On a recent coaching call with one of our clients, she jokingly mentioned, “Every morning I feel like I’m just barely getting through the day putting out fires.”
Do you ever feel like that? We would guess so, and around here, we call that the “fire du jour.” Every day likely has an issue that needs attention, but it is how we attend to it that matters.
Monday, it’s dealing with a customer complaint. Tuesday, it’s a competitor’s social media post. Then Wednesday’s soup is an employee concern. A vendor issue on Thursday, a new industry trend to figure out on Friday, and the Saturday special is a frantic email marked “URGENT.”
Before you know it, you’ve spent your entire week running from one shiny distraction to the next. And if you’re not careful, you’ve just worked extremely hard, stayed incredibly busy, and accomplished very little of what was actually on your to-do list. Now you’re doing double the work and playing a constant game of catch-up.
Not Every Fire is Urgent
An important leadership skill is learning to distinguish between a true emergency and someone else’s sense of urgency. (Another leadership skill is coaching your team on how to manage their own sense of urgency, but that’s a different issue!)
Just because someone labels something a fire doesn’t mean you need to grab the extinguisher. Let’s investigate who was holding the match.
Ask yourself:
- Does this require immediate action?
- Can this wait to be addressed tomorrow or even later this week?
- Is it impacting customers, revenue, or operations? Or an employee’s well-being?
- Am I the person who needs to handle this, or can I coach/delegate?
Too many leaders have gotten used to operating with a squirrel-like attention span, dropping everything when a new issue pops up. The result? Constant motion, very little progress.
The irony is that what moves your business forward. Things like strategic planning, relationship building, coaching your team and developing new opportunities rarely scream for immediate attention. And unfortunately, that is why they keep getting pushed down further and further on your to-do list while noisy distractions burn up your time.
Extinguish the Competition
Speaking of distractions, let’s talk about competitors.
Some business owners spend an astonishing amount of time monitoring what everyone else is doing. Between checking websites, scrolling social media, and overanalyzing gossip, they’re spending more time worrying about every move another company makes instead of focusing on making moves themselves.
Challenge yourself to let go. You can’t control their decisions or their strategy. Nor can you control their success. What can you control? Your own business.
Operating with a scarcity mindset only convinces us that every win for someone else is somehow a loss for us. That’s simply not true. There are plenty of opportunities available for everyone. Constantly comparing yourself to competitors doesn’t make you stronger; it usually makes you distracted, anxious, and reactive.
- Focus on growing your business and taking care of your customers.
- Focus on educating and improving your team.
- Focus on building a healthy culture.
- Focus on executing your strategy.
The companies that win don’t get there by worrying about what everyone else is doing. They worry about their own business.
Don’t Ignore Reality
Now, before you think we’re suggesting you put your head in the sand, let’s be clear: there are times when immediate action is absolutely warranted.
For example, if a competitor suddenly goes out of business, that’s an opportunity, not a distraction.
Customers may be looking for a new provider, and qualified and experienced staff may be seeking new employment. Market share may be available. In that situation, speed matters.
The key is understanding the difference between information and action.
A competitor launching a new marketing campaign? Probably not a fire.
A competitor shutting its doors? That’s worth your attention.
The goal isn’t to ignore what’s happening around you. The goal is to develop the skills to know when something deserves action and when it doesn’t.
A Simple Question to Ask
The next time a new “fire” lands on your desk, ask yourself:
Is this truly urgent?
That question alone can save you hours of wasted time. Successful people who accomplish the most aren’t always the busiest people in the room. But they know where to focus their attention. They respond to genuine emergencies, and they recognize real opportunities. Most importantly, they refuse to get pulled off course by every distraction that happens to show up during the day.
If every issue becomes your top priority, then nothing is actually a priority. And that’s a recipe for spending your day chasing fires while your goals sit on the sidelines.
What would happen if, just for today, you focused less on the fire of the day and more on the future you’re trying to build? You know what we say: you’ll either Grow Big or GO HOME!®.