Wow. It’s only been a month since I wrapped up my analysis of managing the overwhelm recommendations and already my thinking has changed so much. Part of the reason is that I created a talk on the topic for The Hivery Summit. As I was preparing to teach it and not just to write it, I actually realized that the Big Idea for managing overwhelm could be simplified. There aren’t really six business skills needed. You can combine them into Three Ps that are easy to remember: Prioritize, Plan and Put it On the Calendar. I’m going to be talking a lot about those three going forward.
While I mentioned Put It On the Calendar in the Plan post, I wanted to dive a little deeper and give this strategy some love of it’s own.
What Are We Talking About?
It turns out that putting time on the calendar to accomplish specific things is the secret sauce in getting things done. It’s how we turn a plan into actions that move us forward.
Why Do I Need To Schedule Dedicated Time?
In his book Deep Work, Georgetown University professor, Cal Newport, talks about the importance of being able to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. Our lives are so noisy and full of distractions, we have less time than ever when we’re not constantly being tweeted and tiktoked and emailed and texted.
But developing a sustainable business strategy and moving forward absolutely requires this kind of thinking.
And our brain doesn’t help us.
First, it’s wired to do everything it perceives as urgent first. So when we get that snarky email from our most difficult client, we’re likely to ditch our plan for the day and fight the fire. Second, it loves those rewards our programmer friends have built into social media. All those dings and whooshes have us scrambling back into the app to discover our reward. Finally, especially when we’re tired, our brain likes to take the path of least resistance which is why we end up scrolling social media while mindlessly eating potato chips rather than unraveling the ins and outs of a major challenge.
Set Yourself Up for Success
So we have to give our brain the right environment so it can be it’s brilliant self. So that means:
- Block the time off on your calendar and resist the urge to schedule a meeting over it
- Break your initiatives and projects down into snackable tasks that take between 1-2 hours
- Minimize interruptions (set your phone to silent, close your email window, turn off social media notifications etc.)
- Figure out in advance how you want to use the time. That way your brain has one less hurdle to jump before it can get down to the real work of thinking.
MORE MORE MORE:
- Put It On the Calendar is Part 3 in my series The 6 Skill Sets and 2 Mindsets You Need to Manage Entrepreneurial Overwhelm
- If you don’t want to add checking this site to The List, you can get a monthly summary of The Next Leap delivered to your inbox.
Photo credits: stilclassics.com
