In life, and in business, you have a constant battle with the little people. Those wee folk who inhabit your head and keep nattering away at you, pushing and tugging and trying to nudge you off course.
With me the most persistent imp is Prue Krastinator. It's she who says "This can wait until tomorrow" or "You've got a week before deadline, leave the job ‘til Friday." Boy she's got me into trouble over the years.
If I let my guard down and neglect to write up my to-do lists for a couple of days I get rapidly landed in the soup. Has she ever come your way? From what I can see she has a lot of siblings in this town.
Another troublesome inhabitant of my cranium is Shootya Mouth, who is forever tossing dumb quips into the breech and urging me to fire indiscriminately without first engaging the brain.
Fortunately as I've got older he has become easier to control. But you can't afford to let your guard down because this one's as cunning as a cat, slipping in when you're stressed, excited or otherwise engaged - like in the middle of an important meeting.
His sister is called Weakas Water who won't say a thing until it's far too late to speak out. She worries she might offend or ask too much or otherwise sour the atmosphere.
Consequently she sets up situations where matters which were small glitches to be smoothed out, are left until they become major problems to be unravelled. She thrives on the fact that we all like a peaceful life and will keep putting off saying that most difficult word: "No".
Then there’s cousin Lazy Daisy whose favourite posture in life is stretched on the couch with a box of chocolates at the elbow and a remote control in hand.
Hours and days can drift past unnoticed until you suddenly realise that you’ve run out of customers, or the deadline's tomorrow, or the competiton’s sprinted past.
If you can keep her from stealing more than a few minutes or hours at a time, you're doing well. I know people who have let her have weeks, years - their whole lives, even.
Finally let's not forget that master contortionist, Indy Sision. Boy can he gum up the works! He's the one who keeps whispering in your ear, "Yes that looks right - but what if you’re wrong? Hadn't you better wait ‘til you're sure?"
Or "If I did this I'd get six of one, but if I did that I'd get half a dozen of the other - I can't decide." Or the real clincher - "If I leave it another week something will happen to make the decision easier."
Sure - someone else walks off with the account or the girl or the bargain or whatever it was you were indecisive about. And then isn't it amazing how clearly you can see what you should have done? Crystal clear, you were just in time to be too late.
So how do you deal with this tribe of monkeys on your back? The only way is eternal vigilance. Let your guard down and they grab the controls.
With a daily to-do list you can keep track of your activities - but make sure everything is on the list, in priority.
Though of course our friend Prue can turn writing a to-do list into an art form. So keep checking. Right now are you doing what is most productive with your life? (Of course at the moment you're reading this newspaper which I can assure you is a most virtuous, highly productive activity.)
ray@ebeatty.com
Blog: themarketeer-raybeatty.blogspot.com
