I’ve been thinking about role models recently.
You have role models, even if you can’t immediately name them.
They can be the entrepreneurs or businesses that you LOVE. The people and businesses that you’d like to step into and work toward.
They can also be the people and businesses that you don’t really love so much. The ones that you respect, but know their way isn’t your way. Or, sometimes, it’s the businesses you don’t respect and you DON’T want to do anything that they do (the what not to do examples).
And it’s not always about who they are or what they do. Sometimes it’s about how they do it.
Have you ever looked at someone and were impressed about the way they do or handle something in their business?
Maybe their system around networking. Or returning phone calls. Or making phone calls. Or how consistent they are in a specific area.
For me, I’m always interested in various aspects of productivity and staying on top of things.
How do they decide their goals and what do they do to meet them?
Do they have a work/life balance that I’d like to have and how do they maintain it?
How do they structure their month, week, and day?
But the biggest one for me is how they manage their time and tasks.
I love planners. I used to buy 2-3 each year. I’d pick one up and use it for a couple weeks, or even a month sometimes. And then I’d find a flaw with it or feel like I was on top of things and knew what needed to be done and I’d stop using it.
Really though, the excitement and newness of the planner had worn off and I was bored with it and found a reason to move on.
Then I’d get overwhelmed again and go looking for a better planner. And the cycle would repeat.
Maybe this sounds familiar?
There are a few things that could be going on here:
- The planner really wasn’t structured in a way that worked for you.
Yes, that could really be the problem. As you grow yourself and your business your needs can change and what worked really great two weeks ago, might not be what you need now. - Your mindset around time and tasks might need an uplevel.
Have you ever found yourself saying “I just don’t have time for this!” or “There’s no way I’ll be able to get everything done today!” Our brains are really powerful things and they really like being right. To the extent that they’ll make sure that we are right and we won’t get everything done. - There’s a problem with consistency.
Yes, this could be a subset of #2, but it’s super important so I’ve listed it separately. In business, it’s important to be consistent with certain important aspects of our business. Having a consistent structure for your time and tasks is important. And it doesn’t always come easy when you’re working for yourself and don’t have someone else imposing that structure. It’s a muscle you can develop though.
And it could be a bit of all three.
I know for me, it’s something I still tweak and adjust monthly.
I’ve adapted by creating my own planning pages. Every couple of weeks I look at what’s working for me and what’s not working for me and tweak it.
So, what’s working (or not working) for you in the area of managing your time and tasks? Share in the comments below.
AND I did a YouTube Live Stream on this topic!
I share a bit of my personal planning evolution and how I’m currently planning my days and weeks (and how it’s still evolving).
You can watch the video here.