TAMING THE TICK-TOCK TIGER
The clock is ticking…..Just when you thought December might be a time for you to "catch up" on some things you’ve been putting off, it’s become busy and you are overwhelmed with work; the phone is ringing off the wall, you are getting 287 emails a day and now the Christmas season has piled up on you and you realize Christmas Day is only days away. Your hair is on fire and you find yourself running around the office like a crazy person unable to focus and not knowing where to start and what to do next!
If this sounds familiar, here are some tips that might help you:
1. In your business plan for 2008, mark a note to remind yourself that December is always busy. Don’t overbook yourself. Many people are trying to get things done right before the end of the year, and it creates extra urgency in certain areas; yet for some reason the erroneous thinking is that we will have lots of time and our workload will ease up to allow us to get extra things done. Every year my clients tell me they think they’re going to do all this "catching up" in December and it hardly ever happens. Why we forget this every year, I don’t know. Every December is the same. BUSY. If you expect it, it won’t stress you out so much!
2. If you start thinking about your next year’s business plan in August, put together the pieces in Sept and Oct, and fully flesh it out and refine it in November, you won’t be trying to do it at the last minute in December along with all the other craziness. Get that off the plate earlier next year.
3. List the things that are overwhelming you right now on paper. It may be that you are feeling overwhelmed as a result of everyone else’s frenzy. There is absolutely no requirement or law that says you have to do cookies, cards, decorations, and all those extra things, unless you choose to. If you choose to, you might scatter some of those things into October and November in your next year’s business plan. (Again, this would mean you’d have to HAVE a business plan!) You can choose to say "no" to anything you want. And when you make your list you may find that it isn’t as bad as you think once you write it down.
4. Stop living in your email inbox! Don’t check your email in the morning until your billable or important activities are complete. Follow your schedule. (You would have to HAVE a schedule) Block out a certain time to check and respond to your emails. Don’t read all the Christmas emails and all the Hallmark-style Power Point presentations during your important work time. File them and read them during, or right after lunch, or during a break, when you need a little cheering up and you are taking a coffee break. I suggest coming back from lunch early and having some tea and reading them then. Use your morning for the things that need your full brain engaged, like writing contracts, prospecting, lead follow up, negotiations, planning, thinking, all the things for which you need your whole brain fully engaged.
5. A great positive affirmation, thanks to my friend Nikki Marcellino, is "There is plenty of time". Say this whenever you feel yourself stressing about how you are going to get everything done. Breathe deeply. When you catch yourself breathing like a rabbit from your chest, stand up, stretch and take 5 really deep belly-breaths, like you do in Yoga. (While we are on the Yoga topic, this would be a good time to put THAT in your business plan for 2008, too!)
6. Prioritize the absolute top one to three things that must to be done today and do them in order before you address anything else. If your boss puts something on your desk, ask when the deadline is, and put it on your tasks list, with a start and due date, so you don’t think about it until it is time to start on it.
7. Use the four D’s: Dump, Delegate, Defer, Do. Make sure you can’t do one of the first three things with any task until you decide to do it yourself.
8. Stay clear on your job description. Do not start doing things in a reactive mode just because they are coming into your inbox. This will sap your mental energy and you will never move ahead in your career or business, because you will turn into a reactive corporate task completer. Your hair will be constatnly on fire, and you are at prime risk for some stress-induced illness. Work on being the person you need to be, rather than focusing on what you need to do. Become an expert prioritizer. A lot of stuff you think has to be done doesn’t. And everything doesn’t have to be read, either. File things you think you want to read in a "To Read" file and you can catch up with it later.
9. Know the reality of life. The truth is, if you died today, your work would get done and everyone would manage just fine. It would be a minor inconvenience to everyone you work with, but if you feel like you are indispensable, get over yourself. It’s your ego talking.
10. Ask for help when you need it. Go back and review your values and goals in your business plan. Are the activities you’re doing supporting those values and will they get you to your goals? If not, set them aside and only do the activities that will.
If you have read this entry and have not written a business plan, a schedule, and your values, vision, mission, goals, and strategic plan, and action steps, this might not make any sense to you. If it doesn’t, you need my help.
Contact me and I will help you get started. julia@mentaliron.com or 503-750-3950.
Coach Julia
Keep sending those book titles!!! I have more free books to send you! And if you are finished with the book I sent you and you think of someone who would benefit by it , please give it to them!
Tags: Best Practices, Efficiency, Sales, Sustainability, SUstainable Business Practices, Time Management
