I’m a huge fan of bright shiny objects. Bright shiny objects are anything that takes our attention away from the task at hand. My problem is not finding enough things to do, my problem is focusing on the job at hand without getting sidetracked onto other projects where I try to multi-task.
In this area I don’t take my own advice very well. I tell Clients on a regular basis that they need to limit what they work on and only concentrate on areas that can provide high returns for them. And, when they are working on a particular area, close other windows on your computer and only concentrate on one task at a time.
This means no peaking at your in-box while in the middle of some work or looking up that favorite band with a new album while you’re in the middle of a phone call. If we can manage to concentrate on the task at hand, we’re much more effective and efficient. The amount of work that we get done goes up by a dramatic amount and we can schedule time for bright shiny objects.
For some, the idea of concentrating on one thing at a time feels punitive. For others the reaction might be duh, what’s so earths shattering about that. The point is that many entrepreneurs and private business owners often feel a time crunch for getting important projects done. In fact, in many cases important never get started because owners spend so much time working on urgent activities in their business.
Tasks that aren’t reacting to a problem are the ones that we “should” spend a lot of time on. We end up spending a great deal of time not on should, but on must or we’re in deep trouble.
I’m curious where you are on the spectrum and what your thoughts are. The comments box is for starting conversations and for someone like me, that’s another wonderful opportunity to play with some new bright, shiny objects.
Josh Patrick
I’m asking Private Business Owners to take our survey. Please click on this link for the survey. We won’t be sharing your contact information with anyone else. We also won’t contact you unless we have more questions. We will share the results of our survey with you within two weeks of you filling it out.
Thanks in advance for your help.
