It’s been quite a curious set of weeks for the world of Scott and Modern Tech Floors. I’ve noticed a really striking trend of business slowing considerably and to the point where it is definitely becoming tougher for us as well, despite our Google position for a number of key phrases. The job sizes are shrinking and the customer dynamic is changing, meaning that the buying crowd that has been a niche is shifting to an older more conservative crowd that likes to price shop for small projects. It’s been frustrating to say the least and has led me astray towards some bad habits. I want to share these things because unlike most people writing to give advice, I’m fully transparent about being human and I do get distracted when it slows down.

Social Media/iPhone- It’s so amazing how technology has made convenience into a distraction. I mean seriously I feel like if I’m not holding my phone and checking email or Facebook, that I need to be watching TV. This habit is pretty bad because I was forgetting to write up estimates but sure did know what all my friends were doing. My fix: I deleted the Facebook app from my iPhone and it won’t return. No more dinging noises or any of that. It’s time for me to do better things with life.

Too many websites and blogs: I’ve written about this before with finding a very limited number of websites to use for information in order to manage time. Time to slap my own hand for disobeying because I was reading way too much and simply getting overwhelmed and confused. My fix: I’m subscribing to only three RSS feeds and going to allow only those updates to come to my Google reader.

Eating the wrong stuff and justifying it by going to the gym: Halloween just happened and guess who snags a small candy bar from the kids every now and then. I know, I know but they have plenty so I don’t feel like the grinch. The cycle just starts from there. Sugar and Oregon winters are a bad combination for your mood. Couple that with using “I went to the gym” as an excuse and you’re on a collision course for slipping. My fix: I’m giving myself a 52 day challenge to lose 15 lbs, which requires stepping up the game. Why 52 days, because I’m not going to wait until January 1st to begin what I could be doing now. When that day comes around I’ll already be that much further ahead of the pack. Instead of an arbitrary date, I’m using the strength of a new behavior coupled with a publicly acknowledged goal (keep me in check guys) to get ahead.

I’m registered to an online blogging school called Traffic School and so far it’s been okay, but sort of repetitive until the most recent lesson. I finally heard a popular blogger say something besides “have great content”. Everett Bogue talked about using exercise and being healthy as a primary key to having a sharp mind in order to write good content. Now that’s a killer insight that’s outside of the normal advice of “just go get on Facebook” and it will be okay.

I’m going to add a final thought to avoiding falling into the volcano of distractions. Keep the right sources of inspiration around: good music, books, magazines, movies and anything else that steers you back in the right direction. Go back to the good stuff that you loved at your best moments of success. The pitfalls of distraction are necessary to teach you a lesson sometimes. I’m going to use the time and mental sharpness I will regain to rethink and adapt to the marketplace so that we keep our momentum despite a slight dip in the market.

Do you need to de-tune?

 

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