I’m constantly in the act of juggling not just a bunch of balls, but 20+ assorted items including a few flaming torches. At least that’s how it feels, as an solopreneur Renaissance Woman who is also the mother of two elementary-age children.
So the idea of having more systems built into my business is highly appealing. Why not standardize the way I do repeated tasks to be more efficient? Sounds like the type of strategic action I’m constantly promoting! Hooray for setting up systems!!!
But wait! There’s always an inherent challenge in setting up a system…the startup costs. Yes, they are sometimes financial (like buying software or an account) but the more challenging cost is usually time.
Play the Long Game
And that’s where the long-game mentality is critical.
It’s like teaching your child how to tie their shoes or zip up their jacket. At first, it takes them SOOOO much longer than it would if you just did it for them. But, the amount of time you save in the future when they’re able to do it themselves is worth it (especially when you have a younger sibling you need to pivot your attention to as you furiously get ready to sprint to the morning bus stop!)
The key is to strategically calculate in the extra time it will take to not only do the initial training, but the time you’ll need to be available for follow-up questions and clarification. And if you’re trying to learn something, you need extra time to fail and grow from your mistakes. Learning a new skill takes practice, so the time commitment is heavy initially but decreases over time (and often at an exponential rate for adult learners).
Overcoming Inertia
For my scientist followers, the metaphor that immediately came to mind for me was Newton’s first law of motion. It states, “An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.”
So basically, things keep doing what they’re doing (and so do people) without out an concerted effort to make a change.
Thank you to my business coach Jenni Gritters for regularly reminding me about the value of setting up systems in my business.
And thank you to Andrea Reeves for sharing all sorts of new system ideas I’d like to check out. And also for a critical message, if you try a system and it doesn’t work, it’s not your fault, it’s just not the right system for where we are at the moment.
