Do you ever find yourself with more ideas than time to actually implement them?
Yep… it’s a tough one. Running a business we love is exciting and our enthusiasm translates into lots of ideas for its growth. Our minds are usually buzzing with all the things we want to learn, ideas to improve our strategies, and inspiration for content (to name a few!) But all those ideas can also be an open door to overwhelm.
Which ideas do I pursue?
How on earth do I get started?
Where can I acquire more time to actually do it all? (or a clone to help, perhaps?)
The overwhelm we experience when we have more tasks than time is something that can increase stress levels and procrastination. It’s a form of paralysis that stops us from making progress in any of our ideas, let alone all of them. This is when our creative brain (and all of the ideas that fill it up!) start to feel like a bit of a curse.
Ideas are possibilities
Having lots of ideas certainly isn’t a curse. It’s a gift. A superpower. Like any superpower, it can be a burden if not managed properly, or a blessing when harnessed well.
So how can we embrace and implement our ideas without being paralysed by overwhelm and procrastination?
By establishing a good system.
This system will help you capture, organise and prioritise your ideas. They could be ideas for a blog or podcast, social media topics, new service offerings or ideas for a lead magnet. Any ideas that pop into your head.
So, why all the effort? They’re just ideas, aren’t they?
If you look around the room, what do you see? A phone or computer? Notebooks and pens. Perhaps you’re at a cafe and you see tables, cups and napkins. If you’re reading this on the couch, you’ll see a TV, a rug, some curtains. All of these things began as an idea.
Now think about everything you’ve already accomplished in your business. Your branding, list of services, even your business itself, began as a mere idea.
Ideas represent possibilities. You don’t have to implement all of your ideas, but by capturing them you’re nurturing your idea generation process, and opening yourself up to future possibilities.
A system for managing your ideas
Capturing Ideas
Capturing your ideas is where your system starts. This is where you record new ideas, build on or revisit old ones, and collect things that inspire you. Let the ideas flow!
This may happen in a notebook or on an app on your phone. Avoid jotting down ideas in random places like pieces of paper that easily get lost. Trying to remember them is not a reliable place for storing them either!
5 great apps for managing your ideas:
- Trello
- Click-Up
- Asana
- OneNote
- Google Keep
Sorting and prioritising
Don’t expect to implement every single idea you record. You’ll need to make decisions on which ones to pursue now, which ones will be a later project and which ones are destined for the recycle bin.
You’ll be able to make decisions based on a few factors:
- your current capacity and resources available to work on the ideas
- relevance to your business growth
- the progress it will help you make toward your bigger picture
Understanding your own capacity for implementation is where many business owners struggle. We often take on too much because we overestimate what we can get done.
Think long term
You’ve recorded some awesome ideas and have sifted through the ones that didn’t make the cut. But you still have heaps left. What do you do with them?
You start to think about the bigger picture.
You simply don’t have the time or resources to do all the things, so be intentional with things you do. Think about where you want to be in 6 months, 2 years or even 5 years. What will you need to do to get there?
In thinking of your bigger picture, it’s a great idea to set some goals for yourself. Goals help you focus on achieving something specific. Every goal you set should take you another step towards your bigger picture.
When you start looking at the big picture, you’ll find you have more purpose in the ideas you pursue. You start acting intentionally rather than simply reacting, or letting yourself be influenced by what the experts say you “should be doing”.
Your ideas become accomplishments
Anything you achieve goes through a process. You start with an idea and you make the decision to pursue it. You create a goal (even if it is in your mind) and establish a plan of action. When your ideas go through this process and you take action, it becomes an accomplishment.
Setting up this system for managing and prioritising your ideas is a powerful step towards turning those ideas into achievements. This allows you to really harness those idea generation superpowers rather than them being a curse that burdens you with overwhelm and procrastination.
If you need help managing your ideas or thinking about the bigger picture in your business, get in touch with me. There’s a few ways I can help you focus and implement your ideas and goals so you can build momentum in your business.
Meet our Guest… Michelle Marks!
Michelle is a brainstorming nerd and business strategist for female service-based solopreneurs. She helps women grow a fulfilling home-based business through better managing and implementing their ideas and goals, so they can achieve more with less overwhelm.
You can find Michelle on the links below!
