Efficiently Ineffective

If you’re anything like me, you’ve wanted to be more efficient in your
business. I went through a phase where I was analyzing every little
thing I did to make it more efficient. The trouble was that I didn’t
look at whether the task even mattered before streamlining it. I’ve
since developed the EASE checklist to know whether I should even
continue as action, let alone make it more efficient.

• Effective
  Is this action effective? Does it get me the results that I want?
  If not, this is not an action to streamline — it is one to STOP
  doing! Now.
  Concentrate on doing the right things before doing things right.
• Appropriate
  Is this action appropriate? Does it fit with how I want to be
  perceived?
  It doesn’t matter how effective an action is if it doesn’t fit your
  image and your values. No matter how cheap and easy it would be to buy
  200 million email addresses a business will never be the same once
  people label it a “dirty spammer.”
• Sustainable
  Is this action sustainable? Can I continue doing this indefinitely?
  Every business has a limited amount of resources: time, money, energy,
  etc. If this action takes more time than available and would cost more
  to have a VA do it than will be made in return it is not sustainable.
  Becoming efficient at running a deficit is a recipe for disaster.
• Efficient
  Now ask how can I make this action more efficient? What can I
  eliminate from this action and get the same results?
  And that is the challenge: maintaining the effectiveness,
  appropriateness, and sustainability as we “trim the fat” from our
  business activities. Because who really wants to be efficiently
  ineffective?

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What are the things that make you add something to your business? Is it a post from Seth Godin? It is a great book you read? It is a session with your Virtual Assistant or Your Business Coach? It is customer service complaints or articles that you find on the web. It is ideas you get from other industries when you read their periodicals? Why do I ask? It all works.
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Many times, we end the day with a vague feeling that we did not get enough done and vow to do more tomorrow. Then we get into this endless loop of thinking that we have never done enough. This year, I am doing it
differently and I invite you to also.

This year, I am looking at things I did get done and giving myself a pat on the back for it. I am looking at the positive. I also use the action machine to time my day as I go through my different tasks. By realistically looking at how long it takes to do things, I can see that perhaps my TO DO list is TOO LONG. Or I have not delegated enough. (more…)