Moving From Busyness To Business - Taking The Right Actions
Hey what’s up Cowboys, Cowgirls, Cowdogs, and Cow lovers of all kind! This is Normal Joe from IMwithJoe.com and I’m doing a little guest post action for the CowMan….I think he’s out cow tipping…err….looking for Cow so he asked me to tend to the herd.
Now before we get into all the udder squeezin goodness and stuff let’s cover a topic I think we all can relate to and implement into our business models. Of course, I could be totally wrong and this may only apply to me, but….I’m pretty sure there is someone else out there suffers from this as well.
Busyness Doesn’t Help Your Business
I know that word looks funny, but I assure you “busyness” is actually a real word. Hey, it was on the internet, it has to be real right? The internet does not lie does it? Oh well, I found it and it had a definition so I ran with it.
Want to see the definition? Of course you do, here ya go.
adj. bus?i?er, bus?i?est
y?ness n. <—- see I’m not crazyNow, for our little discussion I want to focus on 1 and 2 as it relates to online business.
Many people working online, or starting an online business get so excited they immediately get busy. Now, this is not a bad thing in and of itself, the problem is, most will not be taking the proper actions to move forward and will merely be doing busywork. Hey, I’m speaking from experience here!
We always here things like “take action” or “get something going” and we immediately jump into action with no real direction, focus, or plan. This leads to us simply doing various tasks that may be related to our business only by the mere fact that it’s being done online.
Some Examples Of Busyness In Your Business
There are many was one can merely be suffering from busyness and have the appearance of working on their business. Some of us love to tell folks how much time we spend “working on our business”. The problem is, the act itself becomes the prize, just telling folks you have an “internet business” may be fulfilling when they show interest.
This translates to the stuff we do online. We may be online merely “networking” when really we are doing nothing more than socializing all day. Without a clear plan of attack, you really won’t have any checkpoints to mark your progress and you’ll get pulled in all kinds of various directions.
Constantly spending the whole day completing optin forms so you can get free ebooks and software and calling it “research” is not research. I can tell myself that all I want, but really it’s just me spending time gathering up various amounts of crap to pile on top of the other 7 piles of crap I already have on my hard drive and haven’t read past the first page!
Oh yes, then, I have to go and “organize” all my “research”. This is nothing more than me creating infinite amounts of folders and sub folders and playing my own personal game of “hide then find the ebook”. How much time have I just wasted, 1, 2, 3 hours or more!
I could go on with various amounts of examples, but I really just want to get you thinking on the proper things, and identifying those areas of busyness that your business suffers from, as it will be different for each of us.
Working Efficiently Or Working Effectively
Now you may feel that I’ve lost my mind again, that’s find..I tend to do that from time to time, but just roll with me for a few minutes. I can be doing many things online, and actually staying busy, completing multiple tasks….but not the RIGHT tasks, so in actuality I am not really being effective in my business, even though I am being efficient.
Just because I am good at something doesn’t mean it’s the best thing for me to be doing in my business. If what I’m doing doesn’t move my business forward then it’s not effective, no matter how efficient I am in getting it done. I know…this isn’t as black and white as some may like, but really it’s more of a brain stimulant than anything.
I want to get you thinking about how effective you are with the things you do in your own business, and how you can tweak your tasks to become more effective and still be efficient as well. Being efficient in the wrong things will only leave you in the same position your are now, it’s like moving sideways as opposed to moving forward.
A football team can be efficient in making lateral passes, but if they only make lateral passes and never advance up the field then they are not being effective. Maybe they are not used to completing any passes at all, so seeing the lateral passes completed get them excited and that becomes the focus. Well, 4 of those passes and they lose possession of the ball! They were efficient in completing the pass, but they were not effectively doing the RIGHT things needed to move the team forward.
Are you being efficient and not effective? Or are you moving toward being effectively efficient? Any thoughts? Let the cow patties fly!
As is my custom, I want to leave you with a little visual stimulation for those that like to listen and watch more than read. And for me…videos have not only been efficient, they are effective!
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I love Joes stuff he is always so insughtful and funny.
I normally just focus at the task at hand on most days. So I do my commenting and forum posting on a regular basis. I don’t try to waste unncessary time flirting on twitter or msn unless its necessary to contact someone.
Yeah Bruno, you get it done man! Staying focused is key man and is one of the differences between progress and stagnation.
Good post, Joe! I always like your insightful and humourous posts. And this post was packed with great advice too.
Man Joe, that is so on point. I think I have out grown the preparation phase and excitement of the idea of working on line.
Ready to move to effectiveness, so I can really feel what you are talking about. Lately, I have been building with some other bloggers out there and getting my head right on the essential things that I need to do to move my business to the next level.
Good stuff, Joe, thanks for sitting in for the Cow!
Got to get it crackin, right now!
Glad you’ve outgrown it man! Now it’s time to MOO-ve
I think it’s something we have to constantly check man, it’s easy to fall into it at any given time.
Very nice Joe, as usual you know…Never been bashing on your posts
It’s so easy to get busy but not moving forward especially in this social media world with all the distractions available out there. It happens to me sometime to go to bed very late because I worked on some online stuff just to realize I haven’t done much.
The thing about planning and always planning without taking action is an easy trap also. You want to get things done so you think a lot, but often you just have to jump in the melee and experiment!
Anyway, good stuff Joe!
Ben you got it man! Glad you liked it. But yes, there are way too many distractions, information, and hidden bunny trails we can come across online.
Staying focused is not just a one time thing, it’s ongoing and you have to constantly evaluate your situation and how effective you are being.
Yesterday was one of those days. I had done my research and was just about ready to do the post, when I realized there were some formatting issues on the blog and I wanted to add the tag cloud.
I should have just done the post first. I got the formatting done and tag cloud added, but it took way too much time. So no post.
You got it man! I’ve done things like that so many times man! I’ve spent days on my theme, literally…entire days, with no post just because I was working on a theme.
For me, I tend to get focused and if I start something like working on a theme, it’s hard to stop, I want to finish it.
Ironically, I just made a post about not finishing books and courses lol…I’m all over the place hahaha. But generally, I can get very focused on small things like a theme, and realize my entire online time slot has been shot!
Great post Joe. There is so much info out there these day it is easy to get caught up in the research aspect that I find thats all i’m doing and not moving my business forward. Thanks for the wake up, it’s time to move forward.
Thanks Mike, glad you liked it. Yeah man, there’s a ton of info man! Just get a plan, and attack it man! No worries, just keep moving forward! You’ll be fine man.
Definitely something we all can relate to.
Good call on “networking”. So many peeps claim they’re networking when really they’re just “chatting”, and trust me, there’s a difference! There’s nothing wrong with shooting the cow dung in the pasture now and then, but don’t trick yourself into believing that the chatter is “work” that’s helping you advance your business.
Also, great analogy using the football team! You can get a sense of satisfaction by doing “tasks that keep the wheels spinning” (lateral passes), but what’s the score at the end of the 4th quarter?
Great stuff Joe!
Just in case you were left in charge of feeding the cows, you know they don’t eat sammiches, right?
Cheers!
Jay
Yeah Jay! Nothing wrong with “chatting” but when it takes up too much time and you really think you are “networking” it is a problem!
Glad you were diggin the football analogy, it just kinda came to me during the video lol.
Cow’s don’t eat sammiches? Oh man…not even Hayburgers?
Excellent video and post (as always!), Joe.
I’m great at being busy, and not so good at being effective. It’s definitely an area that I need to work on.
Oh, I know you’re all over…you have so many ideas! But, that’s okay, just imagine what you can do when you realign your time to make sure the tasks you’re completing are both effective and efficient.
I really liked the way you put it. Nice comparisons. I do agree. We do have the tendency to get caught up in a lot of things.
I think the key here is having a well put out schedule so things will get done. However, I think that newbies have to undergo this stage. They are at that time of exploring and trying to get themselves within the system. The experience on how the system works can tell them what moves should they do next. Yes it wastes time but it is an effective learning tool.
But this post will serve as a heads up for those people getting overboard in their social networking and busyness (see I used it) endeavors. It is a matter of putting a limit on yourself when you masquerade your play as work.
Aira you hit the nail on the head! Having a schedule will help you out tremendously! Just knowing what you need to accomplish before you get on the computer will do wonders.
It’s easy to just sit down with no plan and roam aimlessly through your “business” activities. But if you know you have a specific amount of time, and you need to get specific things done, you’ll see your productivity, efficiency, AND effectiveness shoot up!
I also love this one:
“It is a matter of putting a limit on yourself when you masquerade your play as work.”
great comment.
I think that it is important that you concentrate on your goals and tracking is the most important thing to do. You need to find out what works and what does not work.
Your right, tracking is a very important thing. If you find out something you’re spending x amount of time on, isn’t really working….then rearranging your focus to spend more time on the things that do work will increase your effectiveness too. Great point.
Good point Joe, I’m definitely guilty of busyness, too much reading and browsing and not enough actualy producing.
Thanks Emma, glad you liked it! Don’t worry bout the spilled milk…just move forward from now! Make yourself more effective! You can do it! Go now!
Hey Joe, glad to see you on the milk mans blog. Thanks for the post, it was very helpful. I look forward to seeing more of you here
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Sup Rob, glad you enjoyed the milk and sammiches! We’ll see if the CowMan has me back over to tend the flock….he may not like my love of steaks, burgers, and all things beef! It could be a conflict of interest.
You have described me. I spend almost complete one project and move on to another. I work efficiently at what I am good and but not effectively because I don’t finish the parts I am not good at.
I am working on getting better about that though.
Adam
It’s something we all deal with man! Finding those things that move us forward, as opposed to the stuff that just takes up our time and doesn’t add to the bottom line.
Some “networking” or other things are best saved for when you’re actually taking a break!
Oh it is so easy to get caught up doing busy work. True of pretty much any job but especially so when running your own business. Taking those five or fifteen minutes at the beginning of the day to clearly prioritize what has to be done and why is essential to getting through the day and being productive.
Planning the day at the beginning is a great thing to do! I’ve even heard of people doing this at night before they wake up, so they can get up and be ready to go.
Either way, having any plan is way better than no plan.
Great advice, Joe! It’s so difficult to avoid focusing on the busy work rather than the tasks that will help you to increase your revenue. I also enjoyed all of the cow puns. Thanks for sharing this reminder with us!
thanks for checking it out Rebecca! I’m glad you liked it. Busy work is hard to identify sometimes, especially with all the web 2.0 “networking” we can do.
I’ll need an energy drink in the morning, but I pressed on and got done what I needed to. I dumb error did pop up when I did a cut and paste from some CSS code. It copied over with “pretty” quotes so the styling wouldn’t work. Took me about 40 minutes to figure that out. Ouch!!
Hahahaha, it happens man. I wouldn’t actually label that as busy work though, you had to get it fixed right!
WOW people actually do that?, no wonder no-one is making sammiches.
Good on you to call the shot and point it out. Might someone not step in that cow dung dude
Hahaha, whatup Big Shane! Glad you grazed on over to the pasture and liked the hay I was handin out dude. I know you don’t mess around man….I know you get down to business!
Joe,
Brovo!!!! Love the whole post. It was very thorough and detailed, but yes, I do have a question (or two).
If your passion is say “giveaways” as mine is, how do you (in general) “connect with” readers the way that you yourself do with your business? In your opinion, what would I have to do in order to get people to leave comments or want to buy ad space or anything else dealing with the site?
No matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to get more readers, I can’t seem to get people interested enough to comment. Now, my site does tend to send people to the good sites out there that are having some big giveaways and such, but I do try to add some personal content as well. I try to keep “busy” with the business of the site but I guess I’m not getting the hang of what’s needed…have any advice? Did I go too far off on a tangent (sorry)?
Barb
hahahaha, well, first off, I’m glad you liked the post!
Now, about your site….I don’t think contests or giveaways really induce the need for comments. I could be wrong, but that sounds more like a reporting/news style of blog, or at least that’s what people are seeing.
Do you simply post the various contests and giveaways or do you actually comment about each one, helping your readers find out which ones are the best for them, and which ones apply.
Maybe reviewing them, seeing which one’s require no work, and which one’s are asking you to run their entire business for a day just to win an ipod shuffle lol.
That is definitely a tough one, as I don’t think the subject really encourages any comments, unless you ask folks who one, maybe try to start securing interviews with contest winners or something.
Thanks for that advice Joe…I’ll definitely keep that in mind.
So, you want to do an interview on you Asus win from Big Ben Patten? (LOL)
What are you going to do with it?
Thanks, Barb
I know what you mean.
Great post. Gotta run, I’m busy.
I love it! Great stuff….make sure you’re busy with the right things!
Boy does this ever ring a bell.
Took me a long time to find things that actually are working to build my business rather than just keeping busy.
Probably why it took a few days to get here
.
It happens man, you are always tweaking and learning the things that move us forward instead of keep us in the same position.
Once you find those things, give them some tender loving care
Everytime I get the Self Control not to open emails…there is a great important email waiting for me!
It happens, you can open them, just set out specific time to check emails, and let your contacts know the times you check emails so they won’t wonder why you haven’t responded lol.
Joe,
I just had to say it is so cool that you go back and answer everyone’s post. You really are one cool cat.
cd :O)
Thanks man, but you gotta do it! That’s the only way to build up a community man…even if it’s a blog your just visiting! Always respond to your readers!
Hi Joe! Yes you made me laugh and its all painfully true. Well I’ve been relatively out of touch with everyone for a while because I’m trying to catch up on everything … but I’ve been guilty of slacking off as well in the past!
Its true though - when you’ve just put your blog up last week its probably not time to change the theme three times and rearrange the widgets once a day. There have been times in the past when I only had a few minutes a day and I eventually realized that all I ever did was check my stats!
I’ve definitely gotten better at keeping my priorities straight … but not always! Thanks for a very helpful reminder. You are very smart. Many people don’t realize there is a difference between busyness and production.
Oh my dear Anna! I know how hard you work lol. You have not only marketing stuff pulling on you, but poetry happenings! It’s easy to get caught up in stats, or other minimal tasks, especially when we thing we “don’t have much time to do anything else”
I’ve been there, done that, and will probably do it again in the future! I’m just trying to stay focused and help as many others as I can do the same.
One ting that some bloggers get caught up with is constant css site tweaking.It’s better to just focus on content creation and traffic building until it becomes absolutely necessary to change desgn
You got that right! I don’t know how many days I’ve lost just tweakin a site. I mean, some tweaking is to be expected….but, not an entire day! Get it done!
Very well written, Joe, and it read just like you talk on your own blog.
It’s timely also, as it’s something I always feel I’m in the process of evaluating. Nice job.
Thanks Mitch! Glad you liked it. You know me man, I try to keep it real and consistent no matter where I go. Folks that have me guest post know what they’re gonna get with me man!
Probably why I don’t get many offers
Stuck in evaluation mode…Oh boy can I relate. Just take what you’re evaluating and use your findings to move forward!
I’ll be evaluating until I’m rich; that could be the rest of my life!
That “social networking all day” was for me wasn’t it? I’m onto you Joe!
No really, for me networking is a huge part of my MMO success and particularly since I’m always traveling, it’s the best way for me to keep updated and in touch with my fellow bloggers. However… when I’m at my desk and actually in one place long enough to get a blog post in, or get caught up on my comments (ahem, sorry I’m late- been travelin’) it’s extremely easy to get pulled into twitter for an hour here and there. Obviously not the most effective use of my time but I do enjoy it.
Since I love my play time, my travel, and my social networking- I’m all about passive income (if you know me, you already know this) because it allows me to be inefficient with my time but still make mad money. All about finding ways to have it all
My dear Jeni! You definitely are quite the exception to the rule! Lol, no seriously, passive income is the goal for most I would suspect. I am not looking to build a business that requires me to work it, or be there everyday to make it happen. I want to setup systems, that I can maintain and that run on auto pilot!
Still, there are times when work does need to get done, and may get done quicker if we….turn of twitter
I know I scared you a little bit with that….just breathe, it’s okay….it’s only a dream, you’ll wake up in 37 seconds and you will have 45 @replies and 17 direct messages!
I know, Joe. I don’t disagree. But … no time for poetry for me lately. I’ve been working on my niche sites. To be honest, I haven’t even really had time for socializing! Lately I think I’ve been doing relatively well at not slacking off.
Yes I agree also an Im am working on my niche site but it is taking a lot of time.
Yeah, taking time isn’t the issue, it’s the fact that sometimes we do stuff that really doesn’t move us forward towards out goal. It’s all good though Brian…just keep pushing!
If I make an overall outline for a project it helps set the tone of what I’m trying to accomplish. If I also make individual lists and write each of the tasks down I can usually be extremely efficient. It’s important to double check and test my steps along the way or I will never be effective in reach the goals of each of my projects.
That’s a very good point. Having a task list can do wonders for your progress and making sure you keep your focus. Great point.
Great advice, Joe! Thank you. I think busyness has a lot to do with delaying tactics as well. If there’s a job to be done you’re not that fond of, it’s easy to fill your day in other ways. It’s probably smarter to just get it out the way first rather than putting it off to another day…and another.
You hit it on the head Salwa! It is a delay tactic! But not only that….people need to get in the mindset that taking action is the only way to move forward, even with an online business.
Since it’s much easier to start online, with little to no capital,as compared to a brick and mortar biz….folks think success will just “come” to them.
They think putting up a website automatically means they are in business, and they keep tending to that website, the small stuff, without moving forward to do the things that will bring in customers.
It’s a constant cycle of evaluating where you are and moving into where you need to be.
Described me to a “T” Thanks for the information
Glad you liked it man! Now make it happen!
Great analogy about the football team making passes all day long without moving anywhere. I think a lot of this busyness comes from seeing the always on always moving internet world and feeling that we have to digest as much information as possible at all times that we end up not learning or doing anything.
Step back, breathe, and then attack!
That’s so true dude! We have access to so much info online, it’s easy to try and take it all in, or just hop from story to story and resource to resource trying to learn stuff, keep up with the news/trends, and we stay in that cycle.
Good call yo.
Nice post Joe. I feel that I am busy all the time, but like you said, being busy doesn’t really mean anything. You have to be productive and have a clear plan of where you want to go. Action along with direction is the key.
It happens to all of us! Being busy does not = doing business, no matter how we try to slice it. It’s just something we all have to keep in check from time to time.
It is really, really easy to avoid doing what needs to be done - especially if it something you just don’t want to do. For me I love creating new content, but I don’t like going out and handling some of the business of blogging. And if I don’t do the other stuff then I won’t find success.
That’s true as well, procrastination is just a hint that something that needs done is not really something we want to do, feel comfortable doing, or maybe we don’t even know how to do it!
You’re right man…but sometimes we have to step out of our comfort zone. That may mean learning a new skill or it may mean paying to have it outsourced.
It’s not always easy to make a distinction between effectiveness and efficiency and it’s a daily struggle for me to stop being busy just for the sake of being busy. Sometimes we get a sense of fulfillment from endless arranging because it makes us feel as if we’re in control even though it may not actually lead to any concrete achievements. Writing down and analyzing the things we want to do on a daily basis and deciding if doing those things is effective or just efficient is a good place to start. It can be quite an eye opener.
Yeah, I understand, it’s an ongoing evaluation of our situation. You can always improve, just when you think you’re there…there’s another place you can improve.
As long as you are aware of the need to improve constantly in this area, you will see much improvement in your overall progress.
Writing things down is definitely a HUGE help.
Glad you liked it Ganesh! I just try to keep it real and help people with stuff that actually helps me
Yeah, but as long as you evaluate and take action on what you see then you’re good. Too many folks are in a constant state of “evaluation”