High Payoff Activities

What bothers me most when I feel stressed at home and work is that I stop doing those things in my personal and business life that lead to the outcomes that are most important to me, like great family relationships and connecting and a business that allows me to the money and time to enjoy the people I love.

On a recent visit, I sat with my sister-in-law sharing notes our summers.

My update started with my venting frustration with my stop-and-start summer schedule. I planned on having three kids riding bikes to swim team and weight lifting, leaving me most of the morning to work. I ended up with a routine of taking some kids somewhere almost every 90 minutes during the most productive hours of my day.

In the midst of the stressful summer schedule, I was grieving my dad’s sudden death and coping with his hospitalizations and post-mortem affairs. I felt even more overwhelmed and disorganized.

I explained that in my business when work time gets cut short, the things that get cut out are time for those business-building and revenue-growing activities. Just fulfilling the regular have-to-do task eats up available work time. The sacrificed activities are the “high pay-off actions” coaches advocate you do first thing every day.

When I short on time and not focusing well on the critical tasks, I get to look forward to my flow of clients slowing down. And this means slow cash flow.

That’s no fun!

So what are your high pay-off activities?

It varies based on your industry. For me creating a speaker sheet and contacting groups to give talks fit the bill, as does contacting a joint venture partner, or creating and promoting a teleseminar to bring new prospects into the fold.

So why wouldn’t people do high pay-off actions and do them the first part of the day?

High pay-off activities are actions that make you squirm just a little. They require you to step it up a notch, and perhaps have greater visibility. Sometimes there’s a learning curve, as you’ve never or infrequently tackled those projects.

Other times, the action has good and bad consequences you may or may not have worked through. For example, if you put yourself out there as a potential national speaker, you may unconsciously fear how needed travel might clash with your family life.

Sometimes time management problems prevent the execution of high pay-off activities. You may not be at the productivity level to complete your business maintenance activities, serving your customers, while engaging in high pay-off activities.  You may not be allocating enough time in your schedule to make room for those challenging activities that takes you and your business to new levels.

Or you just may have had a life event that makes it impossible for you to do it all.

That’s real. Life happens.

Be reasonable with yourself. But don’t give yourself too much time off the saddle of prioritizing those top three high pay-off activities.

High pay-off activities apply when it comes to key personal and business activities.  Don’t sacrifice what is most important because you take your eyes of the goal.

Catholic Mompreneur Biz and Life Tip:  Take three “high pay-off” actions first thing every day.

Copyright 2014 Christina M. Weber