Do you have TMIS? (Too Many Ideas Syndrome) Here are 5 ways to get focused!
Do you have TMIS? (Too Many Ideas Syndrome) Here are 5 ways to get focused!
Entrepreneurs and Business Owners, our headspace is often filled with so many different plans and ideas, so we can often be overwhelmed with so many different directions that we could go in our businesses.
It’s great to have creative brains, but how can we focus on the one thing that will drive our business forward? What if we reject something that would be the one thing? Eeek!
Following the work of researchers Iyengar and Lepper in 2001, a phenomenon called ‘The Paradox of Choice’ was devised by Barry Schwartz in his 2004 book of the same name. Schwartz suggests that whilst we might believe that having multiple options makes it easier to choose the one which we are most happy with, having too many options requires more effort to make a decision, which can lead to us feeling dissatisfied with our choice and worried that we made the wrong choice.
This is also known as choice anxiety; how do I know I’ve made the right decision?
“Learning to choose is hard.
Learning to choose well is harder.
And learning to choose well in a world of unlimited possibilities is harder still, perhaps too hard.”Barry Schwartz
Often business owners are like magpies; flying about looking at the shiny objects that we wish to collect, and excited about experiencing them ALL!
The problem with our ideas is that they are mostly shiny when we first get them.
When we begin implementing our ideas and plans, they become less attractive, less exciting, more challenging than we anticipated, and therefore easier to abandon.
As soon as the next bright shiny idea comes along, it's all sparkly and appealing, so we abandon the 'thought about but never executed' idea in favour of the new one.
The ‘too many ideas syndrome’ affects business owners who we work with all the time, so we thought we'd share with you our strategies to overcome it.
1. Have a way of capturing your ideas
Write all your ideas down. You won't forget the ideas once you have written them down, which then gives your brain permission to relax. Writing things down also frees up your brain make more meaningful decisions.
We are BIG fans of lists at RWC! Coach Esther even has a Trello board for her shopping list!
Although Trello and Post-It Notes are our favourites, there is no right or wrong way; use a notebook, a Trello board, a post-it note, notes on your phone, or whatever method works best for you.
Writing all of your ideas down makes it easier to come back and evaluate your ideas later to find inspiration, or to merge ideas together to make an even better idea. You can use these lists in your meeting with your business coach too to help identify those which are worth focusing on. No matter how unrelated they may seem at first, all your ideas are connected at some deep level, because they are your thoughts, so having them in one place makes it easier to find connections between them.
2. Categorise your ideas
Once you have the big list, try to put your ideas into a ‘sorting hat’ to organise them into categories.
One way of organising your ideas is to consider your 3-month goal, your ‘this years’ goal, your 3-year goal and your 10-year goal. Put your ideas into these four buckets by considering how the idea will drive you forward to your bigger goals for your business.
Another way to sort the ideas is to consider them like this:
I can do this easily.
I can do this if I apply myself.
Worth investigating.
Would do if desperate.
No way!
Simply create your sorting hat with categories that work for you.
3. Choose one!
Which of these ideas will you try first? Narrow it down and choose just one. We know this will be tricky because you’ll be worried about leaving out all the others, but you haven’t lost them; they are still in your master list. They are all good ideas, but which is the best for where you are and where your business is right now?
As our Director Emma says: “Where focus goes, progress shows!”
And she will be the first to admit she is definitely a magpie for new ideas
To filter your ideas down effectively ask yourself:
How does this idea align with my business vision/goals?
What impact will this idea have on my business, and by when?
Will this idea strengthen what I’m working on right now?
If you still aren’t sure, you can book a taster coaching session here and we’ll be happy to help you.
4. Create a plaN
Once you’ve chosen one idea, establish a milestone and commit to completing your goal. For example, the idea might be to explore a possible market for your business idea and completing the initial market research will give you a better understanding if you should implement the idea any further or not.
‘Ideas don’t work unless you do.’
Set a deadline for yourself. Have you heard of Parkinson’s Law which states "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion".
The best way to overcome this is to create deadlines that motivate you to finish tasks within a short time span. This helps you to eliminate distractions and focus your attention on one task at a time. If you’d like more tips, you can read our blog on procrastination here.
5. Keep going and learn along the way.
Things are often easy to start and harder to finish. We want to start exploring our idea because we are motivated. It’s more difficult to keep going when the first flush of excitement has worn off.
Your idea may work, it may not. But if you don’t try, you’ll never know. If it doesn’t work out as you expected, then learn from the experience and move on. Try the next idea.
As Thomas Edison said: "I have not failed. I've just found ten thousand ways that won't work."
Do you have too many ideas? Have you tried our suggestions? We’d love you to book in for a free cuppa and chat!