Whew! This fall, I facilitated 10 workshops in 2 months! It’s been a busy fall – especially since my client load more than doubled as well! My personal favorite part of the past 2 months would have to be meeting so many wonderful people and developing many new friendships. I do have to say though that it was a challenge to conduct so many workshops in such quick succession and I found myself needing to practice what I preach!
If you’ve attended a workshop recently, you’ve heard me say that “the job of a problem is to get your attention.” Though being busy as a business owner is desired and growth represents good growing pains, it’s still a problem to be addressed. And being solo further complicates things – I tried to teach my dogs to answer emails but that didn’t seem to work out.
So what have I learned? I thought I’d share these top three things with you, hoping they will help you when you find yourself overwhelmed – even if for good reasons.
Identify your top priority each day. There were some days when I simply had to identify a single item or two that had to be done for the next day and focus on it – knowing that was all I would get done for that day. All of the “should be dones” would have to be pushed to another day (or month) – even if the people awaiting them would be disappointed.
Determine what you can do differently and more efficiently. There were certain tasks related to some of my workshops that I had always done via phone. I had to make that process quicker and turned those routine phone calls into emails. Perhaps you can identify some things that you just don’t even need to do at all.
Delegate! – this was probably the most important thing I did this fall, finding ways to delegate both personally and professionally. Often we can figure out how to delegate professionally (whether we do it effectively or not is perhaps a good subject for another newsletter). But many times we overlook how to delegate personally. Some examples; consider a housecleaner, a yard maintenance company, using a mechanic to change the oil instead of trying to do it yourself, taking clothes to the cleaner for laundering and pressing. There is no shame in getting help, especially when it can lead to a more balanced life. (My observation is that often times the number one reason people don’t delegate is pride – always thinking that they can do everything themselves.)
I’ll close with just three of the many wise tips from the book, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff…and it’s all small stuff.
1. Choose your battles wisely
2. Remind yourself that when you die, your “in basket” won’t be empty
3. Repeat to yourself, “Life isn’t an emergency”
The tips in this newsletter may even be applicable as you find yourself preparing for Thanksgiving and Christmas. May you simplify where you can, delegate what you can, and truly enjoy the preparations and time with family.
