I saw a recent article in Inc.com about one of the trends for 2024 being “strategic slowness.” Sounds good, right?
Most of the article was about writing articles, but then it expanded to include how business owners and entreprenuers are working these days—in a rushed, reactive, and often frenzied way—and I believe it’s true for just about every professional today.
It’s time… to slow… down.
You might be thinking, “Leslie, I’d love to! But how can I with all that I have going on?” 😯
I get it. I do. I feel the same way sometimes.
But that’s when I remember to rely on the system I have in place—which is the same one I teach—so I can keep a clear head, prioritize accurately, and really zero in on the ONE thing that needs my attention RIGHT NOW. And I NEVER question if it’s THE most important thing I should be doing and I never question if I missed something else.
That’s peace of mind. Even under LOTS of pressure with a LOT of tasks and projects going on.
You don’t have to work harder or work longer hours or work your fingers to the bone to get this kind of productivity with peace of mind.
Being productive means you can things completed faster and easier, because nothing stands in your way. Nothing is holding you back. Smooth sailing all the way. Or most of the time, at least. 😉
For instance, let’s say you’re trying to complete an email, but you can’t send it, because you can’t find the attachment or document that goes with the email. 🤦♀️ Time is lost looking for it. Your frustration goes up. 😖
Looking back, getting the task accomplished—sending the email and moving on—was not something you could do quickly or easily because something was standing in your way. In this case, it was the inability to find necessary information quickly.
In another example, you might by-pass a task because it wasn’t written or typed as a true “task.” Maybe it was stated too largely—almost like a project!—or perhaps you wrote it down as the final outcome itself. My clients fall into that trap all the time, because it’s easy to do.
Here’s an example. If you say, “Send the quarterly sales report to John,” you’re stating the final outcome—the last step in a process that actually describes a multi-step task or a project.
Why? Because if you haven’t gathered the data, analyzed the data, or created the report, you’re NOT ready to send the quarterly sales report to John. That’s what we call a Dependent Task, because what you stated was really dependent upon doing something ELSE first.
What you need to identify is the FIRST action step to get it started instead.
In this example, you might hesitate or kick the can down the road, KNOWING that there are quite a few steps you need to take to not only get this started, but get it done completely. You may by-pass it and choose something else entirely that’s faster and easier to do so you can feel like you accomplished something you can feel good about.
This is what everyone looks for in their workday: progress… steady forward movement… accomplishment.
And you CAN have it ALL! 😃
You just need to know how to design tasks really well first. Ones that lead you to ACTION. ➡️
To help you with this, take a look at this short, 15-minute video on YouTube and get the secrets to designing tasks for EASY action. (This is something no one else is teaching you.)
Being more productive doesn’t mean you have to work harder or faster, or that you have to work long hours. You don’t have to EXHAUST yourself in rushed, reactive, or chaotic workdays to make progress. 😵💫🤪🤯
You’ll be more productive when you know how to move efficiently through your day and you’re more EFFECTIVE in how you THINK, how you EXECUTE, and how you use your TIME.
Without road blocks, your efficiency goes up, and it’s true, you can get more done in less time with less stress. But not because you’re moving at 100 miles an hour. No. It’s at a regular pace—or at the pace you’d like to work. It’s intentional. It’s deliberate. It’s thoughtful. 🧐
Enter “strategic slowness.” YES!
I like where this is going, don’t you? Let’s all slow down a bit and be more deliberate and intentional about where our precious time goes.
Take a look at how YOU’RE working and decide what kind of workday you want for 2024.
Will you be rushing around your day, responding, reacting, and being pulled through your day by the squeakiest wheels? Will you keep whipping out the fire hose to douse the latest blazing fire? Will you continue to go home wiped out and exhausted, so you’re only HALF listening to your spouse and kids?
Oh, no! Let’s not let that happen. It’s time to plan with purpose, execute with agility, and get more accomplished in less time with less stress. Yes, yes, yes! 👍
You can do this. Get started today.
