Happy fall! Are the seasons changing in your neck of the woods? We’ve already started getting chilly, grey days here in NYC. The beautiful weather we’ve been having may sadly be over as we rapidly approach Halloween. My neighborhood is already decked out in spiderwebs, ghosts and goblins. And as our thoughts turn to tricks and treats, I can’t help making the connection between kids, candy, and an overwhelming to-do list…let me explain:
When my daughter was about 4, I took her trick or treating and she got WAY too much candy, in fact it was spilling out of the little pumpkin bag she carried and her face was smudged with chocolate as we arrived home. I told her she could only have 3 more candies before we put it away. As she dumped the contents of her bag onto the floor, I saw an amazing assortment of treats: there were lollipops, peppermints, sour balls, candy corn, chocolate bars, caramels, licorice, granola bars, chocolate covered cherries and peanut butter cups. I could see that the amount of choices were overwhelming her.
At first she hesitated, not knowing what to do. Then, all of a sudden, she grabbed three candies (seemingly at random) and stuffed them into her mouth. Thinking I could get her ready for bed now, I tried to get her upstairs, only to find that she was quite upset. Why? Because she hadn’t chosen the ones she really liked!
So what’s all of this have to do with the subject at hand?
If you’re a business owner, self employed professional or anyone who is responsible for generating their own income; you have a lot on your plate, with an overwhelming to do list which may be ridiculously long. It’s probably filled with all kinds of tasks that must be completed in order to take care of the day to day business details, generate more business, get paid or pay others, or do long range planning. Not to mention those ever present bright new shiny objects, the interesting diversions and possibilities that come along that we just can’t resist.
And as we load our already jam packed lists with even more “to-dos”, we’re overwhelmed by too many choices and have a hard time setting priorities, often resulting in the feeling of having worked hard, but not having accomplished the things that are important to our long term goals.
We are not kids anymore, but we often overwhelm ourselves with too much to do and too many choices; which takes our focus away from doing the things that matter.
Are you focusing on what matters?
Susan Martin, Small Business Productivity
