Sharing the Wisdom

As independent practitioners, solo-preneurs, accidental entrepreneurs – whatever you want to call us – we have so much to do! We do our own marketing, attend networking events, write blogs, manage our finances, and provide the service we actually love providing to our clients. It doesn’t take long to feel completely buried.
There’s one trick that can help tremendously.

Chunking Down

We call it “chunking down”. It refers to taking a project or task and breaking it down into smaller and smaller pieces, then starting with Step 1. And when you’ve finished with Step 1, you move on to Step 2. It will feel so much easier that way. And you’ll begin to see your progress immediately.

For example, let’s say you want to start a blog. Your first reaction might be “Oh, my gosh – where do I start?” Well, you start by naming all the tasks you need to do. It might look something like this:

1. Investigate blog software (WordPress, Blogspot, others?)
2. Chose a template
3. Begin writing content
4. Post

It looks simple enough. But in fact, each step can be broken down even further into many more steps. Investigating blog software, for example, can be broken down like this:

1. Investigate blog software
(a) Talk to a friend(s) or colleague(s) who has a blog to find out what they use
(b) Look at each program to see what you like
(c) Look at some blogs to see what people include
(d) Talk to your web person (if you have a website already) to find out about linking it to your site and getting suggestions

Keep asking yourself, every time you identify a step: “What are the steps for getting that done?” You get the idea. Identify the tasks, chunk them down as much as possible, then identify a 15-minute or half-hour window in your day when you will focus on that task. If you can afford more time, great. If not, move on to your next activity, knowing that you’ve accomplished a small step on the way to getting to your goal. A little each day will get you there.

You can do the same thing with tasks like expanding your network, devising a marketing strategy, planning a presentation, writing a proposal, or any of the other myriad tasks in running your business.

Now ask yourself, “what projects am I procrastinating?” Chances are, you haven’t chunked it down.

We are all familiar with the wise words of Lao Tzu: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Wise, indeed! Start chunking so you know what your first step should be.

Susan

http://www.susanbraverman.com/