Think Inside The Box, Part 3: Tools

In our last two posts, we discussed how experts working in one business could launch new advisory businesses by “thinking inside the box” instead of outside it, as most people suggest.

I’m not criticizing outside-the-box thinking because it is needed for creativity, innovation, and reinvention. But when you’re in the process of transition, you really don’t have that much time for grand visionary thinking. Rather, you need to perform in one role, and envision in another.  And to do that you need  to learn to switch your mind quickly from role to another.

So today, in this post, we’ll examine the nuts and bolts of how you can do that.  Here’s the nitty-gritty of multiple role tasking.

Schedule rigorously

Most of us hate scheduling, which is why we fall off the grid often. Schedules make us feel like we’re restricted, constrained, and  mechanized, less human somehow.  But when you’re overtaxed, schedules do keep you from wasting precious time. And, if viewed as a tool and not  a prison sentence,  they can improve your life considerably.

When launching a business, you must clearly determine how many hours need to be devoted to  “doing”, i.e. producing  in your job or business , and how many hours should be designated for  thinking, dreaming, and planning your new advisory business.

Depending on how your mind works, this can mean daily, or hourly, segments, and should include time you can “steal” from some other time bloc. The important point is that YOU – and not your clients, or co-workers or anyone else who will make demands on your time– have to determine what works best.

One point you should be very careful about: No matter how much time you schedule for one role or the other, don’t let one role bleed into the other. When that happens, everything starts to get mixed up, and nothing is done well. You’ll find you’re constantly behind, and frantic, so keep the lines clear. If you don’t get it all done in time …. well … so what?

The point here is that much-ballyhooed “multitasking” doesn’t work because you can’t concentrate on two things at the same time. But serial tasking works very well, because you can switch your mind from one sphere to another. You may need a few minutes to transition, however, so, when you finish one task, take a break, go for a walk or something to clear your mind, and then come back to the new task.
Be flexible

Ok, this is where time management tools are good aids. If you try to keep all these schedules in your head or in one place, you’ll probably forget them. I don’t know about you, but I have a tendency to get so involved in something, I don’t even know where I am sometimes.  So (co-ordinated) multiple schedules and logs work for me.
After you’ve divided up your time between different roles,  form task schedules for each of them. But be flexible in them. If you schedule yourself to the minute, as per a scheduler, you’ll likely break the boundaries often, which leads to frustration and eventual abandonment.  So put in the schedule a buffer between each of role or task. This may mean you won’t accurately use one of those perfectly organized schedules, with every minute accounted for. But the purpose isn’t to pass an exam on scheduling, is it? Lose the aim to be perfectly correct, and use what works.

This buffer is very important if you are trying to take on different roles in the same day, or in times chunks that abut each other. Buffers will allow you to turn off one part of your brain and turn on another.

Keep logs

For each role you’re occupying, keep running logs of what’s been done, and what needs to be done. And sketch out a few notes on how you felt while doing the task,  so that you can find areas of improvement, or areas you need to work on. This is a wonderful way to recognize your strengths and weakness and work on them.

You can do this electronically in one of the many note-taking software vehicles out there, or, if your mind works that way, on paper in various notebooks. Each evening, organize the next day’s tasks, and prioritize them. We all have a tendency to overdo planning, so attack the priorities first, because likely that’s all you’ll be able to get done.

A very important part of keeping logs is the idea log. As you’re working, ideas will continually flood into your mind, often about something in the other role. The brain likes to correlate information to all the tasks it has to manage,  so these cross-functional ideas will happen.  But if you stop to think about them, you’ll lose your focus and start drifting. So, jot them down in an idea log and get back to the task at hand. Then, at the end of each day, put them in a bigger idea log created for specific roles, or pursuits.

Idea logs are also good tools to use for the various down times you have (I hope) built into each day. When you’re exercising, or having a conversation,  or simply winding down, keep the log handy. You can record information for followup, or jot down whatever comes into your mind.

Another  idea logging tool, taken from creativity facilitation, is to force yourself into idea generation and keep a kind of white board of the results in your notebook. But we’ll get into that in another post.

Share your thoughts

In these three posts, there has been a considerable amount of information regarding how an expert can switch from one business to another. But, it’s not perfect, and probably isn’t enough.

I’m sure many of you are also struggling with this, and have devised various forms of coping. I’d like to hear them.

Sharing techniques, successes and failures is an important aspect of community, so I encourage you to please post your thoughts here. Others may learn from them.