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- Mar 28 2006
- 1Comment
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Since we’ve been talking about conditioning the habit of effectiveness it’s a good idea to address what to do when you slip and revert back to your non-productive ways.
Central to dealing with setbacks are three terms:
Lapse ——- Relapse ——- Collapse
When establishing a new habit that requires a behavior change, quite often there are a number of setbacks along the way.
How you react to these setbacks will ultimately determine your success or failure.
Listen, everyone makes mistakes. Some bounce back and use the slip as a signal to increase their commitment. Sadly, it is common though for a slip to cause a negative reaction which feeds upon itself until the desired behavior is totally given up.
There are two paths to success.
The first is to realize the importance of consistency when establishing any habit and commit to avoid and prevent slips all together.
The second is to respond to a slip by immediately returning to the desired behavior.
A lapse is a slight error or slip, it’s the first instance of backsliding to your former habit. It’s a discreet event like not recording your time in your time log all morning.
A Relapse occurs when lapses string together for a continued period of time.
A Collapse is when the relapse becomes permanent, and all hope of getting back into the grove are given up.
The important point to always remember is this:
A LAPSE DOES NOT EQUAL A RELAPSE.
You see, for some people, when they experience a lapse they feel as if they have nothing to shoot for – all they can do is start over. But the truth is far from that. And I want you to understand this point because it will make conditioning the habit of effectiveness easier over the long haul.
When you lapse, instead of thinking all hope is lost, consider it a challenge, can you keep it as just a lapse and immediately recommit yourself so your lapse doesn’t turn into a relapse or a collapse?
Of course you can. And obviously you should.
The point is this – even when you’ve slipped, you are still in control. Only you will decide the impact of that lapse – you
can get right back on track, or, postpone your re-commitment and have your entire effort collapse. The choice is yours.Commit to yourself – that if your lapse or slip, you’ll remind yourself that you are still in control and immediately get back on track. This way you don’t risk ruining the hard work you’ve already extended.
To bring this point home – keep your time logs up to date – and if you slip and go some time without using your time log – just recommit as soon as possible (immediately as opposed to tomorrow). If you do you’ll be that much closer to becoming an effective entrepreneur.
To Your Effectiveness,
Rich Schefren
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- Mar 27 2006
- 3 Comments
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It’s Monday, we’ve all got lots to do today, and this is an
important – but lengthy message, so I’ll just get right to it.In order to assist you in developing the habit of effectiveness
today, I’m going to teach you the way habits are formed and a
personal strategy of mine for installing new habits faster and
more certain to last than any other method or strategy that I
know.But before I get way ahead of myself, Let me remind you about
timekeeper. Don’t forget to continue using timekeeper, And if
for some strange reason (like self-sabotage) you haven’t gone
to get it – please do so right now:http://www.crypto-central.com/html/timekeeper.html
Some of you have already sent me your time logs – Very
Impressive! it’s really important to maintain your momentum
right now.Here’s why:
It’s critical to remember that effectiveness is not inborn.
Just like each and every one of us had to learn to tie our
shoelaces, and there was no one born knowing how to do it -
Every effective entrepreneur had to learn to be effective.
And all of them had to practice the being effective until
it became a habit.Along those lines… What is the #1 habit for effectiveness
that you must develop?Here’s what Peter Drucker had to say:
"Effective entrepreneurs do not start with their tasks. They
start with their time. And they do not start out planning. THEY START BY FINDING OUT WHERE THEIR TIME ACTUALLY GOES. Then they attempt to manage their time and to cut back on unproductive usages of their time"Don’t you see that you need a program like timekeeper to
follow Peter Drucker’s advice? So keep on it!Alright, let’s get to the main point of today’s message.
I don’t talk about it much, but before I opened my chain
of hypnosis I traveled all over learning from the best
NLP and Hypnosis teachers in the world. I was certified
in NLP by Richard Bandler himself, the creator of NLP and
the man who taught it to Tony Robbins. I studied with
Robert Dilts, Michael Hall, and basically every big name
out there.I am telling you this because I want you to
know that when I share my understandings with you it’s not
some crack pot idea I just developed, it actually was more
than likely a concept I was taught by a master.Anyway, NLP has a great model on how learning a new skill
takes place. Once you understand the model, you can leverage
it to install new habits rapidly.Pay careful attention here,
first I’ll explain it, then give you examples to make it
easier to understand, then I’ll show you how to use it for
your own advantage.Learning a new skills is divided into four stages
Stage 1 – Unconscious Incompetence. This is where you don’t
know how to do something and you don’t even know that you don’t know.Stage 2 – Conscious Incompetence. This is where you now
know all the different things you don’t know and
you begin to work on learning them.Stage 3 – Conscious Competence. This is where you now know
what you need to know, you can do the skills
necessary, but it takes all of your concentration.Stage 4 – Unconscious Competence. This is where you can now
do the skills necessary without thinking about it, it’s now a habit.OK, now let me give you two examples of how this work in
your life.First, learning the alphabet…
Stage 1 – There was a time when you were very little that you
didn’t even know that there was 26 letters in the alphabet.
Therefore, you didn’t know what you didn’t know – hence you are
unconsciously incompetentStage 2 – Next you learned there was an alphabet, that there
were 26 letters, but you didn’t know them all – therefore you
knew what you didn’t know – hence you are consciously incompetent.Stage 3 – Then you finally learned the letters, you learned
the song too – but when you needed to write a word you had to
really concentrate on writing each letter hence you are consciously
competent.Stage 4 – Now, when you write a word or a note, you don’t even
think about what the difference is between the letter
d and b, you can write without even thinking about it hence you
are unconsciously competent.Just to make sure you really get it, let’s take a look at driving
a car, because I bet there still might be parts of the driving
skill set that you have not become consciously competent in.Driving a car…
Stage 1 – There was a time that you were not aware of
everything that was involved in driving – you didn’t
know there was a gas pedal, break pedal and maybe
a clutch too, hence you were unconsciously incompetent.Stage 2 – Next you started to learn about driving – you read
the book – your parents explained what they were doing
while they were driving, you asked questions and got
answers and you started trying to drive yourself
(supervised, of course) and you realized you had a lot
to learn, hence you were consciously incompetent.Stage 3 – After practicing, studying, and really getting out
and driving, you could do it, but you had to really
concentrate when driving – you weren’t ready yet to
turn on the radio, talk on the cell phone and drive
all at the same time – you had to focus and
concentrate, hence you were consciously competent.Stage 4 – Lastly you drove enough so that it became automatic,
you no longer really need to think about what you
needed to do, you just did it – you can have the
radio on and drive well automatically – you were now
unconsciously competent at driving.But here’s the interesting part – are you unconsciously
competent at parallel parking?In other words can you parallel park with the music on and
talking on the cell phone?Most people cannot – they haven’t
parallel parked enough times in a condensed period of time to
have the skill become unconscious – therefore they are
consciously competent – they can parallel park but they have to
turn down the music, stop talking and start
concentrating on the parking job ahead.It’s really important that you realize what the parallel parking
example means to your pursuit to become unconsciously competent
at being effective. It means simply being effective from time to
time won’t really help you in establishing the habit.So, to install habits in the quickest manner – what you need to
do is to know which stage you are in and then focus on what you
need to do to move to the next stage.Taking a look at effectiveness – understand that more than likely
right now you are unconsciously incompetent – that there is still
parts to being highly effective that you simply don’t know.Therefore your initial goal is to become aware of what really
makes up effective behavior – (i.e. keep reading my messages).This will help you transition to stage 2.
In stage 2 you now know the activities that make someone effective
but you don’t really know yet how to do it yourself – So you keep
learning and you apply what you learn in these messages.Next stage 3, you’ve been keeping up with the recommended activities
and you now can be highly effective but you must consciously choose
the behavior and you must do so consistently and often (remember
the parallel parking example?).If you practice all the effective behaviors consistently and work
on doing them without even thinking about it – you will pass on to
stage 4 where you are now unconsciously competent – your are
effective by habit, which should be your goal as an entrepreneur.For now on, when you want to condition a new habit – understand
which stage you are in and what you’ll need to do to go to the
next stage – it’s simple, although not always easy.With that – make sure you are keep current in reading these notes,
and make sure you keep tracking your time.To Your Effectiveness,
Rich Schefren
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- Mar 27 2006
- 2 Comments
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Being strategic and effective is all about getting the
right things done.In order to become a strategic entrepreneur
you will need to build the habit of effectiveness. No one is
born effective – I repeat – it’s not an inborn trait, so…
if you never worked on developing the skill of effectiveness
you are not as effective as you could be or should be.Therefore to build the habit of effectiveness you’ll need to
practice (consistent practice leads to powerful habits) the
five skill sets I laid out for you in the last post.While the 5 skill sets above are all easy to understand,
they aren’t so easy to do well. In other words, you will
have to build and develop them (they don’t appear like
magic), just like you’ve learned how to do anything else
important in your life. You need to continually practice
over and over again until these five skill sets become
"The Way" you automatically go about doing your work.Next week I’ll breaking down in detail how learning and
developing habits go hand in hand and the key distinctions
you must understand to be successful.If you’ve been keeping up, today should be day 3 of your
time log. Is it getting easier? It should be by now, and
you should also start seeing how much time you’ve been
spending on tasks and activities other than your top
priorities.Scary, isn’t it?
Just keep up the good work, make sure that you spend as
little time (none would be best) multitasking as possible.Stay focused on one task at a time. It’ll be easier to
record, and its the work process of highly effective
entrepreneurs.So just keep recording, keep focused and notice your
patterns, make today a super-productive day.
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- Mar 27 2006
- 2 Comments
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So, did you take action on the last post?
Were you more effective because of the 5 minute exercise
you did?If so, keep up the good work – If not, why not?
Did you not follow through?
Did you pick the wrong activity?
Did you not do the exercise?Remember, in everything you do, whether good or bad,
strive for clarity!Yesterday I promised I would share with you what I
believe to be the five skills necessary in order to
be an strategic entrepreneur.The five skills are:
1 – Managing Your Time
2 – Focusing Your Efforts On Important Results
3 – Making Your Strengths Productive
4 – Concentrating Your Efforts On Those Activities
That Are Most Important To The Results You Desire5 – Making Effective & Strategic Decisions
The 2 core skills – (#1) Managing Your Time and (#4)
Connecting your Efforts On Whats Really Important,
determine how strategic and effective you, the entrepreneur
really are.You can get more of every resource except for time.
Time
is your most constricting resource – so time management
is critical to getting the right things done.So, step one (and the basis for your assignment today)
is to get really clear about where your time goes and then
doing whats necessary to eliminate those tasks and
activities that waste your time and the time of those who
work for or with you.Your assignment for today:
(1) Go to the link below:
http://www.crypto-central.com/html/timekeeper.html(2) Download TimeKeeper and start using it.
(3) Use the billing code to represent the different roles or
areas of responsibility you currently have.(4) Use the software for the next 7 days you are working.
(5) Print a weekly time report and email it to me before
our next one on one call.Why I recommend TimeKeeper…
If you work in front of your computer and you’ve never
attempted to work in a focused manner on the activities that
are most important, then simply having the software will
improve your productivity all by itself. But the real benefits
will be next week when we get a clear picture of how you are
currently spending your most precious resource – YOUR TIME!Don’t delay get the software now, and start using it today.
You’ll thank me later – I promise.
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- Mar 27 2006
- 0Comments
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There are lots of entrepreneurs who are quite knowledgeable;
however, effective entrepreneurs are much, much rarer.Yet
it is the effective entrepreneur who succeeds in building
successful businesses.As an entrepreneur, you and your company make no money for
simply knowing. You make money and build your business by
getting the right things done.How to decide what are the right things and how to get
them done will be the primary focus of your upcoming
ProfitNotes.By highlighting both "what to do" and "how to do it" you’ll
learn (if you follow my lead and spend the few minutes each
day these emails require) what you do well, what you need to
improve on, what you are currently doing poorly and shouldn’t
be doing at all.You’ll learn where you belong in your business, your niche and
your market.Your first assignment:
(1) Take out a sheet of paper or open up a blank mindmap.
(2) Spend 3 minutes brainstorming what you believe are the
skill-sets an entrepreneur must have to be effective.(3) Take 1 minute and rate your current level of performance
in these areas.(4) Spend 30 seconds highlighting the areas you believe are
your biggest roadblocks to success.(5) Take 2 minutes to answer this questions "What could you
do today (realistically) to be more effective?"(6) Do the one thing you just decided would make you more
effective today.That’s it for now, in the next post I’ll tell you what I believe are
the 5 skills every entrepreneur must develop to maximize their
effectiveness and truly be a Strategic Entrepreneur.But for today, make sure to do one thing new or different that
you believe will make you more effective.
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- Mar 20 2006
- 0Comments
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As your business begins experiencing growth, it’s vital that you bring on a right-hand man (or woman) to help you in your quest for success.
The sooner the better, because when your business is expanding, it’s difficult to take time out to train another person for tasks you need to delegate.
Still, you can’t just bring anyone into the equation. You need to make sure they have the same passion for your business and ideas that you do. How do you achieve that? By compensating them based on their performance or by giving them a percentage of the sales.
1 Use Performance Incentives
Incentives go a long way in motivating any staff, but with an assistant who works closely with you to realize the ultimate goals of the company, it’s even more effective as a benefit and reward.
You have to be willing to put all of your trust into this person. You don’t want to worry about what they’ll do or how they’ll go about something. They should always strive to make your company look good in the eyes of your customers and business associates.
The type of person you want to hire on as a right hand man or woman will be highly motivated and able to handle their tasks with minimal input from you once they’ve been instructed on how to do something.
The person should be willing to learn new ideas – and eager to take on more responsibilities in the company. Don’t hire anyone who sits back waiting for an opportunity, or who scoffs at the idea of having to do more work.
2 Motivate Them With Vision
Your goal is to get them excited about the business – help them recognize the possibilities so that they actively work with you on accomplishing everything the business needs to grow and succeed.
Someone once said that hiring the perfect right hand man is like finding the right suit – they have to fit in just right with the company or else you’ll feel uncomfortable allowing them to handle certain responsibilities.
In a best-case scenario, the right hand man should be able to fill your shoes in any situation – without missing a beat. But this doesn’t mean you have to look for someone exactly like you – in fact, it’s better if his talents and skills complement your own – skills he possesses, you lack, and vice versa.
You have to be careful not to hire someone whose only goal is to replace you within the company… or steal your idea to launch his own business. His loyalty to you should be paramount.
If there are other employees within the company, make sure you hire someone who earns the respect of the others. You can’t have a right hand man who treats your staff with disrespect.
3 Be Very Selective
You may have to go through several assistants before finding the right fit. You’ll realize that not everyone has what it takes to stand in such an important position. When you do find the person, you’ll know it – because you’ll instantly feel a sense of relief that your business is on the right track to success.
After finding the right person, the two of you will work in sync to help the business experience growth. Having a right hand man will free up your time so that you can focus on more important tasks.
If he’s good enough at what he does, then you can double up on tactics that show promise in your company’s financial future. If you’re both good copywriters, then you can double the amount of high-converting content you write.
If sales are your forte, but he’s better at customer service, then divvy up the responsibility for the betterment of the business. You can constantly assess both you and your assistant’s capabilities and leverage each of your skills to their maximum potential.
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- Mar 14 2006
- 1Comment
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During a typical day in the office, you may waste a few minutes every hour.
It may not seem like a big deal, until you consider that those minutes can add up to hours. Those are hours you could be spending accomplishing more work or spending at home or in leisure.
Here are ten tips to help you make the most of every moment.
- Get rid of the clutter in your office. If you’re constantly looking for things amid the junk that’s in your way, you’re wasting time. Get rid of anything that is making your office seem disorderly.
- Set up an efficient workstation. For example, if you use your file cabinet often, put it close to the desk so that you don’t have to walk across the room every time you need something. Keep the things you use often near the area where you’re seated so that it’s always at your fingertips.
- Focus on the task at hand. Multi-tasking is sometimes a necessary part of the workday. However, you may find that you’re flitting from one task to the next unnecessarily. Finish your current project before you go on to the next.
- Keep your email organized. Delete the messages you don’t need and create folders for the ones you do need. That way, when you need to find something, you have a good place to start looking instead of having to filter through hundreds of messages.
- Keep paper organized. Instead of having to sift through piles of paper on every surface of your office, spend 10 minutes at the end of each day filing away the things you aren’t actively using. If you do need to keep some things out, put them in a stand up file rack that will keep them organized.
- Delegate tasks. Many business owners and managers have a hard time handing off work. You need to allow your staff to do what they can to free you up for other opportunities. Let your secretary handle phone messages or emails that don’t need your direct attention.
- Return phone calls right away. Don’t wait for messages to pile up on your desk. Instead of having to spend 10 minutes returning calls, you may spend hours. It’s a lot harder to carve out an hour in your schedule than it is a few minutes each day.
- Be clear about employee roles. Make sure that everyone understands what his or her tasks really are. Employees should not be duplicating each other’s services. Create standard operating procedures for each position in your company.
- Create agendas for meetings and use them. Agendas should have time limits and you should assign someone to make sure everyone stays on topic. Keep them as short as possible.
- Keep one calendar. Agendas should have time limits and you should assign someone to make sure everyone stays on topic. Keep them as short as possible.
You’ll find as you get more organized and delegate tasks that it feels like there are suddenly more hours in the day. There’s not – it’s simply the positive result of running your business in the most efficient way possible.
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- Mar 11 2006
- 0Comments
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Q: Are you passionate about what you do… or just passionate about the money you rake in?
I’m going to let you in on a little secret… it’s a lot easier to make money when you’re passionate about what you do.
How many people in the world are locked into a job they can’t stand, only for the sheer fact that they get a steady paycheck and benefits to take care of their family? I’m willing to bet there are quite a few in that position.
You don’t have to be one of them.
Your business obviously sparked an interest in you somewhere … even if it was only because you deemed it a profitable venture. But how you arrive at those profits is up to you.
Think about the way a non-profit is set up.
The people who created it either have to start with a for-profit company, or work hard to garner the funds necessary to achieve their goals.
They usually work for less money, so you know they have to love what they’re doing. They might have a trait you don’t yet possess… the ability to let their success be defined by how much they get to follow their passion and realize their dreams.
Your success is not fully dependent on number crunching.
It’s not all about how much you can cut from your overhead expenses or how fat your bank account grows over time.
How fulfilled are you?
Do you dread going to work every day and look forward to the vacation time you’ve accrued?
Do you call in sick just because you can’t stand thinking about work for even another minute?
Regardless of what business you’re in, you have to take command of your future and make passion a part of your routine.
Not every task can be something you’ll meet with enthusiasm.
You may not like packaging and shipping or printing out invoices. It may be a pain to source service providers to whom you can outsource jobs. But you can come into work every day and be passionate about what you’re about to accomplish.
Start by designating menial tasks that weigh you down to others and focus your attention and time on things that will give you a greater sense of satisfaction.
It’s also important to create a positive work environment. People generally advise,
Leave the stress at work.
But the workplace doesn’t have to be stressful in the first place… and in fact, it’s counter-productive.
Some companies have realized this and sought ways to increase employee satisfaction. They do this with relaxed dress codes, increased vacation time, and monetary rewards.
Even if you are your only employee, you should address what would be the ideal working environment for you. Would it be alternate work hours – say, from 5 PM to 1 in the morning? For some people, the answer is yes.
Is there something you want to do that you just don’t have time to accomplish because you spend too much time working?
Maybe you’d like to give back to the community.
Find ways to do that through your business.
For instance, create a corporate-sponsored event for charity or give back to the community using your company profits. That way, every time you’re working on something you don’t feel passionate about, you’ll know that in the end, you’re fulfilling your goals by earning personal profits and giving to others at the same time.
When you find ways to love what you’re doing, your success will come naturally.
You’ll have a positive attitude, which helps you accomplish more in life. People who get bogged down being negative find it hard to move forward because they’re concentrating on the present moment… or even the past.
Don’t be afraid to show off your passions to other people.
Showcasing what you believe in – what you work hard for – what you know will somehow create a better life for you and your family (or even the world) is a great indicator of future success.
Let others experience your passion for work. Your energy and enthusiasm for what you do will attract others to your sense of success. These people may be wonderful additions to your company.
If you went in to interview with someone like you, would you feel excited about working in the company – or apprehensive about the chaos and stress that seems to go on?
Work on creating a positive environment where you and your employees can be the driving force behind your company’s success… because you all feel passionate about what you do.
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- Mar 11 2006
- 1Comment
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Do you have a system in place for every aspect of your business?A long time ago, I didn’t utilize systems in my business – I just operated on instinct.
When success sprouted, I eventually had to bring someone else on board and that’s when I realized how I had failed.
I had no way of communicating how things got done around the office. My new employees couldn’t get inside my brain and I couldn’t expect them to instinctively know what to do – yet I had nothing on paper that explained my processes.
Having systems in place is vital to the performance of your business. Even if it’s just you – you need to have a system mapped out on how things are accomplished. If you’re the only one in your company, then maybe you don’t need it written down – but at the very least, you should be able to verbalize it in a step-by-step procedure.
If you can’t explain it in concise terms of what happens at each interval, then you don’t really have a system – you have a way of doing thing.
The word ’system’ implies that you can classify tasks, organize and rank them in order of importance, and assign them to the people you’ve designated to be in control of each aspect of the business.
Imagine what would happen if you were in a car accident one day… and hospitalized for a week or more. Who would run your company for you? Could you explain to someone how to operate the daily functions of your business?
Instead of a system, would there be chaos in the workplace?
Probably – if you’re not prepared.
It’s good to have your systems written out and filed so that whenever someone else is brought on board… or has to take over… they’ll instantly be able to refer to your model of doing business and follow it precisely.
Mapping out systems for your business can also give you insight into how things can be accomplished in a better way. Your goal is to simplify your process so that it’s as effective as it can be.
Don’t be afraid to utilize shortcuts if it won’t harm the end result.
There’s nothing wise about taking the long route to success. If there’s a tool you could invest in that would shave hours off of your task, then it’s worth it. If you’re doing all of your accounting by hand, and you could set up a software tool to quicken the procedure, then do it.
When you set up your systems – and you’ll need one for almost every aspect of running your business… do it with hindsight in mind.
Play Monday morning quarterback. What could you have done better, and how can that happen?
Categorize your systems to help you develop and update them as necessary. For instance, you might have a system for tracking sales performance, one for marketing, and another for sourcing new products or ideas.
If you have a ‘guinea pig’, start testing your systems out on that person to see if it’s easy for another individual to interpret and use. If any portion of your system needs further clarification, then go into more detail. You might know what you mean by "launch AdWords campaign," but someone else may need you to answer the question, "how?" Systems give your business a framework. You can always add onto the system, or tear it down and replace it… but it gives your operation a structure and a foundation to work from.
You’ll always want to update your systems as time passes.
Maybe new technology has been developed that can replace an outdated approach to doing business. Perhaps you’ve discovered someone to outsource a task to so that you can concentrate your efforts on more profitable ventures.
Whatever the reason, always look for – and be open to – new ways of structuring your business so that it’s a living system – not one that’s too rigid and opposed to change. You want to maintain a vision for your company and use creative means to get you there.
Think of yourself as an architect of your company. It’s your job to create a blueprint for your business operations. You can always pencil in new additions to the company or erase structures that need to be phased out.
With a system in place, you’ll find you can manage your business more easily and find success in a shorter span of time.
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- Mar 10 2006
- 2 Comments
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As any successful business person knows, you can kill yourself trying to grow your company. You invest and immerse yourself wholly without direction until you’ve stretched yourself so thin that you’re no longer productive in any aspect of your work.
If only you had planned your day better…
By forecasting an orderly work schedule, you’ll preserve both your valuable time and your sanity. Unfortunately, most people start each day off in a fury of tasks and deadlines – without a plan on how to get things done efficiently.
It’s a known fact that stress is a killer. You can wear yourself out mentally and physically by tending to the daily tasks your company demands. Or, you can learn how to plan for tomorrow and realize an even greater success – one that you can enjoy as it happens.
When people don’t plan, they react to their environment… usually in a negative way. How many times have you gone into the office and felt irritated about something someone else has done… or not done?
Productivity requires a positive attitude. If you’re constantly reacting to deadlines, tasks you hadn’t planned on popping up, or other people’s interference with your day, then you’ll be too caught up in the stress of it all to make formidable decisions that will help propel your profits upward.
There has to be a fine balance between planning your day and being flexible enough to handle the unexpected. It would be even worse to have every minute of your day scheduled and then find that something has thrown it off kilter.
You don’t want to paralyze yourself with your planning, but instead use it as a guide – a path to help you get from point A to point B.
Planning doesn’t require a lot of time. You simply have to map it out the night before. It might be okay to set long-term goals, too – but you’ll be better able to schedule your day if you do it the previous night, when you’re more aware of your company’s immediate needs.
Make a comprehensive to-do list. That doesn’t mean every single thing will get done the next day, but you want to have it on paper so that you’ll be able to give it attention at some point.
Every item on your to-do list should have a plan of action. When you know how to get something done, you won’t have to sit there thinking about your next step, which would be a waste of time.
Make a quick estimate of how much time each task in a plan of action will take – to give yourself an idea of how long it will take you to complete that single item on your to-do list.
If any of the tasks require a resource you don’t have at your fingertips, then add the time it will take for you to acquire and set up that tool into your final estimate. You don’t want to underestimate the time it will take you to cross something off of your to-do list.
The reason for this is when you fail to meet your self-imposed deadlines, it can create even more stress than if you had simply worked without a plan in place. While you might want to be Superman for a day, it won’t always happen… things are bound to present themselves as obstacles to your success.
If there are more people connected to the company – from employees to contracted labor – define their roles within the company structure so that some of the tasks can be designated for them to handle.
As you create each tasks, determine what it would cost for you to complete it. For instance, if your time is worth $100/hour, and you’re wasting an hour filling out forms that someone else could do for $8/hour, then you’re losing $92 an hour in profit.
Your time need to be planned out so that you are maximizing your talents but also doing tasks that will have the highest return for your investment of each and every hour. Adding to the above example, your hour could have been used to develop an ad campaign that results in a high conversion rate of traffic to your website.
Don’t forget to add personal goals and time to your schedule. You want it to be flexible enough so that if there’s a family emergency, or if you simply need a break from it all, you won’t throw the entire business into a tailspin just because you’re not physically or mentally involved with the business 24-hours a day.
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