Do you have a single pane of glass to manage your commitments to yourself, your family, and your business(es)?
I'm a husband, father, CEO, coach, and mentor, musician, cyclist…. The number of tasks, responsibilities, interests and hobbies on my plate at any time exceeds reality. It's two pounds of baloney in a one pound bag.
…and what I’ve found when sharing this with others is, most of us are in the same boat!
ONE of the ways I avoid “chaos” is using a trusted system.
Trusted systems have a single source of truth for all tasks, ideas, problems, etc. This is not a new concept. I was first introduced to this from David Allen's ‘Getting Things Done’.
I was originally focused just on my ‘things’. I loved the idea of having a single place for my commitments and any other ideas that popped into my head. I liked that things would not get lost.
This also enabled me to focus on the one most important thing that needed to be done next.
Over the years, I’ve used these principles in all parts of my organization.
However, they require consistent review…they require discipline!
I was listening to an interview of a championship kickboxer. The podcaster asked if he ever just did not feel like working out that day. The kickboxer responded incredulously to the question. "What difference does it make how I feel?" Most days I don’t want to work out... but if I want the results, I do it!”
Putting things into a trusted system that never gets reviewed serves no one. Your trusted system must be part of your daily workflow. Groom/prioritize your tasks daily, weekly or monthly - whatever works best for you, but do it.
Admitting what really does not NEED to be done is also part of the discipline.
The idea of looking at a never-ending set of tasks that grows faster than it shrinks would not entice anyone.
What drives me (and my teams) to review the system(s) are the results of that activity:
-> I know I have either put the most important things at the top of my plate or delegated them to the right people.
-> I know we have prioritized the latest things.
-> This provides me with less stress…more focus…more flow…more rewarding and fulfillment in the work I’m doing.
In my business, we review our trusted systems weekly, quarterly and annually.
I have been talking to several business owners recently. We discussed what the term “trusted systems” means to them?
Some use notepads, loose-leafs, and post-it notes and whiteboards. With discipline, I’ve seen very successful businesses run this way!
Others use spreadsheets and docs - with discipline, this can work.
These simpler tech solutions work...but they likely won’t scale.
I also think it’s vital for business owners to put their data where AI tools can help them stay ahead of competitors. (I'll go into that more in another post.)
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