As a business owner, I am easily lured into the Flittering Trap. I jump from task to task, accomplishing a few things here and there, but failing to achieve anything great. Why? Because I’m unsure of everything I committed to do.
There is only one solution to flittering: knowing all of your commitments are captured in a safe place where you won’t forget about them, so you can focus your attention on your most important project. Flittering is a result of being unsure of what, exactly, you have committed to do. To compensate, you jump from task to task, like a circus clown trying to keep six plates spinning at once.
As 2008 approaches, I have spent some time stepping back from the Flittering Trap to focus on organizing all of my commitments and open projects so I know exactly what’s expected of me at any given time. And I found several projects, that, once I found, I decided to scratch from my to-do list — because once I consciously realized I had committed to the projects, I was able to consciously decide to not do them. Your subconscious never decides you don’t have to do something; it just nags you for not doing it.
So take some time this last week of 2007 to organize your commitments, decide some of them aren’t worth following through with after all, simplify others, and then relax without wondering if the sky is going to fall. You’ll be ready to come back in 2008 free to focus!
And remember, don’t flitter!