I’m off to see my mum for Christmas, who is so aged she doesn’t know how old she is. Spending time with her reinforces some important things in life: family, health, relationships and their fragility.
But one thing she would be surprised to have taught me. Mum cannot remember anything, from one minute to the next – so when she’s looking for something, she forgets what she’s looking for and can spend hours looking for she-knows-not-what!
It makes you realise the importance of systems and processes, from keeping your keys in the same place, to maintaining routines or rituals – habits last longer than memories, so although mum’s forgotten what she’s just finished for lunch, she knows her way to the biscuit jar alright! It’s no wonder it’s hard to break a bad habit.
Processes are just as important when I’m working with individuals to grow and scale their company: there’s always a process that can be fine tuned to be tighter, more efficient, faster, and/or more profitable, the last by making it part of the system to empower and grow less experienced talent and free up more time of those higher up. So the 1000th widget or service is identical to the first.
That brings me back to the family, health and relationships – if you set up the right processes for your business, it allows you to book in non-negotiable time for your priorities in advance. That’s a top work/life balance tip, scheduling in quality and recharge time before work commitments and if need be enlisting the aid of someone else to honour that time. As once you lose a relationship or your health, there’s no going back.
But if mum tells me once more that I’ve put on weight – because she can’t remember she said it 60 seconds ago – I may not be responsible for my actions!
Happy Christmas!
