3 Tips to Keep you from Getting Sucked into Low Value Tasks
The flip side of every coin...
Ever find that one of your strengths can also be a hindrance?
Usually it involves over or under utilizing a key talent.
We often know these things about ourselves but, sometimes it's just easier to ignore them.
Until, they trip us up.
Then we might be willing to take a closer look at what we're doing to make sure it serves us.
Last week I got caught up in playing a strength in ways that was not in my best interest.
One of my strengths is an inherent desire to help others.
It's why I became an ICU nurse.
But that career eventually backfired because as much as I loved helping, I couldn't take watching people suffer in pain.
I went to nursing school at the University of Pennsylvania and also took tons of psychology courses so I could be more supportive of patients' family members when dealing with severe illness and even the death of their loved one.
Although I found what I learned helpful for that purpose, I wasn't expecting how much it also helped me understand the stress I was feeling any time someone was in pain.
This wasn't news....
....I'd just hoped I could "grow" out of it.
In fact, in my last year of nursing school I fainted into a sterile field when the patient having a venous arteriogram started screaming in pain.
That did not bode well for me with my instructor.
And the doctors weren't pleased with my performance either.
I was stubborn so hung in longer than I should have...not to mention that I had worked my way through nursing school to cover my tuition, so it turned into an expensive lesson.
I finally bit the bullet, left nursing, and slowly evolved my career into coaching,
This truly offered me a viable way to help people.
That built-in desire to help others has also been a hindrance, as it was last week.
So many tasks so little time
It seems like everyone has too much going on.
One day last week I had a super long task list - a third of the list was drop-dead, had-to-get-done that day, priorities.
A girlfriend who just started a new project and really needs the income called me to see if I knew someone who could help her.
The task was making calls, which is easy for me to do, so I OFFERED to help her.
Yup; not a minute to spare but I offered myself up like a sacrificial lamb.
I didn't even think about it.
I felt her pain...her worry...her fears and wanted to help.
Even though I believe that we spend far too much time in our heads... thinking, a solid dose of reasoning was what I needed most.
I not only agreed to help her for one day, but told her I'd pitch in for 2 weeks.
Somehow I was going to make 3 extra hours a day materialize out of thin air!
The money was great and the work easy or me, but it was low value activity.
Remember my own list of must complete tasks?
Well, I got it done but not before 3:00 AM!
How well rested was I to be at my best the next day?
Doesn't even need an answer.
Of course I was a basket case and it was impossible for me to be at my best.
It's been a while since I fell off the "being helpful at my own peril" wagon, so this step backwards caught me off guard.
I worked through it with my coach, identified the trigger, and have enrolled my husband to let me know when he sees the telltale signs.
What things do you take on that pull you off task?
Here are some ideas to keep that from happening.
3 simple tips to prevent you from get sucked into low value activities.
- Each day, write down your top priorities for that day and how long they might take on an index card.
- Focus only on those priorities.
- If another task shows up, look at your priorities and how long they'll, before you accept it. If there is not enough time, either delegate or put it at the top of tomorrow's priorities.
Play to your strengths and use them to get your priorities out of the way first every day.
And pay attention to their flip side so you accomplish what you need to.
Let's say that relating to others is one of your talents.
You can find ways leverage that and motor through your priorities.
But it's also possible that you could over-use that strength, spend too much time in conversation - relating - and miss your key deadlines.
What if you could have a mentor to point you in the right direction and keep you on task?
Someone who has done it all herself and can guide you from experience through a systematic process for growing your business.
Plus you get the support of and input from a supportive group - kind of like a MasterMind.
Check out this link to see if you qualify for The Prosperity Circle: https://bit.ly/2Hc2I44