing things. Welcome you along on my small business journey and I hope you enjoy my random musings!
‘Procrastination is the thief of time’ is my new favourite phrase. The phrase was written by Edward Young in his very long poem The Complaint, (I am sure there is irony in there somewhere) it is so true in all aspects of life.
I have been known to procrastinate, As mentioned in my last blog (you can read it here) that I sat on my business plan for some time. It was a great plan I was sure would work but I wanted to wait until the time was right. When is the right time? It’s now surely?
Fail to prepare, prepare to fail
Generally I am a very organised person, in fact many of my friends have commented that it is one of my strengths, I love a plan, I love lists. I’m sure it infuriates some people but I believe if you fail to prepare you should prepare to fail. However, I get distracted like anyone else and time management can go out the window. We have all been there, funny cat pictures on facebook, a blog with links to really long poems (oops!) It’s human nature I am sure, keeping motivation levels high all the time just can’t be possible. It can take a while to realise I have been procrastinating, So what do I do when I realise I have been?
How to stop procrastinating
Firstly, I take a break (I know, I know I have just had a break looking at funny cat pictures but hear me out). Getting up from your desk, having a coffee, going for a walk or doing 10 star jumps (whatever floats your boat) breaks the cycle. Put the distraction away, if you have to lock your phone in the car, do it. At the very least turn off notifications and put it on silent until you have completed what you need to do.
When you sit back down and before you do anything else, write down what you need to achieve today! This will refocus you (and we all know how I love a list)
Sound advice
Do the most difficult thing first! Get it out of the way. I learned this technique from life coach and author Marisa Peer. (Would really recommend having a look at her books and videos. She is absolutely fantastic!) We all love that feeling of achievement when we have completed a difficult task. This will improve your motivation for everything else you have to do. Putting it off until later and it will just play on your mind and you will find yourself looking at cat pictures again! Half the time the task isn’t as difficult as your mind makes it out to be.
Tick off each thing on your list as you complete them, again another motivation booster as you see that list getting shorter, next day repeat!
A simple form of goal setting
This is a very simple form of goal setting and time management. The Pareto principle states that 20% of activities account for 80% of results, so goal setting is really important in your business to get the best results from the work you do.
When we think of goal setting, the interview question ‘where do you see yourself in five years?’ springs to mind. I am sure those asked this question in 2015 got that one wrong! Long term goals are fine but as we have seen things can come along to derail those goals or make you have to rethink your business strategy.
Making use of planning tools
There are a range of tools you can use to help with goal setting and planning. Trello is really good and versatile. Laura Horn Art has a really good podcast on how you can use trello to plan your year. You could just use paper to set your goals, however you do it it’s important to get them somewhere you can see them and not just swimming around in your head.
Don’t make goal setting hard on yourself. Break it down into smaller chunks. What do I want to achieve today, this week, this month, this quarter? What steps do I need to take to get there? It really is that simple. When is the right time to set business goals? Right now! Breaking them down into smaller parts means if something big comes along (like a global pandemic) you can be versatile and change direction slightly or take advantage of any opportunities.
Dunain Enterprise Business Support Mission Statement:
To help small businesses with their business administration in as efficient and cost effective way as possible.
I can offer administration support, help improve processes and basically take on any tasks you would give to a permanent member of staff.
If you would like to chat about this further then please get in touch.
Debs
Cool!