by Mike Shea on 10 July 2011
Pardon me for channeling some Seth Godin this evening.
When it comes to focusing on our primary job, whatever job that happens to be, we could do a lot worse than mimicking the performance of a doctor's office.
While a doctor's office has to deal with appointments, filing, phone calls, insurance companies, payments, records transfers and a thousand other things, the doctor herself only focuses on being a doctor. All the rest is handled by specialists who take care of their particular function. When the doctor comes in, she's focused only on providing medical care or advice to the patient, not all those other details that got the patient there, got the patient out, or got the patient to pay.
Be like a doctor. Delegate, outsource, or throw away everything that keeps you from doing whatever it is you were meant to do. Hire someone to clean your place or get a place small enough to clean easily. Get rid of software, social networks, or bookmarks that keep you from writing whatever it is you were meant to write. Set up your banking so that deposits, withdrawals, or transfers to investment accounts are all automatic.
Reduce, eliminate, or delegate everything you can that keeps you from doing your job in the world.