We all get overwhelmed in our businesses. It’s okay. It’s been said, we can establish it as fact even if we don’t want to admit it.
It’s not being overwhelmed that’s the issue. It’s what you do as a result of that overwhelm:
- Putting your head under the pillow and refusing to come out = issue
- Getting out of office for ½ day and coming back refreshed = smart
- Screaming, walking out and applying at McDonald’s = issue
- Screaming, walking out, getting some fresh are and returning = smart
You get the idea. If you’re currently overwhelmed and additional delegation isn’t possible for whatever reason (lack of team, financial resources, etc.), don’t despair. Try this instead:
- Determine what’s absolutely essential for you to reach your goals. Not sure what they are? Start there and identify SPECIFICALLY what your business goals are.
- What’s the absolute, positive minimum you need to do to achieve those goals? What are the tools, activities, systems, processes, team members you need at an absolute minimum to achieve your goals?
So the simplest way to really get a handle on your schedule and to determine if you’re operating under the right context is to sit down with a pen and paper and ask yourself, “Do I know what’s absolutely essential to my business?”
If you can’t list those items, those activities, then the odds are incredibly high that
you’re spending a lot of time on non-essential activities.
That doesn’t mean that you can’t spend time on those activities. But they should always be left for last. If you get the essential things done first each day, you’ll see that you’ll have a lot more free time to do the less essential things if you need to.
So, if you’re not sure what’s absolutely necessary in your business, determining that needs to be your first priority.
Take some time today to sit and think. Determine your business goals and for each one determine the absolute minimum necessary to achieve them.
Then spend some time thinking about the things that are absolutely necessary from there.