As entrepreneurs in the start up phase of business, many Lean In Japan Entrepreneurs Circle members struggle with the feeling of “having to do it all”. Weird guilt about how it is somehow cheating to outsource, to delegate or simply being worried about cash flow stop us from using a vendor!
In the October Lean In Japan Entrepreneurs Circle meeting we focused on ways to become more productive by doing more of what matters and less of the stuff that keeps us busy and drains our energy.
It was a refreshing take on the idea that you can drop the ball without guilt. Perhaps you can mindfully throw it someone else, let it bounce away from you safe in the knowledge someone else will pick it up or simply set the ball at your feet ” this is not going to get done and I am fine with that”!
After discussing the takeaways from the video “Drop the Ball: Doing More of What Matters: Find Your Highest and Best Use” By Tiffany Dufu, Chief Leadership Officer, Levo and author of Drop the Ball: Achieving More by Doing Less , the circle got into the practicalities of how to achieve the lofty sounding goal of “finding your highest and best use”
Circle members shared some of their own stories of how they had said no, reprioritised, found work arounds, used vendors to make the mental space and physical time to work on what only they can do.
Be Gone foul to-do list!
The process of writing the list of what really mattered personally and professionally alongside what you wish would just go away was empowering. Very refreshing to say “I just wish that no longer existed!”
Highest and Best Use ranking system
Using Dufu’s method of ranking your “to-do” list reduced mine from 21 items to 13. Being honest with myself there were another 3 to 5 items that I could look into outsourcing in the longer term or getting my family to take more responsibility for.
What remained were highest and best purpose – things only I can do and things that I can do well and easily.
Meeting Takeaways
- Make time for more of your highest and best use activities -What are the things that
- only you can do – skills, political savvy?
- you do very well with little effort?
- If you pay a vendor, the job will surely get done…not sit on your to-do list! Circle members recommended 99 designs, fiverr, upwork
- When you are feeling overwhelmed get that “to-do” list ranked and be brutally honest on whether that ball really needs to be being juggled at all!
Join Us!
Register for the Lean In Japan Entrepreneurs Circle to get your invitation.
2017- 12/13 (F2F and Zoom)
2018 – 1/18, 2/21, 3/20 (F2F), 4/19, 5/23, 6,21 (F2F), 7/17
If you are an English-speaking, Japan-based female entrepreneur who would like to grow your business, apply online at Lean In Japan Entrepreneurs Circle.
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