A few months ago I wrote about the power of persistence. I think that it was one of my better posts, and I think that adopting the habit of persistence and working hard is one of the most important habits I’ve picked up.
Since January I have been tracking my productivity. Besides having a log of what I’ve done nearly every day since I started, it’s made me be a lot more mindful about my productivity.
And as a result, I get a lot more done now. I can sit down with my laptop and bang out a batch of work without procrastinating.
I’m still not perfect, of course. Sometimes I’ll get distracted, or put something off a bit, but I’ve mad such exponential improvement that for me it’s not really even worth worrying about these imperfections. The bottom line is that if there’s work that needs to be done, I’ll get it done with no problems.
Back in the day that wasn’t the case at all. A lot of the time I would miss deadlines, self set or otherwise, or let stuff fall by the wayside. Just look at the archives of this blog as an example. There was a string of months where I posted 2-4 times per month instead of the eight I’ve been averaging recently.
So what do I have to show for it?
Well, things have been good. I finished Conversion Doubler and I’m just now starting to market it with the help of a friend who is “in the business”.
I rewrote Make Her Chase You. Sales have slowed down a bit from their heyday, but it’s still making me a bit of money.
Blog posting has gotten more consistent.
I started Daily 15, which now has over 700 people who check it every day.
All that’s great, and I’m really happy to be maxproductive.
BUT…
A new problem has cropped up. It’s actually been there all along, and I’ve been peripherally aware of it, but knocking my major stumbling block down has thrust this one into the limelight.
I’m not focused.
Look at all of these projects I start and then get distracted from. I have several more ideas for things I want to start, but I’m now restraining myself.
Even if we boil it down to the core projects of Conversion Doubler, Make Her Chase You, and this blog, that’s three major ways that my attention is being split.
Will I really rise to the top of any of these projects if it only gets one third of my time and energy?
The truth is that I probably won’t. Especially when I start to be drawn to new projects every time stuff gets boring.
Right now that means marketing. Conversion Doubler needs to be marketed, and I hate doing that part. I want to make something and let its excellence sell itself. But that’s not how it works.
Same with Make Her Chase you. I need to spend more time on adwords, rewrite my copy, etc. Every week I write a new newsletter for it, which takes up time.
But of course what is much MORE exciting is new projects. I have a really good idea for a book now – one I think I could sell like 4HWW. But I’m starting to realize that I just can’t divide my attention anymore.
I have a tough time saying no to anything.
That’s the problem I’m dealing with. I don’t know what the right solution is, but for now I’m going to stop myself from doing any new projects. That alone is pretty drastic for me. I’m not sure when I’ll allow myself to do new projects, but maybe I’ll know when I get there.
And really I know that this isn’t as thorough a rule as I should give myself. Really I should cut out one of my projects that I have now, but I can’t see a good way to do that yet..
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