How Can I Sort Through All of Them and Get Them in the Right Order?
Over the past several weeks we’ve discussed the importance of having a plan when it comes to building anything successfully. This goes for construction projects or businesses. Part of that discussion was focused on having a clear and implementable business operating plan.
We looked at how a standard operating procedure can help you achieve consistent results, reduce costs, increase productivity, and create a higher level of standards. We broke down the things that should be in an SOP. Then we discussed the process of determining the design of your SOP.
It became pretty evident that designing, building, and implementing an SOP is a pretty big project. It’s a lot like building a big construction project, if you don’t start, it will never get built.
The same thing is true for your business…if you don’t start, it will never get built.
I have found myself in several different situations over the past several weeks that have aligned with this whole big overwhelming idea of the SOP. It reminded me of a previous post about being too busy.
Here is an excerpt from that post –
This morning as I was posting in my journal, I started thinking about all of the things that I didn’t get done yesterday. Then I began to think about how many times I have posted this same thing over and over. It sure seems that I spend way too much time feeling overwhelmed and behind. I really want to get more done!
Then I thought about all of the times that I’ve had this conversation with other people. “How is your day going? Man, I am so far behind I don’t think I will ever get caught up. I sure wish there were more hours in the day.” I have heard these or similar comments more times than I can count.
Our lives can feel like a 20,000-piece jigsaw puzzle was dumped out in front of us with no picture of what it is supposed to look like when it’s done.
So how can we get all of these pieces to fit…or can we? This is the big question. It would be nice to know what the finished puzzle is supposed to look like. This puzzle can be tough and frustrating. I think it is especially difficult for those of us who are ‘recovering perfectionists’. We want all the pieces to fit just right. To know ahead of time exactly where each piece is supposed to go. This particular puzzle, called life, doesn’t work like that.
Here are some reasons we struggle with our puzzle and some ideas to help us get our pieces to fit.
- We pick up too many pieces by over scheduling. There are so many pieces…Start with the corner pieces. Put in the most important pieces first.
- The puzzle isn’t going together as fast as we want. Sometimes (most times) things just take longer…do as much planning and preparation as we can before we start, but don’t over plan. Spread the pieces out, find the edge pieces and get started.
- With so many pieces in front of us we lose our focus. After we have put the edge pieces in place…remember that we can only put one piece in at a time. Concentrate on that one. If it doesn’t fit, then pick up a different piece and focus on it.
Life is a puzzle. What really makes this puzzle fun and exciting is that while we are putting our puzzle together other people are doing the same thing and their puzzle connects to ours.
Ideas are great, but if you don’t take action, nothing will get done.
Whatever the project is that you’re working on, find the first next piece, pick it up and put it in place, then repeat. This is the only way you will get the business of your dreams built.