This week, I’m going to discuss a useful technique that can help you stay motivated to work on your business instead of just working within it. As they say, “less is more,” and whoever said it has a point. I’ll keep this brief and simple, hoping many of you will take a few minutes to read.
THE CHALLENGE
In many of the Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) I participate in with clients, I’ve noticed that business owners don’t allocate much time to work on their businesses. They often discuss various improvements and ideas, but when we meet again later, I discover there’s been little progress. It’s essential for businesses aiming to grow to enhance their systems, procedures, and overall business practices. And remember, if you’re not progressing, you’re regressing.
SOLUTION
Add it to your calendar:
I strongly believe in the saying, “If it’s not in your calendar, it doesn’t exist!” Every Tuesday at 10 a.m., I block out time in my calendar for writing our newsletter and blog. This approach applies to all our other internal projects too. I ensure I allocate time on my calendar and stick to it. You can begin by scheduling just 2 hours per week to work on your business.
Break it into smaller steps:
Even a basic task like “update website” can involve up to 60 individual tasks. Here’s a simple technique that can help you make gradual progress!
1. Think about different aspects of your business you’d like to work on. Write each aspect on separate Post-it notes.
2. Choose the most important one and keep that post-it note. Put the rest in a safe place for later.
3. Write down all the small tasks needed to complete the highest priority item on your list. Break it down into really small tasks. Each task gets its own note.
4. Arrange the Post-it notes in the order of tasks that need to be done first.
5. Finally, start by completing one or two small tasks. Just take that first step.
Once you begin, you can trick your brain into wanting to finish the entire project (this is known as the Zeigarnik effect). And since each task is very small, it’s not too difficult to do “one more task.”
– Burak Sarac, Team Lead
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