Most businesses or business owners are not concerned with physics. I would suggest that you should be because it could be the secret sauce of figuring out how to take both your business and your personal life further than you thought you could.
The google definition of entropy as it relates to business is the “lack of order or predictability; gradual decline into disorder.” Looking at both your personal life and the life of business this is a natural progression unless you are purposeful and actively engaged.
Entropy has its base in physics and the law of thermodynamics. Things in motion will stay in motion unless there is a force that acts against it. Unfortunately, your day is full of forces acting against your progress and success. Those forces are acting as the definition states towards the gradual decline into disorder. Every day you have things that come up that can be a challenge or an opportunity. How do you process disruptions and challenges during your day and is there a way to turn those forces away from the dark side?
Let me suggest 3 ways that you can keep the ship right-side up and your business growing and improving.
- 1Systems - The first way to keep the ship up-right is through systems. Systems start in your personal life. One system is to scheduled time to decompress or to be purposeful with spending time with your family and disconnecting with work. By being a healthy person, you can be more engaged when at work. In your business there are different levels of systems but it means to have an order of work and processes. In younger businesses this is often hard because the owner or entrepreneur is doing everything from networking to gain clients to delivering the product. Systems are needed to help organize your day to be the most productive. One system is what is referred to as batching. Often, we feel the need to be checking emails on a regular basis. Like every 15 minutes. Just in case a client wants something or because we are anticipating that person we sent an email to could respond at any time and we want to make sure we don’t miss it. Also, we want to respond right away to show we are on top of things. This works against you because it is a distraction and takes you away from important things. Batching then would be to figure out a time to check email and stick with it. Many have suggested right away when you get into the office in the morning, at noon and then before you go home for the evening. Its timely and efficient!
- 2The Right Mindset - The second suggestion to reduce entropy and keep your business moving forward is to have the right mindset. I have heard this thought and have even used it in the past myself which says that now that I am out of school, “I am done learning.” The laws of physics come into play here as well because this thought will cause our minds to entropy and you will become stagnant in your life. Take the first way to keep from entropy and continually evaluate your systems and learn. Learn how to understand systems and people. With the wealth of knowledge out there, there is much to learn. Through reading and workshops or through others we can grow by increasing your understanding to stop any potential entropy in your organization.
- 3Grow Your Leadership Capabilities - The last suggestion to reduce entropy takes off of the previous one and that is to grow your leadership capabilities. Today there is so much to be concerned about in your business and often there is a sense of overwhelm in a business owner. So many things to do and how will it get done? Pressures at home and from employees as well as the desire to be and do better in the business. Growing in your leadership takes a humbleness which could mean enlisting a coach or a mentor. A huge way to grow in your leadership is to go back to the first suggestion on the personal side and be purposeful about your personal time. This also means being purposeful about taking time to breath and plan. Taking time to stop and schedule time to think and dream about how your business can grow!
Unfortunately, the everyday hustle and bustle is what leads to entropy. The busyness of the business takes control where the laws of physics takes over and things tend to decline into disorder. Take the time to Grow your leadership. It is personal. By doing this you will create a mindset of growth which then will help you discern how the systems of your organization are functioning.
Running a business in today’s distracted world is not easy. Be concerned with physics and the law of entropy. You can steer away from it, but it requires a clear vision and a plan to grow and improve.
If anything, that was discussed in this blog is a struggle to you, let’s connect for a free no obligation consultation. I promise you it will be valuable to you. Send me an email here and let’s find a time to connect!