Are you stuck in a cycle of never getting through your to do list? feeling like you have a hundred different things to do but nothing really gets done?
You’re not alone! I could ask 100 women in business that question and no doubt 95 would agree that was what their day looked like on a fairly regular basis. The endless to do list, the midday overwhelm panic attack and the self loathing at 3pm when you realise you have accomplished nothing. Nada.
There are three reasons why this happens to women in business. You might suffer from one, two or maybe even all three! If you recognise yourself below the good news is at least you know what you’re doing. Let me “Dr Phil” you here… You can’t change what you won’t acknowledge. If you see yourself below you can change it.
Reason 1 –Â You’re not focusing on the stuff that gets results
In business there are actions and activities that make a difference, then there is the stuff we do because we either don’t know any better or we want to hide from what we should be doing. I do this. I am guilty.
Maybe you spend an hour on stock photo websites looking for the perfect image for your next blog? Does it really matter? Will anyone choose to buy or not buy from you because of that one image?
Perhaps you waste hours “researching” your competitors on Instagram to see what they’re up to. Does it matter? Will it create a sale for you? Probably not.
Did you write up a newsletter or blog without first deciding what the purpose was? Was it to entertain, educate, sell or something else?
There is so much “doing” in business that doesn’t affect the end result of bucks in your bank account. Filtering out those actions and activities will reduce your work hours, to do list and make you more moula!
How to fix it:
Ask yourself “what is this achieving?” every time you start a new task.
Reason 2 – Your “To Do” list is sucking your day away
Not to completely geek out on you but I want to mention Parkinson’s law: “work expands so as to fill the time available for it’s completion”. That means if you have 4 hours and a to do list with 10 things those 10 things will suck up all four hours. If this is true, which I absolutely believe it is, then your to do list is probably sucking your day away.
We usually only add the Urgent/Not Important and Not Urgent/Not Important stuff to our to do lists, the real meaty stuff that moves a business forward rarely makes the cut. If this is how you manage your task list then of course you will never get the big stuff done.
How to fix it:
Add one task from your action plan (the plan that helps you grow your business) to your task list every day. If it is a big task then break it down over the week. Just make sure it features on your list (at the top!).
Reason 3 – You don’t have an overall plan
Sales goals, visions, actions plans… they are all super important. Often when women in business feel overwhelmed it is simply because they don’t have any idea of what they are trying to achieve so to fill their day with work that seems important they write to do lists of stuff with no real strategy.
Sitting at your desk at 9AM scribbling down lists of things you need to get to is a completely ineffective way of running a business. You need to know what the end goal is or you will tread water in your business forever.
How to fix it:
Get a plan! Create a vision, set your sales goals, start writing an action plan. Know where you’re heading!
Melanie
