I woke up this morning and was thinking about the obstacles, the excuses, that hold people back from being productive and as effective as possible in their lives. I realized there are three primary areas.
1) The 80/20 rule. If 20% of your focus gets 80% of your results, what are your wasting 80% of your time on?  2) Perfectionism.  Are you being a perfectionist, aiting to get it absolutely right before you execute your plan? And, 3) Finances. You don't want to spend the money or don't see the value.

 

Let's take a closer look:

 

Pareto's Principle - the 80/20 rule. In 1906, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto created a mathematical formula to describe the unequal distribution of wealth in his country, observing that twenty percent of the people owned eighty percent of the wealth. In the late 1940's, Dr. Joseph M. Juran inaccurately attributed the 80/20 Rule to Pareto, calling it Pareto's Principle. While it may be misnamed, Pareto's Principle or Pareto's Law as it is sometimes called, can be a very effective tool to help you manage effectively.

 

To use Pareto's Principle in our goal setting:  we started with a vision, then created a plan, and now you should be full of new ideas that can be put into action -- focusing on what matters. As you work steadily on your vision, you can start planning more effectively to spend time on those goals -- rather than tasks -- that don't suit your vision. Concentrate on the 20% that will produce 80% of the results.

 

Perfection. According to Wikipedia, "perfection" is broadly, a state of completeness and flawlessness. Is that really what we want  or realistically expect with everything we do? We all know that we're not perfect.  Even though I'm a Virgom, that's hard for me to accept.  Be patient with yourself and know that we can grow from taking simple actions, learn from how things progress and then move on to the next step. By being patient and open to learning, we can see what worked, what didn't -- and make changes along the way. You will save time and frustration by shooting for "progress" instead of a level of unattainable "perfection."

 

Money. So many times I have heard people say, "I'll have my 'fill in the blank' help out and get me organized, or I'm hiring a 'fill in the blank' and I'll let them set up a system."  I always caution them that unless it's done by a professional with a system, it is hardly effective. Yes, the intrinsic value to getting organized is not something you can put a price on, nor have as an actual asset to add to your worth. My experience has revealed that then I ask a few months later, "how's that working for you?".  I get embarrassed responses or frustrated excuses.  Hmm... more excuses.

 

Then my questions to you is, "What is value of your time?". The Wall Street Journal reports that "the average U.S. executive wastes six weeks annually searching for important documents lost in clutter." How does that look in your world? If you were to save thirty minutes a day due to increased productivity, how much would you or your company save... ? Use this calculator to figure it out.

 

Getting organized or at least getting an initial consultation to develop a game plan will most likely make your decision to get organized much easier.  (I'll look forward to hearing from you!)  

You can email me anytime to schedule a consultation!