One of the things I struggle with is what I think of as "focus and energy."
Specifically: When I focus on too many things at once, just trying to keep up with all the things drains my energy.
In short: I'm a uni-tasker, not a multi-tasker. I do better when I have only one or two things going on at once; I know other people that thrive on the energy of many things happening at the same time.
Here's the thing... this is biologial. It is simply how the brain works. When we switch our focus between one thing and another, we do what's called, "context switching." And when we do that switch, it takes energy and time.
How much time? More than you’d think!
Research shows that after switching contexts, it can take up to 10 minutes to get back into a productive workflow. More to point… it saps our energy.
In other words, we’re all more efficient if we focus on one thing at a time.
All of that being said… the challenge of context switching is more about action and activity than it is about thinking.
So when we’re lying in bed thinking about all of the different things we’re working on as our brain hops from one idea to the next (like I was at 3:30am this morning ) that’s actually kind've ok (even if I'd rather have been sleeping).
When we do this mentally, we're just processing. More importantly, these are great times to tune in to what we’re worried about and make sure that we’re focusing on what really matters.
But when we’re sitting at the computer working on our marketing, we can protect our energy by getting organized so we can stay focused on one thing at a time. In fact, we’ll be more likely to complete discrete processes and that can generate feelings of accomplishment, which can help us feel good about our marketing.
So here's where I'm going with all of this: If you aren't a big fan of doing your marketing (even if it's something you know you need to do), setting yourself up for success - like focusing on one thing at a time so you generate a feeling of accomplishment - can give you a more positive experience that makes you feel better about marketing in general.
When you feel better about it, you're more likely to do it.
When you're more likely to do it, you get better results.
And by "results" I mean: a bigger audience, more engagement, and building relationships that lead to sales.
So as you think about your marketing, what is one thing that you want to prioritize and get done? I invite you to pick something... do it... and then notice how you feel about it. I'm curious about what you experience. Hit reply and let me know!
Do you ever feel like marketing is for extroverts?
