The way most entrepreneurs work gets them no closer to their goals. They’re just running on a hamster wheel.
Here’s the process I’ve used for over 7,431 hours for myself and clients that guarantees you’ll beat procrastination make more progress this week than you did in the last month.
The key ISN’T something you don’t know. You know more than enough. You’re just not executing on the things that actually move the needle.
Here’s the process to be repeated every week:
1. If you have a quarterly plan, pull that out now. This ensures your work THIS week is advancing the plan. (If you don’t have a plan, keep reading and at the end of this thread you can click to find more on creating one)
2. Review what worked, and what didn’t work, in advancing your key projects last week. What blocked you? Why? What worked? Write it down This gets you in the habit of pattern recognition, so you know when you’re getting off track and what keeps you on track.
3. Prioritize your tasks by leverage. What will have the biggest impact on the company? On you? Often it will be sales and marketing. But sometimes it will be delegating – freeing more time for yourself. You need to do this every week, because things are changing.
4. Book Focus Hours in your calendar to get them done. Minimum, 5 hours/week. Focus times are sacred. Nothing can move them, and they come FIRST. Progress isn’t something that’s made by fitting it in between the crisis of the day. Progress is made by strategic things first.
Tip: if you’ve let focus times slip in the past, schedule a LIVE working session with someone who will hold you accountable. Just like a gym trainer, someone waiting for you will make a HUGE difference. (I built an app to for this, but that’s a thread for a different day).
5. At the beginning of each session, specifically declare what you’ll be working on, and the outcome from it. This keeps you focused.
6. Turn off ALL notifications, and silence your phone.
7. Work your focus hour on that one thing. No interruptions. No multitasking.
8. At the end of the hour, recap: what did you get done?
9. Repeat.
Now this will sound like one of two things to you:
A) “Whatever. It’s too simple to make a difference”
or
B) “I can’t possibly block uninterrupted time”
Either way is for one reason: You haven’t done it.
Try this format, and stick to it for two weeks: You’ll get more done that ACTUALLY moves the needle in those two weeks than you did in the prior two months.
Want more (and templates on how to implement)? Get a weekly list of short, actionable steps to scale your company with simplicity in the Boardroom Bulletin™.
