[PODCAST 265]: A Simple Path for Optimizing Our Business, Profession, Family, and Life

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[PODCAST 265]: A Simple Path for Optimizing Our Business, Profession, Family, and Life

2d ago 21:55

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Today’s podcast is specifically for business owners who want to improve and get out of overwhelm, but the principles I’ll be sharing ALSO work if you’re optimizing things with your work as an employee, volunteer, or contractor–OR if you’re looking to optimize things at home.

The basic idea is that there are SO many ways we can improve and optimize our lives, but it doesn’t need to feel hard.

If you’re new here, I’m April Perry, co-creator of LearnDoBecome.com. I’m a wife, mother, and Nana, and I’ve created a system that helps us all to finally stop drowning in piles. So glad you’re here!

All right, so today’s podcast was inspired by an amazing conversation that happened inside our community.

It started with a post that essentially said this:

“In my professional life I run a printing/signage/direct mail company and there are a lot of processes and systems that need revamping in our shop – a lot of costly mistakes have been happening, I’ve been working at night a lot to get caught up, jobs are often becoming “rush jobs” because they aren’t being processed quickly enough, etc.

“This is all leading to a stressful situation and making me hate work but this business is [very important to me on a personal level]. With that said, I have a number of ‘big initiatives,’ and also ‘smaller picture’ items that I want to implement and they all feel urgent because I know they would have positive impacts on my business.

Simplifying our pricing structure so staff can get quotes out more quickly
Getting our new website live which is a huge project that I’ve been paying for and (hardly) working on for over 2 years
Ordering branded shirts for front-facing staff and delivery driver
Check engine light is on in our delivery car and I need a new van anyway so now it’s pushing me to put this as a higher priority
Deep dive into the ways we can use AI for our business
Creating a “next step” email template for our quote emails based on the type of product they are ordering
Deciding how we can outsource some graphic design work to lessen the burden on my internal staff (which requires a number of steps)
Reviewing recurring subscriptions and seeing how we can save
AND THIS IS JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG (sorry I could really do an entire mind sweep on just this topic ugh)

“So the question turns into: HOW DO I GET ALL OF THIS DONE???”

When I saw this question, I actually got really excited because, as a business owner, I know EXACTLY how this feels. There are an infinite number of ways to optimize, but I have a finite amount of time.

So today I want to share a few ideas that will hopefully help you if you find yourself in the same boat. And if you have more suggestions/ideas to support this community, please share in the comments!

(1) Prioritize the “most impactful dominoes.”

When we organize a house, we recommend starting with areas that will make the others easier. Either because it’s simple and quick and will help build momentum–or because it’s where you spend the most time, or it’s the biggest pile, etc.

In the case of building your business, what are the TOP projects that will make everything else easier? (Maybe it isn’t several, but just one you prioritize.)

Here’s what a couple of our community members said in response to this question:

I would prioritize anything that delivers a better or faster product to your customers. I always focus on revenue first. These things, to me, look like direct customer impact items that I would put first:

Pricing structure
Outsourcing certain items (this might be a way to catch up on some items, but I would not outsource Rush services. Outsource new orders as they come in, while you work through rush orders, unless necessary.) The key here is to know what types of things are more efficient to outsource, so every time you get that order, it goes straight out.
Next step email

The delivery truck is obviously important to customer service. Maybe take it in for service, just to make sure it’s not going to die on the spot somewhere, then start looking into a new one, when you’re a little more caught up. If it entails any kind of extra painting/wrap for your business logo, this might take some extra steps.

I would put everything else in one bucket, and see if it becomes a higher priority based on the first few things, or if once you feel like the other things are under control, you can work on them.

Do you have any employees you can delegate to? Can someone draft the email? Can they help identify areas where things get held up in the process? Can they gather a list of sizes or place the order (even if you come add the credit card at the end)?

__________

Sometimes we don’t KNOW what will make the biggest difference, so we just have to decide what feels right and go with it.

But what I’ve learned over the years is that good leaders make decisions–even if they’re not perfect.

I only recommend working on between 1 and 3 business projects per month–written on your Current Projects List.

(2) Use Next in Line or Someday Projects Lists–with “Pressure Easers”

Your Next in Line and Someday Projects Lists hold all of the projects that you can’t do right this second. That way, you know they are all safely stored and waiting for the right time to be moved to the Current Projects List.

What’s a “pressure easer”? It’s any way you can calm your mind around the pressure that those delayed projects are causing.

The comment made about the delivery truck is one of those–just make sure the truck is not going to die.

For something like a website that isn’t being worked on, sometimes there’s a way to turn off recurring charges or get a lower fee or something like that while you’re waiting for the project to become a priority. We’ve had experience doing this with a reporting software and ads service. Deferring the regular payments and use of normal service bought me more time and saved us a lot of money.

Or for those branded shirts, could you ask everyone to wear the same color–or buy matching aprons for now? Is there an easy way to satisfy the need until a more permanent solution is available?

(3) Optimally Organize the Information You’ll Need for the Future Projects

One of the things that causes us to hold on to too many projects at the same time is if we have related items or information sitting on our desk or on our computers that we’re afraid we’ll lose if we don’t do that project right now.

For example, let’s say I have a catalog for branded shirts here in front of me.

I also have a bunch of notes I’ve taken about the pricing structure.

And I have tons of images, website drafts, etc. related to our website creation on my computer.

When it’s all on your desktop, at the top of your email, or in an open browser, you’ll want to keep all of those things in front of you until the projects are done.

But that just creates more and more clutter to work through, and it prevents you from doing your most important work.

INSTEAD, the project is written on your tiered project list, with a note saying WHERE the related items are.

New Uniforms* (catalog in Support Materials Cubby or visit ______ website)
Pricing Structure* (notes in Support Materials Cubby)
Website* (All files in this digital folder: LINK)

This makes it super simple.

(4) You Can Also Throw Things In “The Bucket”

I don’t want my Someday Projects List to get super long, so I also have a “bucket” I call “Business Optimization.” I put lots and lots of ideas in there–with related information I may have picked up along the way, etc.

Some people recommend NOT writing down every idea because it takes too much time, and if you really want to do something, you won’t forget it.

I just like to know that if I hear a good idea, I could at least find it again if I wanted to. Or I could review the list for good ideas in the future.

(5) To actually get the projects DONE, I love David Allen’s Natural Planning Model

At a very high level, you identify the purpose and principles, clarify the outcome vision, brainstorm all the parts of the project, organize those by sequence, category, etc., and then figure out your very next steps.

We have a video about that linked at the end of this post. And we have a free training designed to help you identify the very next actions for your projects so you won’t ever need to procrastinate again.

Your next steps–write down the projects you’d like to do–figure out which ones are the biggest dominoes, safely store the others–along with their related information–and then focus on getting those first projects done!

Do you have questions about using the STEP System in your professional work or as you’re starting a business? Please share them in the comments!