Stress. As entrepreneurs, we all feel stressed at different points along the way. Do you find that at times the stress is so much that you become unproductive and have trouble working through it? I get it! Good news, it doesn’t have to be like this!
I recently watched an incredible TED talk presented by ER Doctor Darria Long at TEDxNaperville in November 2019. An ER doctor on triaging your “crazy busy” life. Crazy busy life…I have no doubt you can relate!
Just for you, I have broken down her framework as it relates to reducing stress in your business. Stick around!
“Work by Dr. Robert Sapolsky shows that individuals who cannot differentiate threat from non-threat and react to everything with the same response have double the level of stress hormones.”
Darria Long, TEDxNaperville, November 2019 An ER doctor on triaging your “crazy busy” life.
Not everything deserves the same amount of attention and reaction. So here we go!
Step 1: Relentlessly prioritize. Prioritize tasks by the degree of urgency!
Red – urgent immediate
Yellow – important, not immediate
Green – minor
Black – let it go
Do you find yourself constantly being in reactive mode? Are you reacting to all tasks as if they are red? What are some tasks in your business that fit into the various degrees of urgency?
Some examples from my business:
Red – tasks for clients with due dates within the week
Yellow – tasks for clients with due dates within the month
Green – my bookkeeping for my business
Black – recording video for content (letting this one go, for now)
Now my bookkeeping friends may be cringing at the fact that I prioritize my bookkeeping tasks as green. However, I build bookkeeping into my weekly tasks, so it never becomes urgent or immediate.
Are you treating all areas of your business as red?!
Step 2: Expect and design for crazy
“Step two to go from Crazy Mode into Ready Mode is to expect and design for crazy. Half of handling crazy is how you prepare for it.”
Darria Long, TEDxNaperville, November 2019 An ER doctor on triaging your “crazy busy” life.
You need to be in proactive mode instead of reactive mode.
In this part of the framework she shared a 4 step process…
Planning in your business is imperative to your growth and success, and I know you want to grow and succeed right?!
To create a plan, you want to look at what, when, how, and who.
What are you planning, when do tasks need to be completed, how will the tasks be completed, and who will be responsible for completing the tasks?
If you are a solopreneur, you will be responsible for everything, but if you have a team, you can plan and assign tasks as necessary to utilize your team’s expertise.
My biggest tip for planning in your business is to get the plan out of your head and into the cloud! Even if you are a solopreneur getting your plan into a project management tool will save you valuable time. If you ever decide to bring on a team, you will easily assign and delegate tasks.
My favorite project management tool is ClickUp. This is a robust project management software with exceptional features even in the free version! A close second is Asana. This tool is a little more user-friendly and still has great features in the free version.
How do you plan in your business? Do you use project management software? Which one do you like best?
This is an excellent continuation of planning. Having a plan in place gives us the best picture for determining where we can automate.
When you hear the word “automate”, what do you think of?
In training I completed with Sarah Noked for becoming a Certified Online Business Manager, she says automation means you don’t have to think about it! What areas in your business do you spend a lot of time thinking about that you can automate?! What would that look like?
A great way to automate is to use software – such as a project management tool with all your tasks, setting up recurring tasks, putting in your deadlines, and notification settings, so you always know what needs to be done every day in your business. Seriously, not having to try and remember all the tasks and deadlines you have in your head, how much stress would that eliminate?!
Another way we can automate is to delegate! If you’ve delegated tasks to your capable team, that takes the thinking out of it for you. Other fantastic tools for automating are Zapier, Email Marketing Software, and a CRM.
A popular CRM is Dubsado. In Dubsado, you can have your scheduling, proposals, contracts, questionnaires, and invoicing all in one place. There are options for designing workflows to automate your prospecting and onboarding processes. Think about how much time you would save!!
What are some ways you automate in your business?
Colocate is to store all the things you need to complete tasks in one place.
What this looks like in your business, if you’ve set up a project management tool and you’ve input all your tasks. The next step is to store all the things you need to complete that task in a central place. Think of this as your virtual office space. In that task, link any URLs you need and any documents with information (for example, a Google Doc with your customer service FAQs and common responses).
Better yet, develop a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for that task that is stored in the cloud (Google Doc) and link it in the task. This would be the most efficient way to keep the necessary information. I’ll share some posts soon on creating SOPs and why it’s another imperative business task for your growth. If the task is for content planning, attach the post graphic or link it to the graphic if stored in the cloud.
Can you think of other ways to utilize the concept of colocating in your business?
The final substep of step 2 is to design to reduce temptation. When I put design out there, some of you may think I mean graphic design, but as it relates to the framework, I mean to design your business structure in a way that reduces temptation to do other things.
What Darria Long states “Design differently. If a food is out of immediate reach, such that you have to use a stool to reach it, even when it’s chocolate, study participants ate 70 percent less without thinking about it.”
Darria Long, TEDxNaperville, November 2019 An ER doctor on triaging your “crazy busy” life.
I’m sure you can relate to the good ol’ saying, out of sight, out of mind.
How can we adapt this to our business? My favorite example of this is your email inbox. Drop an emoji below if you are guilty of getting distracted by your inbox?
How many of us have our emails delivered to our phones and feel the need to check when a new email notification comes through immediately?
So how can you make changes so that your inbox doesn’t derail your productivity for the day?Try setting up a process for checking your email at specific times in your day and addressing emails at that time. Do your clients really expect you to respond immediately?! I know what you’re thinking, that little red notification you see on your inbox is so hard to ignore… Try to remove the email app from your phone home screen and adjust your notification settings, so you aren’t always getting notifications of new emails. If you’ve delegated email management to a VA, trust the process and let them do their job.
You may be saying, “Candace, I’ll miss important and urgent emails if I change the settings on my phone.” I disagree with this. If you’ve set times to check your email and have a process in place for filtering your email, you will be better prepared to handle critical and even urgent emails. IF you have a team helping you manage the inbox – build into your process to include alternative ways for your team to notify you of emails that require your immediate attention. They could text you or send you a Voxer to inform you.
what are other ways you can design your business to reduce temptation?
Stress as an entrepreneur is going to happen from time to time. I hope now you can find yourself better prepared to work through stressful periods in your business by prioritizing your tasks by degree of urgency & learning how to expect and design for crazy!
You will be amazed at how these simple steps can keep your stress level down and productivity up!