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Rocks, Pebbles & Sand: Productivity in the Home Office Stream
By Jeff Zbar | February 9, 2009
I once heard the analogy of using boulders and rocks of various sizes to master productivity in the home office or small business.
It seems that as entrepreneurs (or even anyone with more stuff to do than the conscious-mind has hours awakened), we’re often inundated with to-dos.
But do we get bogged down in the miniscule and minutia of daily life, and never get around to completing the big projects?
How about a change of perspective?
What if you envisioned every BIG project as a boulder in your stream. It’s something that has to get done before anything else can get accomplished. Small, less important items are rocks, pebbles, even sand. And while they may carry importance, they’re not AS important as that boulder.
Place that importance upon that boulder, and you’ll find yourself focusing on dealing with it.
That said, of course it’s a matter of you actually focusing on it. It can be there, deliberately and consciously. But you can still ignore it. Ahh, the joys of free will.
But commit to focusing on that boulder, and once removed, you can move on to the next boulder.
For example, I have deadlines every week. Those are boulders, in a sense. I have smaller projects — like this blog. Those might range in size somewhere between boulders and pebbles. I have to have them in the stream, mentally, but their deadlines aren’t as pressing.
I also have personal writing — books, essays, personal blogs — that I want to get done. But they don’t pay much, so they’re closer to the sand-end of the metaphor of choice here.
If it takes a Post-It note to know which is which, that’s fine. I use a white board to write projects to be done. I’ll also open Word documents, start typing a few thoughts, save them by a catchy or appropriate name — and then leave them open as ticklers.
“How” is not important. That your boulders get handled is the issue.
What works for you? Feel free to send a suggestion or comment.
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