We all know that every industry has a “season” or a “tide” where our varying responsibilities ebb and flow. We are also aware that there are events or milestones in our business and in our industry that need to be handled on deadline for our company to grow.

But what about us, the owners? Have you thought about what your personal ebb and flow looks like?

I don’t just mean are you a morning person or a night person or do you like fewer long days and or many short days in your work schedule. I mean your personal seasons and individual events and/or milestones.

To be more productive, more organized, and better able to communicate it is vital that you are self-aware. Take the time to sit down and use your personal self-expression method (that’s a fancy way of saying the way you think things through – take a ride, write notes, dictate into a recording device, etc.) and determine when you are at your strongest at varying tasks.

For example, for whatever reason I tend to get a rush in creativity as the seasons get colder. I know that, sometime around August of each year, I will be “buckling down” for some serious analysis of where we have been and where we are going as a company. I don’t need to know why – I just need to know that I do. So I block off some time at that point of the year where I do not have sales calls, do not have heavy analytical responsibilities, giving me the time I need to do a lot of “thinking” and “fleshing out” of these ideas. I allow myself the time to be creative about our company. And then I trust it. Later when I am working on other things I do not question it. I may tweak or adjust it but I leave the basic plan in place and trust myself.

On the other hand, I tend to shut down a bit in Spring. Perhaps it is because I live in Wisconsin and winters can be long and isolating. But again, I don’t need to know why. I just need to know I do. So I plan more purely analytical tasks for this time of the year. This is when I may re-think our overhead or make calls that I tend to put off all winter to customer service or IT.

You get the idea. The long and the short of it is that each of us has our own strengths and weaknesses in our skill set or our personalities. But we also have a “time” when some things may come easier for us than others.

Obviously, we need to do things every day. We need to keep our books in line. We need to produce and, of course, take care of our team and our customers. But, there are always those “extra” tasks and maintenance of our companies that we need to accomplish. Choosing when to focus on these things is important not only for the health of our company but also for our personal health.

So take a moment and ask yourself:

  1. Do I have a cycle? Is it seasonal or some other?
  2. How can I adjust my responsibilities to my company to best make use of that cycle?
  3. Do I have someone in my company (someone who you have worked with a long time) who may have a different cycle?
  4. If so, how can I best capitalize on what may be a natural, complementary relationship?
  5. How can I remind myself to breathe and work within my strengths rather than fight my weaknesses?

I know … we have a lot of work to do today. And this seems to be just another task that can wait. But you may be surprised. If you take a moment to learn more about how you personally work, you can better use it to work well professionally, whether you are an owner, realtor, artist or freelancer.

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