Feeling the Squeeze
I’m admittedly feeling the pinch of being a solopreneur. Hence the delay in posting on the blog lately.
While I’ve always taken great pride in being able to wear multiple hats - in fact, I thrive in that environment - I was unprepared for how many hours a week I would spend figuring out how to be the bookkeeper, IT support, marketing director, and project manager all at once. We experienced a personal loss two weeks ago so that just added one more thing to my ever-growing stack of things I need to get done. I’m trying to figure out which kinds of projects I want to be working with and which clients I want to take on. Plus I was wrapping up an academic year of teaching a class at our local technical school, trying to get my plants in the ground so I can have an abundance of tomatoes later this summer, and juggling a part-time job that gets me out of the house and in front of people because I will go nuts just working at my computer all of the time.
Sound familiar?
I have had this same conversation multiple times in recent weeks with friends in the nonprofit industry. How on earth do we complete all of the tasks on our plate while finding time to be proactive for future success?
This is something I think about a lot. And as I’ve shared before, I think there are really only two options: delegate tasks or eliminate tasks.
Where I’m at in my business - and where many of you are in your nonprofits - there aren’t necessarily people to delegate to. Of course I want to hire staff someday! But as I’m just getting started, that’s not an option. So while I can’t delegate right now, I am already starting to take note of tasks that I would like to delegate in the future. When I get to the point where I can hire someone, I want to be clear on what exactly I want them to do. If you’re in the same boat, start keeping a list of what you’d love to get off your plate. Is there a pattern emerging? Are these ongoing things or do you really just need help to get caught up? What kind of skills and experience would someone need to have to help you out?
As for eliminating tasks, I think there are two keys to stopping the guilt around not doing it all. First, I find it helpful to figure out what “it all” even means. Last week, I spent several hours just making a list of everything that needed to be done both now and on an ongoing basis. After reviewing that, it was clear my expectations were out of line. So I moved onto my second key - crossing things out that just weren’t going to happen and didn’t matter that much. (Spoiler alert: writing a blog post last week was one of those things that got crossed out… instead, I made sure to show up online in different ways that weren’t as heavy of a lift. I eliminated the task but not the goal of the task, if that makes sense.)
The other thing I did to refocus my energy and get out of the hamster wheel of overwhelm was to simply not work for a day. It sounds counterintuitive to not work when you are behind on tasks but when I started LEAP, it was important to me to have better balance in my life (and to help you find that balance for your organization!). It’s one of our core values. And when I thought about what balance meant to me, it was partly having space to plan, act, rest, and dream. If all we’re doing is taking action, we aren't giving ourselves what we need to be successful. Because I spent the time last week getting everything in order and had a plan for what needed to get done when, I was able to shut off and just rest for a day. During that day I also had the capacity to dig deeper into what I really want for the future of this business and in my life in general. Coming back to the work today, I’m attacking it with a new mindset, a bigger picture, and the motivation to keep chugging along despite the pinch of a big to-do list.
