Do you suffer from “analysis paralysis”? This is a common behavior pattern among those who tend to think and analyze too much before doing a certain course of action.
For me, it is manifesting in trying to absorb and learn all I can at first before deciding to take any action in my online business. It can also mean procrastination on my part as I have some uncertainties on the next steps to grow an online business. This is because I tend to think that an online marketing business is hugely different from the usual brick and mortar business.
You will find below what I consider as my major list of “symptoms” that might indicate a person suffering from analyzing and researching too much prior to taking action:
1) You have lots of purchased but unread Warrior Special Offer (WSO) products (also known as bright shiny objects) in your hard drive
I agree that most of these products offer good value to novice and experts alike in internet marketing. However, having lots of these products could also lead to information overload and hence, indecision.
2) You tend to gather these WSO products as you believe you will need them sometime in the future even if it does not fall within your current business plan
Most of us are probably guilty of doing this. If we see good value and new trends emerging in the internet marketing business, we tend to become distracted and purchase these products. However, this could lead to a lack of focus on our current projects that would lead to loss of sales or recurring income.
3) You read all the incoming emails from all the different marketers whether you know them or not
Reading all emails, whether legitimate business messages or not, could further distract us from meeting some specific deadlines. While emails are good sources of information and source of building relationships with other potential joint venture partners, we should be more selective on the people we follow or communicate with.
4) You attend all webinar invites
Webinars usually take at least 45 minutes. Based on my experience, most of these webinars are sales pitches that might not be connected to your current projects. In this case, you are diverting your valuable time to something which will not contribute to further sales and revenue.
5) You spend more time in social networks (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn among others) than in planning and performing specific tasks.
I agree that social networks are here to stay and are critical to our online business, primarily in driving traffic and developing business relationships. However, these are also sources of distraction and can delay your previously set project deadlines.
So how can we try to change this “recurring analysis paralysis” and procrastination of sorts?
There are several ways to change your non-productive business process and turbo charge your online business to profitability. Here are some of my suggested methods to address productivity:
a) Choose and decide on your main online marketing strategies, tools and techniques and give them a chance to work
With all the information and technologies available to us, we need to decide and focus on the best strategy, tools and techniques that will help us get to where we want to be. All other strategies are to be kept at bay as we test out and try to give a chance for our chosen methods to work within a specific period of time.
b) Plan your schedules wisely – daily, weekly, monthly and annually, if possible
A practical method is KICK-Starting your day:
K = Know exactly what task you are going to do first
I = Implement that task immediately
C = Complete the task
K = Keep it simple
c) Define specific tasks to be done
It would help if we define specific items with time allotted for each task. As an example, if one is full-time on an online business, the person can start with setting a small list daily, say 3 tasks individually scheduled for time blocks of 9am-11am, 1pm – 3pm and 5pm – 7pm.
d) Outsourcing
If we still have a day job or want to take our online business to the next higher level, we have to leverage on other people’s skills and time to help us. I believe outsourcing is partnering with people who can complement our own skills and talents.
There you go. I heard it only takes 21 days to change one’s habits. You might want to consider these suggestions to improve your productivity.
Also, if you find these tips helpful, there are some more details and items being discussed in a new WSO “A Successful Internet Marketer’s Daily Action Plan” together with the bonuses e-book “Top 6 Critical Activities for the Successful Internet Marketer” and video “Interview with John Thornhill”.
Hopefully these strategies can help business owners propel and launch their business in high gear. Should you wish to learn more you can check out the WSO here.
Let us all happily work and be more productive in our online business especially in 2013.
This is a guest post written by Jane Deguia, if you wish to be considered for a guest post contact me.
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Great wso and I love the kick atitude .
Being productive while having a day job as well can be tough but outsourcing can be a great benefit
Thanks John think it all gets over hyped when as you say keep it simple
Hi John,
I’m so guilty of numbers 1 and 2, that I don’t even have time for 3, 4 or 5!
Very good post, I like the KICK idea a lot and I’m going to try it. I also need to stop thinking that I can do it all by myself while I still have a day job, and a family. I need to outsource some I guess – but I’m a control freak, as they say. How can I get past that?
Best Regards
Ken Soszka
Guilty as Charged. Shiny objects have built up on my hard drive to where I don’t even know when or where they came from. To combat this, I have been following what Alex Jeffreys says. “Don’t buy in case, buy in time.” I realized that most (almost all) of what I was buying, I wasn’t ready to use yet. And by the time I was ready, I had forgotten that I had bought them. Now, when I look at a product, I ask myself whether or not I will use it within the next month. If no, then I don’t buy.
Hi John & Jane,
Excellent post.
I have just completed my plans for this coming year. It’s the first plan I’ve made and to implement it I realised that I had to structure a daily/weekly timetable, fitted around my other commitments (day job & family time).
I’ve completed my timetable via a spreadsheet. I’ve also only focused on what courses to follow that are relevant to my overall plan.
Although I haven’t got a great deal of WSO’s stored on my hard drive I will admit that over analysing, fear to move forward and procrastination have been my let downs over the past 6 months that I’ve been online.
This post has highlighted this and I realise I’m not alone with this. The important thing for me now is to move forward and leave those bad practices behind.
Thanks for a great article that I hope people, for their own sake, will take notice of.
Regards,
Dean.
Hello John, how are you doing?
Newbies often suffer from
– information overload,
– Not knowing where to start,
– Following the wrong plan,
– Giving up too soon.
I have added to your KICK, if it is fine with you John
[KICK START MARKETING]
K = Know exactly what task you are going to do first
I = Implement that task immediately
C = Complete the task
K = Keep it simple
S = Start with smaller goals and increment these every year
T = Try things out rather than just ‘assuming results’ without even doing things.
A = Ask marketers questions if you are stuck, you will be surprised how many get back to you
R = Rinse and repeat your projects, so you can build on your initial success
T = Tasks should be fully complete before moving on to the next one
S = Sort out you tasks in a list, and then place them in sequencial order
M = Make efficient use of your time
A = Assets! – Know your assets which are your websites, blogs, links, email list,
R = Rest aswell. Many marketers over work, so make sure you rest and don’t over do it.
K = Knowledge is power, and it is the same for internet marketing. Always learn new things and knowledge
E = Engage with other marketers via facebook, twitter, and other social bookmarking sites
T = Take time to learn new skills every month
I = Internet marketing takes time and effort
N = Network with other marketers, so you can become marketing friends
G = Get off your lazy backside and start commiting to some serious work!
Matt Morgan
Hi John,
I think we’re all susceptible to this kind of behaviour from time to time and where it’s learnt? Who knows? Maybe in our childhood.
That daily plan seems a great way to break the cycle because once you make a decision, you feel so much better and have both direction and momentum.
Procrastination stinks! …and its a cliche I know but it really is the thief of time so KICK it out!
Chris
Hey John,
Working online is hard with all this possible ailments. Information Overload, Shiny Object Syndrome and now Analysis Paralysis. Just as I recover from one I seem to get infected with the next.
I regularly unsubscribe from all kinds of lists I find my self on. I avoid the Warrior forum unless I am looking for something specific and I plan my week first thing every Monday morning. My latest distraction, which I thought I would never do, is checking on the FaceBook groups I recently joined.
Still, working online is better than working for someone else and my focus is getting better. After starting your ONE Month mentor program in November last year I have reached day 26, so my product will be launched next week. Better late than never. 🙂
Thanks for the Training
Cheers
Roger
Great post, sometime like myself we complicate things , all we need to do is to have a plan and execute it, simple