Are the simplest ideas the best?

Here is a very simple idea that came out of a chat I had the other day with a friend of mine and afterwards I thought, talking about making a list is a simple idea but sometimes the simplest ideas are the best…..

He was feeling a bit down and talking about the problems of running a small business and he said it feels like…. 

• I have to do everything myself
• I don’t have time to grow the business
• I start but don’t finishing projects
• I want to change but it’s too hard
• It all gets me so frustrated and stressed

I said have you tried some 'Project Management Light'? A little bit of project management goes a long way. Simple project management is easy. it’s all about being organised. Start with a plan, write a list of things you need to do, give them a date to be completed by and if you can, allocate them to other people.

You can even do this on a piece of paper but Excel works well or there are plenty of free tools like Asana or Trello. I like Trello.

Once you’ve got your plan, don’t hide away the paper or file away the Excel file. You need to have it in front on you at all times, print it out and use it, write on it and best of all tick items off when complete. You’ll be surprised at the satisfaction.

I know a plan seems a basic thing to do but if you are not doing it already you’ll be surprised how much a little bit of planning will help free you your head and your time.  When I get stressed I use it as an early warning sign that something is bothering me and it’s time to draw up a plan to sort out the problem.  

Get it onto paper and out of your head.  But most importantly follow the plan. 

When what I really want to do is

• Get focussed
  
• Grow my business 
  
• Make more money 

and spend more time with my family or on the golf course – my handicap is terrible!

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Let me know if such a simple idea works for you or not – because I love to know how you make your business work better for you!!!