The Integral Business Development System

There’s a lot going on in our household lately. My husband and I just had our second baby a couple of months ago. We’re relocating across the country in a few weeks (and the logistics haven’t yet been finalized). And I’m working on publishing my book, in addition to my regular work. Like I said, there’s a lot going on.

And when my sister commented recently that she’s amazed at how calm I am, it made me pause. Yes, I am calm. It amazed me too!

So I thought I’d take a closer look to see how this was possible. And I think this will also answer the question I get often about how to “juggle” life and work.

Well, I don’t juggle.

(Many years ago, I heard someone say that if you try to “juggle”, sooner or later something will fall. This made a big impression on me! And to this day, I do my best to avoid any juggling!)

So as I looked at my current “state of calm” in the middle of all this activity, I discovered that what I do instead of juggling is this:

1. Do ONE thing at a time

   Instead of trying to do as much as possible everyday, I have been strategically selecting one, at most two, significant things to complete each day.

   In other words, I focus on the ONE thing that absolutely MUST be done TODAY.

   This is the secret to my “state of calm”!

   By the end of the day, I usually am able to complete my ONE chosen item of the day, in spite of life swirling around me and interruptions from all sides.

   There’s a sense of accomplishment. There’s real progress. And I feel good about both!

2. Ask for help

   Here’s my other secret: I enroll people to help out in different ways, in both my professional and personal life.

   Besides delegating or “division of labor”, I’ve also been asking people to help me think clearly and objectively. This is important, because when there’s so much going on, there’s bound to be confusion.

   So when I recently found myself unable to make a decision about something, instead of trying to “power through it” or dragging my feet, I asked someone to brainstorm with me.

   We talked through all the pros and cons, the other person suggested options I hadn’t thought of, and by the end of a 10 minute conversation, I made my decision — and felt very good about it.

So if you’re someone who hasn’t had much luck with juggling lately, try this approach.

And check out The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Success by Achieving More with Less. (As you can probably tell from the title of this book, it’s a great complement to this article.)

I recently listened to an interview with the author, and I was very impressed.

In the interview, the author talked about the “science” behind this principle, and how the information can be applied to various situations — professional and personal, individual and organizational.

It’s thought-provoking stuff.

Tags: self-improvement, stress management, time management

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 29th, 2006 at 10:55 pm and is filed under Increasing Productivity, Reducing Stress. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.