Life can throw us the occasional curveball - like an interruption to your schedule, a distraction from your focus, an urgent issue with a client, or - you know - a tiny global pandemic! Most people react by hitting the pause button on working on their business goals and plans until things settle down.....
But - whilst I understand it - I think that's a bad idea and I'll tell you why!
Things will never truly settle back down or get less busy - in fact the workload seems to continually grow and grow (for some of us to the point of burnout). Pandemic or no pandemic there will always be a reason to put things off. And it'll always be easier to do those things IN your business and go into survival mode than work ON your business.
There will never be a perfect time to make that change in your business, to do that thing for yourself, add in that piece of software, reorganise or systemise that process.
So, stop hitting pause. Instead, I recommend viewing working on your business as a volume knob. Sometimes it will need to be turned down yes- but this volume knob can never be turned off. If you turn it off completely, someone else's music will be still playing - and even perhaps getting louder - and it will become harder to catch up to make your music heard.
When things get busy and hectic and you think you have no time for planning - that is the exact time you need to stop - even for just an hour to re-organise your inbox or to do list, desk and get in a more organised headspace to approach your work.
Or, when the workload is getting on top of you and you know there is a solution to reduce the workload (i.e. implement a new software, train a team member or outsource a task/function, hire a VA, do that training session you know you need to do but have been putting off...whatever it is that you know deep down will make a difference) Schedule time to work on this solution into your diary like an appointment for yourself. Unless the building is on fire - the work can wait for an hour while you take the time do something that can save you incremental amounts of time once you've do the thing.
You may be thinking - oh sure Hermione but really - I do NOT have time to even go to the toilet right now. I can guarantee you - you can make the time. I am not saying all of this from my high horse. I am saying it as I've just done this myself.
I felt I was running the hamster wheel trying to juggle the two businesses, the two kids, a garage reno (don't ever ask me to go on the Block) and I knew that when I was working on things I wasn't working on the most important things, and I wasn't feeling organised - which for my systemised virgo self is not a good place to be in.
So this week I decided to stop pressing pause on the things I knew would help me feel less stressed and more productive. I purchased a new screen which helps me spread my work and flow better from program to program. I finally got my butt into gear and organised my calendar, I stepped back into using the software Asana to organise, automate and streamline my workload, client needs and projects, and I started a new course to help me become a better coach.
Did I have had to put in a few extra hours to do this into the evening? I'll be honest - yes. But I cannot tell you how much better I feel just taking that time out to DO those things ON my business.
Instead of just hitting pause and saying I'll sort it out when things calm down. I feel that I am back on top of the game and that I'm not slipping behind. And you know what? My work is now more efficient and I'm getting more done than when I was just hecticly working IN the business not thinking I had enough time. I feel I have more time now - weird!
So - what action do you need to take this week to keep moving your business forward and not keep pressing pause. Can you pick just one thing, allocate a time to work on it, and stick to it. You may just change your own life.
If you need any help to systemise and streamline your world to make your life easier - please reach out. I can help with that!
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