Category Archives: Project

This Is A Great Time To Begin

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3.25.15Spring is the time of plans and projects.

Leo Tolstoy

No matter where you live, and what the climate is like right now: rain, snow, sleet, winds, sunshine, it really doesn’t matter does it?  It is Spring.  Spring!  Even the word sounds hopeful, fun, exciting, energetic and makes you hum a little.

Today’s topic is “time to start your new plans and business projects”.  Imagine my delight to see that Leo Tolstoy also thought the same thing.

April is the beginning of a new business quarter.  It is also the time to formulate and implement new business projects and/or plans that you have been thinking about.  Given that you have reviewed the success of the first quarter, you know where you want to spend your time creating something new, or if not create something new, how you want to refresh and improve what you are already doing that is working.

There is much about your business that is successful.  How do I know that?  I know that because you are in business.  So, this week, if you look at what is working well in your business, look at that component and see if it needs any trim tabbing.  The term “trim tab” is a nautical/aeronautical term relating to a small supplementary rudder that is attached to a boat or an airplane that keeps the direction steady without the pilot having to continue to apply pressure to control it.

If you look at what’s working in your business, you will know if it needs a “trim tab” so that it essentially runs itself.  An example of this is adding a virtual assistant to your staff for publishing your blogs, hiring a web designer to refresh your web site or a bookkeeper to do your books.  You get the idea.  How can you make small changes that will free you up for creating new projects that will make your business even better?

Since your list of new projects could be very long, it is important that you choose one to work on that will have measurable results and that you can realistically put a “by when” date on.  And, I suggest that you work on one project at a time.  Please do not overwhelm yourself with several projects at once.  You will make more progress when you follow a new project to completion.

Enjoy the new energy that Spring brings to you!

 

Photo courtesy of Cliff Thorbes, Vancouver, B.C.

Distracted? Why is that?

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Distracted 81314Does this ever happen to you?  You go into your office determined to accomplish something on your high priority project.  The day flies by, and when it’s over, you didn’t accomplish anything you had planned.  What did you do?  You answered emails, posted on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn as well as read discussions and replied to the discussions.  The day is over; you feel tired, but not because you accomplished what you set out to do.  You were overtaken by the seemingly innocent actions of distracting yourself from working.

So, why is it that we get distracted?  There are a ton of books and articles written about how to organize your calendar and do list so that you get things done.  None of them actually address distraction, and what to do about it when it overtakes you.

Being distracted may be a positive signal to you that you are stuck in your project and really don’t know what to do next.  It may give you the relief that you want from facing the truth that you are stuck.  As entrepreneurs, we do not want to admit that we don’t know what to do.  We actually do think we are Mighty Mouse and will always show up to save the day.  And sometimes we do, and other times we don’t, because we are stuck.

The next time you are hit by the distraction bug, try this: say to yourself, “I am distracting myself instead of working.”  Ask the question, “Why is that?”  Then take some time to truly come up with some answers to the why question.  In fact, for every answer that you come up with, ask yourself, “Why?” as in “Why do I think that?”  After about 5 authentic whys and legitimate answers, you will come up with the root cause of the problem.  It is pretty clear that if you can recognize the root of the problem then you can address it, fix it, and move on.  You will actually work on resolving the roadblocks that are stopping you from completing your project.

In the comments below, please let me know how you avoid distracting yourself and when you are distracted, what you do about it.  I am looking forward to hearing from you.