How To Get Things Done

How to get things done

I just got off a call with a client. She’s busy. Like really busy. 

She’s in the middle of a launch and building her Foundation Funnel. She’s like “You know those images of developers during the dot com boom… where they were all frazzled and didn't eat or sleep or shower… that’s how I feel.”

I get it.

Sometimes it’s just a busy season…sometimes life gets in the way, and sometimes we’re simply not focused and give in to distraction. 

(I kid you not, just as I sat down to type this, the kitten I’m fostering that I’ve rescued out of a parking lot started crying and needed some attention. Then my dog needed some food… and now I’m back at my computer.)

We’ve heard the gurus tell us not to get distracted. “Turn off all distractions!” they say. Really? Ok. What if you have kids? What about a baby? Turn off a baby? Give the baby to a nanny? It’s not always realistic. Even a kitten is demanding enough that I need to stop and attend to her. 

Working 100% free from life's distractions is rare. (construction, loud neighbors, animals, kids, people needing something from us.) 

Distraction is going to happen. That’s ok. It’s not a big deal. 

If you’re busy building a successful business, you’ll need a realistic system for getting things done. It’s what I call the Mountain Method, and what we use inside Start Up Awesome. 

It’s simple. Easy. 

What’s your goal? Name it. That’s now the top of the mountain, the summit. Simple. 

All the stuff you need to do to reach your goal? That’s you Trail. 

That exact thing that you need to do next? That’s your Next Step.

To get things done efficiently just follow these simple steps:

1. Define your summit (what’s the goal?)
2. Map out your trail. ( what are all the things you need to do to get to your goal?)
3. Rank them by order. What needs to be done first, second, third… etc. 
4. Take your Next Step, that is, finish the item on the top of the list, then the second, then the third… etc. 

It’s so simple it almost seems silly, but don’t let that fool you. You’re going to get WAY MORE ACCOMPLISHED when you set up your Mountain, Trail, and Next Steps. 

There’s are two critical rules when climbing your mountain:

RULE 1: The biggest rule is, YOU MUST FINISH the step before taking the next step. (Yes, it’s absolutely ok to change up the order of your steps if it makes sense.) Hey, you don’t want to trip. You don’t want to fall down. Finish the step you’re on… then continue forward. DO NOT take multiple steps at once. It’s not a pretty dance, you’re trying to get somewhere!

Rule 2: DO NOT GO SIGHT SEEING. Mountains are gorgeous, and it’s tempting to go follow a squirrel and try to feed it… wait! Are those mushrooms?! Cool! I heard there’s a waterfall around here somewhere… STOP! Don’t do this. When you go off trail, your climb to the top becomes a world longer and sometimes you literally never actually get there. Focus on your next step until it’s done, then focus on the next step until it’s done.

When life happens, and kittens cry, just come right back to the step you’re on and get busy and finish it up. Don’t allow it to have any emotional response. It’s fine! It’s life!

But also… don’t fall into the distraction zone … on purpose. It’s wildly tempting to go “check” on something. Prior to my call with my client today, I had an inbox of data from her… “this person cancelled her membership, and here’s why!” and “These people are directly copying my business!! (she was right, they absolutely were!)” and being a data person, these things all feel really important! But it’s not the step we’re on, and all those things did, was distract her from her climb up the mountain. We’ve got to learn to ignore the squirrels, they’re emotionally tempting, but there’s a difference between processing a cancellation (Life distraction, or in this case a business distraction) and going down the emotional rabbit hole of WHY?! And what am I going to do about this?!

It’s a fine line. The razor's edge. 

How to tell if it's something you need to pay attention to:

Ask yourself two questions:

1.  Will this input, data, “research”, matter once I’m at the top of this mountain? 
2. Is this something (like a hole in your water bottle) that really needs to be addressed NOW and centered as a priority? 

I think you’ll know what to do. Stay on trail. Stay out of emotional squirrel chasing. Keep taking the next step… let go of those pesky life things that happen, they’re just like a log or branch crossing the trail, it’s fine, it happens, no need to get upset. And problem solve like your life depends on it, because no climb to the top of any big mountain was without a challenge. 

You got this.