Ever sit down at your desk to get stuff done, and then don't know where to start?
Moments before your head had been spilling over with all the things you needed to square away, and yet when your computer is turned on and ready to rock.... sadly, you are not?
If this happens to you, you are not alone.
And it has nothing to do with your latest productivity app, your email system, or the number of to-do lists scattered around your workspace!
It has everything to do with your approach.
Specifically where you focus your attention.
Where to Put Your Attention...
Knowing where you're heading with your enterprise is massively important.
But there are so many conflicting messages for entrepreneurs and business owners.
It's tough to chart a course with so many truisms, books and experts...all saying different things.
One such conflicting concept is that of having a vision for your life.
Some folks would have you believe that you need to uncover your passion and construct a deep compelling vision for what you want your life to have been when you lie on your death bed.
Whilst this approach can be useful to consider to get an angel on what is important to you, you've got to be in the right head space for it to really be helpful.
From the Horizon to the Minutia
So when faced with the cacophony of things you need to "get done" you probably turn your attention to the right here, right now, and that ever expanding to-do list.
But just getting more things "done" isn't the solution.
Even when your to do list is a mile long.
Doing just the right things, in the right order, is the way forward.
But how do you know what they are?
Deciding What The "Right Things" Are...
If you've ever run a project, being able to decide what to do, in what order, is REALLY difficult.
But it's key to rocking out some real results.
At some point you've probably found yourself hopping from one task to another, trying to do several things at once, and getting increasingly frustrated by all of them.
This is the result of your immediate tasks not being driven by the bigger picture.
How To Overcome Decision Fatigue
"See far enough to know where you are going, but focus close enough to get something done". Click To Tweet
The solution is not to have too much focus on the details and individual tasks, but to keep one eye on where you're heading at the same time... It sounds on the surface to be a paradox, but when you understand the power of direction and how this effects EVERYTHING you do, you're putting yourself into a very powerful position.
Here's how to do it:
1.Write down your vision for what you want. In terms of the time horizon, consider what you would like to create over the next three years or so.
2.Next relax your mind, and allow the next most obvious action to come to you. You're looking for a stepping stone. Not the whole road mapped out. Just an idea of what would be an obvious step.
3.Now, ignore any thoughts about why you can't make that step right now, and have a think about other obvious steps to get to that one. Write down everything that comes to mind.
4.Keep doing this, and at some point in the process, one of those increments that you come up with will be something very do-able, very actionable right now.
5.Do that actionable step as soon as possible, and allow the momentum of your action to take you on to the next obvious thing.
6.If at any point you feel stalled, go back to what your original outcome is, and start writing down (in a new list) your obvious stepping stones again until you've got a sensible action to move forward on, and then do that.
It's incredible where you can get to just using this very simple and creative process. Notice how there is no need to do more, to find more time, or organise another system.
Notice how good it feels to engage your mind in a relaxed way to offer up your action items, rather than trying to beat it into submission to give you the right course of action.
I'd love to hear about your successes.
Leave a comment below and share what you're going to be working on using this process.
To Your Inevitable Success!
Laura Leigh Clarke
The Whole Heart, Whole Brain Business Mentor