Cathy Stucker - The Idea Lady

Attract Customers and Make Yourself Famous

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Shop
  • Work with Cathy
  • About
You are here: Home / Getting Things Done / Get Somewhere

Get Somewhere

December 13, 2010 by Cathy Stucker

This week’s Monday Morning Message from Wm. H. Danforth, founder of Ralston Purina:
What is the Monday Morning Message?

A farmer stood fascinated before a merry-go-round. He changed a dollar into twenty nickels. He took a ride and then paid another nickel for another ride, until he had spent all twenty nickels.

“Aunty, wasn’t that great fun?” he asked a spinster lady who was waiting for him.

“Maybe so,” was her reply. “You’ve spent your money going round and round, but where’ve you been?”

Draw your own lesson.

Do you confuse movement with progress? It’s easy to do. We spend our days running from place to place and feeling busy, but we may not be accomplishing anything of value.

Try this exercise this week:

As you go through each day, note what you are doing. At the end of the day, look over your list. Were you doing “busy work” or accomplishing tasks that will move your business forward?

Although it may be almost impossible to get rid of all busy work, look for ways to minimize the amount of time you spend on it.

When you identify busy work first ask, “Is this something that really needs to be done?” It may be that you can stop doing it without any negative results.

If the task needs to be done ask, “Is this something that I should be doing, or could someone else do it?” Delegate or outsource anything that is not the best use of your time.

Taking action on those two questions may free up several hours a week. So how will you use those hours?

Determine what activities are the most productive and profitable for you, and focus your efforts there.

One reason we fill our days with activities that do not lead us closer to our goals is that we may not have a clear vision of those goals. When you know where you are going, you are less likely to spend your time going around in circles.

print

Related Posts :

Focus Gets Things Done
15-Minute Projects
Don't Let the "Shoulds" Get You Down
The Theme for a New Year

Filed Under: Getting Things Done, Monday Morning Messages Tagged With: goals, Productivity, time management

Search

Join Me! (Get Free Stuff!)

Get useful tips and techniques to build your business, plus member-only exclusives such as free webinars, as an IdeaLady Insider. It's free!

I respect your privacy & will NEVER sell, rent or share your email address. More than a policy, it's my Privacy Pledge.

Connect with Cathy

 Facebook Google+ Twitter YouTube Pinterest LinkedIn Flickr StumbleUpon RSS Amazon Author Central

Recent Articles

  • The Short but Powerful Guide to Finding Your Passion
  • 3 Strategies for Quick & Easy Content Creation
  • What to Ask When Hiring a Ghostwriter
  • Take a Real Break – Fully Disengage
  • You Get an Extra Day

Categories

Be an Expert Blogging Business Start Ups Cash Content Copywriting Creating Information Products Creative Ideas Creative Marketing Strategies Creativity Customer Service Customer Testimonials Dealing with Clients Email Getting Things Done Growing Your Business Guest Posts Image Internet Marketing Life Lessons Making Changes Making Good Decisions Marketing Market Research Monday Morning Messages Money and Finances Motivation and Inspiration Mystery Shopping Networking Online Business Passive Income Persuasion Positive Thinking Pricing Productivity and Time Management Publicity Public Speaking Reputation Management Running Your Business Sales Search Engine Optimization Social Media Success Technology Working Smarter Writing and Publishing

Learn About

Mystery Shopping
Book Publishing
Marketing
Becoming an Expert
Free Publicity

Return to top of page

Copyright © 1998 - 2023 Cathy Stucker - All Rights Reserved