Common knowledge isn’t common practice.
We all know this is true because we see it often in our lives. How many of us know that we need at least 8 hours sleep but we stay up to watch another episode?
How many of us know that we shouldn’t have another drink because we’ll feel rotten the next day but find ourselves ordering another round, and sometimes another?
How many of us tell ourselves it won’t matter if we miss a walk today as it’s raining and then notice that a week has passed without getting outside and moving our bodies?
The same is true at work.
We know we should post regularly on social media rather than as and when we remember or manage to convince ourselves we have something important to say.
We know we should build proactive activities like networking into our calendar all year, not just when we’re quiet and really need more work.
We know we should document our processes, especially when we learn something new rather than expecting ourselves to remember.
Even when we know something deeply we can all use a little reminder, so here are three reminders for you to take action on today to help you recommit and refocus to what you are already working towards.
- Set up a calendar reminder to post on your social media platform/s of choice at least once per week. If you can write and schedule some posts in advance so that you always have a buffer and feel less pressure to create so are less likely to procrastinate.
- Find at least one networking event that you actually enjoy attending and plan it into your calendar every month so that you commit to going regularly and building meaningful relationships with the people you meet there that go beyond a simple sales transaction.
- Create a simple how to template (or invest in an existing system that can capture this for you on a larger scale) that you can use to document your processes to save you time and energy when you return to it later, especially if it’s something you don’t do very often so have more time to forget.
It’s likely that there are some other things that you want to be doing but aren’t currently even though you know it would benefit you and your business. Be kind to yourself that the habit slipped, or that procrastination struck or whatever the barrier that’s gone in your way. Then do the thing. Don’t get stuck thinking about it, take some action now, even if it’s small. It’s often said that you should never leave the site of inspiration or insight without taking action, so whatever it is that’s come to mind for you on reading this, go ahead and take the first step towards making it happen. Future you will thank you for it.
