Wow it turns out all those cliches are true, time really does fly. Last I left this blog I had several weeks scheduled out and a plan for the few weeks after that. I just needed to write them. Easy peasy. Yet here we are with a couple of blank weeks. I could go back and add them in and back date them (thanks technology) but I think it’s a good time to talk about prioritizing. I also think that it’s easy to make it look like you always have everything together and that it’s important to remember to be honest with people. We all get behind sometimes and pretending that it doesn’t happen to you doesn’t serve you or the people you work with. This sounds a little bit like more self care advice and it has some overlap but that’s not really what I’m here for today.
The truth is, I had more work than time or energy these past couple of weeks. Nothing was wrong with me, I wasn’t depressed, I wasn’t working through anything I just had too much going on and sometimes something has to give. This is something that’s true for business owners but also just humans. We make choices every day to prioritize different things. We might want more time with our family so we order takeout, or we want to pay off that credit card so we cook and miss some homework time with the kiddos. We probably do it at work too but it doesn’t feel as deliberate because often, someone told you what’s more important so you do that first.
When I’m trying to grow my business (which is most of the time), I try a lot of different things. I talk to other companies, I might make flyers, I might network, run referral specials, run ads. I don’t do one of these things, I do three or four. I try to stick with things I know work at least OK. If I’m working 4 different angles only one of them, at most, will be new or different. The rest are old reliables. The problem with this is that, sometimes, they all work at the same time. If one of them is new, I have to figure out how to best handle new business. In this case I’ve joined forces with a company that works in apartment complexes. I’ve been the one managing the project because I don’t know what it looks like yet and I can’t train anyone on it until I do. But that means I’m putting in extra time with them and I’m forced to work with people in a way I don’t usually have to. That’s OK but it’s challenging and it means I have to challenge my own behavior and also maybe remind them that I don’t work for them, I work for myself. There’s a balance between putting up boundaries and being willing to put in more time and energy to make something with a lot of potential work. This is a time sensitive project. If it doesn’t work it gets scrapped and we never try it again. At least not with the same company. They’re on a much stricter time frame than I am and they need to make magic happen. I need to help them make magic while also keeping expectations realistic and being able to deliver on my promises. This has been a huge and challenging project and position for me. I’m excited about it, but I don’t want to get in over my head and I want to protect what I’ve built. Because of this, that’s what I prioritized.
I have a friend (I talked about her last time too, she’s a smart lady: https://www.facebook.com/TheLeadingCauseofWellness/) who reminds me, you always have time, you just didn’t prioritize it. And she’s right. every day you have the same amount of time. You get to choose what to do with it. I know you’re probably saying, “nope that’s not true, I have to go to work, I have to feed the kids, I have to sit in traffic, I have to go to soccer practice, I have to make this phone call.” I mean you do have to feed your kids. Every day though, you make a choice to go to work. You make a choice to sit in traffic instead of taking a train or finding a job closer to home or a home closer to work. Ultimately you make a choice on how to feed your kids (going back to takeout or cooking or frozen meals). There is a bit of privilege woven into this and it’s not as easy as just move but more than likely, you could change some of these things if you really wanted to. Everything you do is a choice. What I learned in the last few weeks is that making a go at this new program is worth it to me, even though I missed out on some writing time.
What’s worth it to you? What’s something you almost always prioritize or maybe something that surprised you?