Thoughtful Thursdays - Stay the course

Today's thought goes out to the entrepreneurs in the throws of launching their business ideas. A subject that often comes up in meetings with new business owners is the feeling of being overwhelmed and not being able to get everything on the to do list completed.

There are many good books on the subject of getting things done including the book by that same name by David Allen.

One of the keys to successfully tackling the to do list is scheduling and sticking to that schedule. Every time your schedule changes, there is a chance that some tasks will get moved out. Be mindful of the consequences when you do make changes and accept them. Life happens and delays are often unavoidable.

Something that works for me is to check my schedule every day before I do anything else. Confirming what has been already been planned helps prevent the addition of tasks when there is no time available. Another practice is to resist changing the schedule once it is in place, especially if you are in the middle of doing something that was planned.

These days you can spend a great deal of time processing email. When I receive an email I do one of three things with it.

1. Delete it because it does not concern me
2. Respond immediately
3. If if can wait or something has to be done before responding, schedule the time in my calendar for the necessary work.

Minimizing the number of  messages in your inbox is a one way to help reduce the stressors that can contribute to the feeling of being overwhelmed.

Good selling,
Richard