SIMPLIFYING THE OVERLY COMPLICATED YOU

"Man is an over-complicated organism. If he is doomed to extinction he will die out for want of simplicity."

Ezra Pound (1885-1972) American poet/critic/intellectual.

Our world grows more complicated each day, so much so there is no way to comprehend 1/1000th of all that it is.

So your first requirement is to determine what your focus will be.

What interests you, what do you wish to do? There will likely be many, so many you will need to prioritize. 

When you know, create your plan to make that happen which is most important to you.  

ABOUT THOSE PRIORITIES

"We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately."

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman/scientist/philosopher

In addition to you there are three constituencies you need concern yourself with in business.

1. Your customer
2. Your competition
3. Your co-workers

If you find you spend more time, or worse, much more time, dealing with number 3 than numbers 2 and certainly 1, you won't for long.

Your company will fail, you along with it.

 

Me, Me, Do Me First!

"Never step over one duty to perform another."

English proverb

Another one of those on the surface "I get it" thoughts, but think about it just a bit more.

Little of what most of us must do is clearly sequential; we must prioritize to know what to do first and even that often changes.

How do you know what to do, when?

Setting Priorities

 

"A pessimist is one, who when he has the choice of two evils, chooses both."

Oscar Wilde

19th century Irish poet

How good are you at prioritizing things in business?  

Not all "evils" need be simultaneously addressed, with some never needing attention.

Do you know which is which, when?

Setting Priorities: What's Next?

"I learned that we can do anything, but we can’t do everything ... at least not at the same time. So think of your priorities not in terms of what activities you do, but when you do them. Timing is everything."

Dan Millman Consultant

Time is possibly the most squandered resource even more so than money. All too often I see clients prioritize seemingly by accident. It appears that what gets attention will be that which in some way "bubbles" to the top with little regard for consequence. When was the last time you were in a meeting which began with "We can't do it all so what are we going to do and in what order?"