To Step Up & Play Big Means You Have to Fight Distractions

How Many of the Top 6 Do You Encounter?

There is never enough time during the course of typical day to get to everything that you want to get done. What makes it worse is the many distractions you will encounter to get tasks from your in-box to your out-box with enough time left that you can have some form of a personal life. Distractions can be killers. Here is a sample of the top 6 distractions that all of us face and what you should do about them:

1. Do you find that during any particular week you waste time and money and still miss opportunities?

What you should be thinking about - If you answered yes, you need to have a vision (3 years out) for your business or career. Without a specific vision, there is no way that you can set realistic goals to move forward. Without specific goals, there is no way you can measure progress. Finally, without daily planning and following a 90 day plan, you will continue to waste time and money until both are gone!

2. Do you find yourself involved in a fair amount of “fire-fighting” and moving from crisis to crisis?

What you should be thinking about - Here clarity of roles and expectations is key if you want any chance of succeeding. Have a daily plan, outlining what the top 1 to 3 things are that you need to accomplish that day. In developing this daily plan, also try to identify what barriers might stop you from completing these key tasks. Try to have ready a contingency if you get stalled.

3. Are you very busy, running from task to task and meeting to meeting but still see no measurable progress being made?

What you should be thinking about - You’re letting the day, week or month control you as opposed to you taking charge. You may be finding that nothing gets done, unless you do it. Are you delegating? Look at the skills of your team and “fix” why others can’t do the work that you are doing. Is it a training need? Whatever it is, fix it. It will stifle all growth in your business. Want to know how to effectively delegate? Click here and read Lessons in Leadership: Do You Delegate (Or, Do You Collect Other People’s Problems)?

4. Are you pulled in multiple directions at the same time with little or no time for you?

What you should be thinking about - One of the best things you can do for yourself is to schedule an actual appointment with yourself. Put on your calendar and in your outlook – set it up as a recurring event on the same day at the same time, every week. You have to fight for your time like you would for your life. It’s that important. During this scheduled appointment, work on you and then some strategic issue that will move your business or your career one step closer to your goals. You can find out more about how to do this by reading my blog post “Put Yourself in Time Out”.

5. Do your employees require constant follow-up; do what they want, when they want regardless of what you want them to do?

What you should be thinking about – make sure your team understands their roles; why they do what they do and how it fits into what the overall goals are. This applies to everyone - from the mailroom to the board room. No exceptions. Once they understand their roles make sure they bare proficient in all of their tasks. With that behind you, set performance expectations for them and make certain all understand what constitutes satisfactory or better performance. Last but not least, hold everyone accountable to meet (or exceed) your stated expectations.

6. Do you, today, still have the same passion about what you do as when you first started?

What you should be thinking about – look, you have lost your way. It’s not unusual. You have gotten so caught up in managing the fires and dealing with clutter and distractions that you no longer know why you do what you do and where it is all taking you. It’s like trying to light a fire with damp wood; it flickers and then it goes out. So, first; get away from the day to day; next validate why you do what you do – i.e. your long term goals; now re-create your vision so as to define what you want your business or career to look like in 3 years and how that will satisfy your “why”; then set some goals for the next 12 months broken down into 90 day increments and finally get to work.