I’ve had recent chats with entrepreneurs who struggle keeping up with everything that needs doing to run a successful business. The many tasks required to keep it all up don’t have to make anyone’s life a busy mess.
I have been playing with tools such as Trello and Things for a while now, but nothing beats a good spreadsheet and pen and paper from time to time to keep things running smoothly.
On a weekly basis I run through my lists and, based on my projects and priorities, I highlight certain tasks and tune down others in order to have the proper plan in place to successfully run things smoothly.
What I teach my clients when we deal with priorities and structure is this:
- Create a system that will support you in good and bad times
- Don’t change your system for at least one year
- Commit to it as you’d commit to showing up for a meeting with a friend
- Repeat again and again until the system does the job for you
The questions that I ask when it comes to priorities are:
- Which things, if done, will move me closer to my goal?
- How will I take care of myself this week?
- How will I have fun?
- What are my top priorities?
When sudden things happen and I need to decide to show up for things which I haven’t predicted, I ask myself:
- What will imply saying yes to this opportunity?
- How important is this?
- Is this in line with my value system?
I know exactly what matters to me and when opportunities show up, I don’t have to struggle. The decision making process is really easy and simple. It is a matter of going through a mental checklist of things that are really meaningful. How do I want to show up depends on what I value the most.
The brain can be foggy at times and not see things clearly. This is where having systems in place really helps. There is nothing better than knowing what really matters and automate the process so that even when hard times hit, I still can hang onto some fundamental truths.
Do things change over time? Of course they do. Am I inflexible? Sure not.
How often I check in with myself will influence the quality of my systems and keeping things running smoothly is part of being the CEO of my life, it is part of being responsible (response able – able to respond to life).
Do you want to have more accountability in your business and personal life? Get in touch and let’s work together. Email me at hello@elenamanole.com