The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

I talk to so many people that tell me they don’t have enough time to do everything that needs to be done. In particular, one person said she had spent the day at an event and thus hadn’t done any work and would have to do catch-up on the weekend. She’s in a relationship and doesn’t want to spend time working on the weekend but is stressed about getting all her work done.

I suggested to her that perhaps she should be looking at the day she was at the event as work. After all she was networking and making new connections. She also talked to the event co-ordinator about speaking at the next event. I consider this to be marketing which is part of doing business.

If you are a small business owner you are more than likely feeling overwhelmed and anxious too. But, most of the anxiety comes from the thinking of what has to be done, not the doing. Instead of working yourself into a “frenzy” write down everything that needs to be done and prioritize the list. I suggest you do this just before leaving your office for the day. This will help you have a good night’s sleep. Instead of having a fitful sleep you will wake up refreshed and ready to hit the ground running.

And, once you start the list, you will soon realize that you will find that it isn’t so bad after all! You will probably complete everything on your list sooner than expected and have time to do other tasks related to your business. Of course, even though we have everything planned out for the day, an email or a phone call (yes, they still do happen) can easily change your “planned” day.

The more things change, the more they stay the same

Many years ago, in another business, I juggled many projects at the same time. Not only was I working with clients but I also worked with a number of contractors. One of the contractors I worked with captured me in the above image depicting how I managed so many things at the same time. Technology has advanced enough that we no longer need a fax machine, monitors are smaller and cell phones have changed drastically. Instead of e-mail I had a pager so my clients could easily get in touch. A lot has changed and yet so little has changed since the rendition was done but the fact remains, everything we do for our business stays the same.

What we all need to realize is we can’t always be in control of what needs to be done and that’s okay. Do what needs to be done and get back on track when you can.