Well…
Last week I moved house, got a new dog and welcomed two new team members into my business.
Next week I have a 5-night press trip to Italy and I haven’t planned any of it yet.
Plus, my to-do list is disgustingly massive.
So, what’s my plan?
Well, it’s simple really…
Last week, I was at a networking event…
I say networking, it’s not really.
There’s no selling. It’s just a few business owners who walk along the seafront chatting.
It feels like skiving (you know, like sneaking out of school)
But I find leaving the office to looking at the bigger picture to be so energising.
Anyway, at the last walk, someone said this:
“Your business to-do list is like your washing pile. You NEVER get to the end of it”
Me – being the dick that I am – smugly announced that there was this one time that I not only completed all the washing, but I also washed the washing basket.
Then I thought about it…
It was just ONE time, and it was about 10 years ago.
Yet, there I was, holding on to the hope that I might one day see the bottom of the washing basket again,
Or that I might one day, open my laptop to an empty inbox and think… “Hmm, what new idea shall I come up with to work on today?”
It’s a fantasy we all have.
But trying to reach the end of the to-do list is never going to happen.
Instead, the one thing we can work on,
Is deciding which things will happen, and which will not.
Saying yes to things is easy.
But the real power is in saying no.
What things can we remove from the list and say ‘nope, not happening’?
It’s like reaching into the washing basket for the socks that have holes and the t-shirts that have unfixable stains and throwing them all in the bin.
Your load is immediately 30% lighter.
So for this week, my focus will be on doing as little as possible.
For every task, I’ll think: ‘How much money will this make?’
Not exactly of course, but just a very rough estimate of time invested vs return.
What can I take off the list and launch into the rubbish bin?
What can I give to someone else so I don’t need to touch it again?
And how little work can I Ieave for myself so that I have more time available for this guy…
My job is to take a very fast look at all of the possible tasks to be done and pick out the 20% that will yield 80% of the results.
Do those, and I’m golden.
Top of that list will be things that I can set up once that will generate cash forever…
Like improving the conversion rate from website visitors to email subscribers (hello, QuizWizard!)
See you next week…
Next week’s email will be going out as I’m on a plane,
But I’ll never miss a week, because it’s really hard to fail at something you’re consistent at.
– NSL
P.S. Need a tool to make something more efficient? Here are all my faves.