This concept is going to be very interesting for all of us, because the concept is, “what if you owned your business and it didn’t own you?” I know a lot of us feel like our business owns us, because you end up working in it for many hours a day and sometimes it runs into your family time, your evening time and then the other spare time you have, especially for people who work out of their home, like I am.
If you watched one of my videos on my Thinkific platform you will hear things in the background like birds and dogs and other animals, then you might realize that I’m working from my home. Sometimes our privacies and our time becomes infringed upon by people that unintentionally say things like, “Well, you only work from home, I’m just stopping in.” This life lesson is about, whether you work from home or not, setting clear boundaries, clear goals, defining them and “knowing them” every day when you start your day. Start your day with a very clear set of goals. It will make all the difference in your day.
I’ve developed a little priority sheet called the One Minute Mind Map, and it will be very easy for you to follow if you want a copy of it. It is a PDF I have created. But what I really want you to do with this is really consider at the start of your day, “What’s the number one thing that you would like to get done today?” Sometimes it’s the hardest thing. If you do the hardest thing first, then oftentimes the hardest thing gets out of the way and the rest of your day just flows. Oftentimes once you complete the hardest things, the other things are a little bit easier to accomplish because they are connected, or the heard things is at nagging the back of your mind.
For me, my hardest things are tech issues. So, I have to tackle my tech issues around my business first thing in the morning, because otherwise later in the day (and this has been studied numerous times), you are the most alert in the morning, especially after you’ve eaten a nutritious breakfast, more alert than you are at any other time of day. As the day goes on, your concentration and focus decreases, especially if your not taking time to eat, to get up and walk away from our desk, or to take five minutes to do the things that really recharge and re-energize us. All of those things are still very important to us as entrepreneurs.
So, by doing this one-minute mind-map… And I know most of you are familiar with mind-maps, I have no doubt, but this is a one-minute mind-map so it won’t take any time at all, you will be more productive. I just want you to start your day by filling out the center piece that says, “What is your number one priority?” And the one above that is, if you get that one priority done, what else will you be able to accomplish? What will come more easily? And then the bottom two circles are the other two things that” now this can happen” and “now that can happen”.
There’s always one pivotal thing that’s really holding your day together. I know we have tons of tasks to do in the run of the day. I’m very aware of that, make no mistake, but I think prioritizing, planning, being very clear on your goal, is the key and you need to start that first thing in the morning. That’s just the key to getting your day under control. You set the tone, you set the motion and you set the motivation, and all of those things make your day come together very well.
It’s okay to say no to other people. It’s okay. “I’m sorry, I’m working. I can’t talk with you right now. I’m exceptionally busy. I will call you back at X time.” then you establish a time to call them back because we really need to set boundaries. We really need to not get caught up in people-pleasing, but business-pleasing. Do the things that best serve our business. What is in the highest priority of our business? And if we’re in a business that is of service, that’s super-important as well.
Another thing that I think that we all have to be super-conscientious of, and it’s one of my pet peeves, just so you know, is people are saying, “I’m so busy, I’m so busy. I can’t possibly, I’m so busy. Oh, I’ll call you later. I’m super busy.” I’d very much rather somebody say to me, “You know what? I’m exceptionally busy right now on a task that I’ve decided to focus on. If it’s okay with you, I’d like to call you back in a little while.” Because if you’re always so overwhelmed and so busy, then sometimes your clients or customers start to feel like an inconvenience. If you’re always so busy and so overwhelmed, doesn’t that make people question your time management or your ability to delegate your tasks? So If you want to look good and really represent a good business, even if you are slightly overwhelmed, you really have to prioritize. You have to really keep a list and you need to do your most important task first thing in the morning.
When we are spread to thin with too many goals or tasks, often at the end of the day we wonder what did we actually accomplish? Organization, time management and priority setting will be the cornerstones of a productive day!
Have an awesome day and be kind to yourself, your doing a great job!
PS the one minute mind map is availble in my free course as a PDF download here:
