I love a good to-do list.
It's like dumping all the things you know need doing, on to a page. This rather than having them churning around as individual thoughts in your head, stressing you out.
In fact, if I don't get these things down and in front of me, I have sleepless nights.
Is this just me or do you suffer from the same thing?
And do you love ticking items off your to-do list?
There's something therapeutic about putting a tick next to, or a line across, an item in your list.
For me, I feel a weight; a little pressure, come off my mind.
And even with all the technology at my disposal, I still like to keep a to-do list written in my notebook. I believe somewhere, sub-consciously, I'm getting a little endorphin boost each time I strike off an item. It's very satisfying.
There is another reason having a to-do list, however you keep it, helps, I think.
Running a business is no easy task. There's always a lot to do, and things to deal with. And when you're focusing on a particular task, it's a pain to retain focus when things keep cropping up. It becomes very hard to keep track of actions.
And then each thing that crops up has a different priority. So not only have you a flood of tasks, you've also got to make sense of what to do first.
Today's small business tip is: maintain your to-do list in priority order.
Work out what items are most urgent, for example, it's the 27th February and you've not yet submitted your self-assessment for the 20/21 year - this will likely be your number one priority over anything else.
Or, with self-assessment done, you know cash flow is tight, in which case chasing outstanding invoices takes priority. Second only to writing up and sending new invoices for work done.
And when it comes to these action points they can be as granular as you need. For example, an action could be to add a new line item to an upcoming invoice for an additional piece of work done not on the original quote.
It's simple really but prioritise based on where your business is at that time, and what its priorities are.
There's a much simpler reason for maintaining a to-do list.
If you're anything like me, with so much going on, if I don't jot things down then I'm liable to forget them. Then they'll never get done. And that's more painful than taking a few seconds to add to my list.
But if your head is in a spin with the number of things you have to do, why don't you drop me line.
Because the big difference in business comes from working with the right people.
Best, Sarah