We know somebody. Let’s call him Isaak. Isaak seems to have all the best intentions of getting things done. He knows his industry back to front and signs on to engage in a project with you and it’s very clear what he wants to create with you. You explain what you need from him, he nods his head and stares directly ahead. Eyes toward the future, right? He knows exactly what to do (because you’ve listed it all out for him, and he’s jotted it on a notepad, email, whatever) The problem is, whenever you ask Isaak about those things he said he would do… He never gets back to you properly. You both send emails back and forth. You phone him to remind him of what you need to get the project moving forward again.
Feedback on what needed to be done dwindles…
The project stalls, and you find yourself waiting. This goes on for months. Soon, you ask yourself why you got started on this project to begin with. We all know an Isaak, somewhere. Why can’t Isaak seem to connect the dots and move the dial of productivity up?
“Make Before You Manage” (In Practice)
Okay, so picture yourself at the start of your day. You’ve cut through the winter cold, had your coffee made and are now comfortably sitting at your desk. What’s the first thing you find yourself doing? If it was Isaak, he would probably boot up his ancient Outlook Mail and overindulge in the deluge of emails, each one a signal that something’s terribly wrong, somewhere and needs his attention, RIGHT NOW.
See, Isaak does this every day. No, wait not only every day, but he does this for years. After all, it’s what pays the bills and staff salaries. But who pays for the mental toll each email carries every day, a silent signal that Isaak is doing something WRONG, built over years? Sometimes you need a psychological boost to get the ball rolling again. Especially when, psychologically speaking, Isaak’s emails have been pushing him BACK every morning for years.
This is why we recommend that you create something, first thing. Anything. Whether it be a blog for your Facebook page, or coming up with a new approach to advertising… Creating something tangible in the beginning of the day helps you to see that you’re not just fixing indescribable issues all day.
Knowing you can still create something, even when it feels like you’re surrounded by problems, gives you a better start.
“Create Momentum”
Getting things done builds momentum. If we operate in a world where we get paid for our skillsets in proportion to how good we perform at them, the things that derail you effectively derails your income. We all create our own momentum, and shouldn’t stop ourselves when we start.
You can start by setting better boundaries, all aimed to set a golden rule: Don’t interrupt one another.
Your time has inherent value if you’re getting paid to spend it in the office – So anytime your team need to ask you a 1 minute question – ask them to write that question down and save it for your weekly meeting. Isaak probably allows everyone on his team to interrupt him, and could potentially interrupt himself by going out to put out fires…
Therefore never creating that wonderful momentum.
“What Are You Good At Really?” (Self-Awareness)
As people, we are all wired differently. If you wanted to talk about it simply, you could start with the left and right brain idea:
- Purely left-brained entrepreneurs tend to be highly organised and create great well-structured businesses (but stall when it comes to selling their services – e.g. have you ever seen an engineering firm’s website?)
- While purely right-brained entrepreneurs are off the wall, thinking up before-unimaginable ways to create income (But structures and time management? Forget about it)
The best entrepreneurs know their limits, but even better, they know their strengths.
We believe too many business owners try to do everything themselves to save money, but in the process, starve their strengths. They work even harder doing the things they aren’t good at – but make less money. In Isaak’s case, did he do an assessment to see what he’s good at?
He’s brilliant in his industry – no doubt – and he’s highly creative – but maybe he’s created flawed systems that create more trouble to fix. We all know an Isaak, but Isaak doesn’t know himself. And so, without knowing his strengths or weaknesses, could he ever have completed the project on time?
At Zoomination, we’d challenge you to take a minute and see where your precious time is being spent – because there are ways to spend it better.
