Treadmill Effect
There’s something I battle daily, and being independent only makes it worse—idea overload.
I’ve got a million ideas and feel like they all can pop. And when I’m in the early stages of developing them, I’m doing all the work myself. It can get pretty hectic. One way I’ve learned to deal with the overload is to slow down and focus on one thing.
When I catch myself moving too fast, I feel annoyed and stressed and find myself questioning what’s up with me.
That feeling of going nowhere fast, just spinning my wheels, I’ve nicknamed it the treadmill effect. It feels good sweating, but I’m just running in place. When I feel like I’m being lapped by competition or when I feel like I’m not working hard enough, I’ll try to do a lot of stuff to make myself feel busy, but I’m not really being productive.
I’ve found I can be way more efficient when I slow down and come up with a process to work smarter, not harder.
I want to run my business, not have my business run me. I’ve noticed that I get way more done when I move slower and with purpose. Moving too fast is the equivalent of overheating. I prefer working at a consistent pace rather than in spurts. If I can figure out a way to automate what I’m doing, I’ll head off a burnout.
Another problem with moving too fast is lack of attention to detail. This can negate any progress I’ve made—two steps back for one forward. Developing the reputation of missing things will kill you. I see it a lot with businesses that become franchises. The more distant owners are from their businesses, the more detail is missed, and after a while they lose customers because the service just isn’t good anymore. Growth too fast isn’t sustainable if you can’t apply the same attention to detail that led to your success.
Believe me, getting off the treadmill is easier said than done, because when you slow down, you feel like you’re missing opportunities. That may be true, but it’s the long game that matters.