How Do You Deal With Overwhelm?
Mike’s blog 168
Chinese New Year is OVER – and there is like a floodgates being opened. Mostly in Wechat (as everyone in China basically lives in Wechat). Imagine its around Jan 1 (well let’s say Jan 3) and everyone is excited for new ideas and projects they were thinking about over the holiday (had a couple weeks to think!)
For me, the messages and emails are overwhelming. In a good way, sure, but also – less than 2 months until our third annual Cross border Summit (which is shaping up to be bigger and better than ever!) and we are working on new angles for it – Virtual reality (with the amazing creative production team at www.shadowfactory.io VR agency) and inter-connecting factories and trade booths (in a limited space venue).
Some other early to mention ideas are we have people interested to partner. More and more interest at Global From Asia – as traffic continues to break new records and reach is expanding.
So I wonder today- how do you deal with overwhelming amount of requests to get your attention or your effort? It is a good problem to have, but is also dangerous because you can easily lose focus and get off track. And as an entrepreneur, the big mistake so many of us make (myself included many many times) is the new shiny object syndrome. Seeing something new and exciting and losing interest in the things you have been building up and grinding on over the years.
Here’s a couple formulas I try to keep in my mind
* Can we leverage (thanks for tip Meir- always think of you when I think of the word Leverage!) what we already have. If an opportunity comes to you – think – what am I already doing and building that can integrate with this opportunity. The best is if you already have a service and solution and team to execute and you simply plug it in.
* Do I know people in this space who can connect up. I love being a connector. And while it is tempting to do everything – many times I suggest the person approaching me to talk to a friend in my network instead. We have a community at Global From Asia where I try to add as much value and connections there as I can.
* Content to create out of it – is the opportunity so awesome that I can make a blog, podcast, video, or VR production out of it? Is there something really cool that can be made. Documented, put into practice.
* Who in my team can help – I am only 1 person. We have a growing team, and I am trying to learn about management (management is the skill of developing others) and trusting those people on my team to be able to handle something. More emails are being done by the team, more Wechat messages, more communication and coordination. From the beginning.
It is hard to let go. It is hard to not do everything yourself. It is even harder to see a mistake being made that you could have done yourself and done faster without error. But maybe its the new father / parent in me – but in order for someone to learn, they need to fall and scratch their knee (Miles freaked out when he first fell and scratched his knee) – sure it will hurt them, and hurt me – to see that happen – but that is the best way to learn.
So my biggest takeaway for dealing with overwhelm is – delegate. Trust others, and if they aren’t capable yet – train them and coach and mentor them. Yes, this is a lot of work, but this is a huge long term valuable asset.
Any tips on how you deal with overwhelm of requests and messages? Even if you’re not in China, it must happen after Christmas holiday or long weekends.