From reactive to focused action

Small business owners should a tremendous amount of responsibility. They are often part of a lean team which inevitably leads to attention being given to the responsibility that screams the loudest, not necessarily what is most important. That leads to jumping from task to task in a harried fashion. The day ends with an exhausted business owner who isn’t even sure how she spent her time.

FIRST, in an ideal state, the business owner is clear on the priorities that matter to grow the business by securing access to capital, operating efficiently, increasing sales, retaining customers, and getting paid tine a timely fashion.

NEXT, the business owner has set aside time blocks that enable him to focus on those activities that matter the most to executing against the established priorities and has begun to discipline himself to honor those blocks of time.

THEN, discipline yourself to ignore everything else. It can difficult early on to discipline oneself to ignore the less important tasks. The phone calls, impromptu meetings, and distracting busy work will all seem necessary to address in the moment. Take a step back and consider the big picture. Which of those activities will truly fuel forward progress?

FINALLY, recognize this is skill requires mastery over the long-term. Every time you find yourself tempted to take on all the tasks in a scattered, reactive manner, pause, recenter and return to your strategy of giving time and energy to focused action.

Here’s to more business birtdays!