The shiny distractions

We had the wonderful Belinda Waldock in this week explaining the core principles of Agile and how she uses it to run her own life to our first year teampreneurs on Business Entrepreneurship course. The one concept that got stuck to my head from her talk was the inbox in her agile board - the area where 'new shiny things' go for a breather, giving you time to make sure they won't distract you from your key activities.

I'm sure we all know those shiny things? I personally think they are in fact the bits that make life exciting - a change to the routine, something that brings new wind to your sails and make you re-energised. I guess that's why I enjoy learning new things as well, it brings you something new, something challenging to do.

But I've also seen them being used as excuses. The reason I didn't reach these goals or gotten the results I aimed for was because I got swept away in .. It could be a trip, a new hobby, some short project, designing a new product. It could be anything really, when it distracts you from your core business, what you need to do to keep things turning. And if we are the people who start new things, quite often we are also people who are attracted to the 'new shiny things'. Often the lure of potential can be stronger than the satisfaction of finishing. 

I think that's why the inbox idea has been sticking to my mind. It means you have to have that moment of reality check "if I fit this in to my week/month, how will I assure that my responsibilities will still be completed?" Making sure you have no reason for excuses.