TT#002 - Beat back overwhelm with this simple tool...
Most solopreneurs are smart, ambitious, entrepreneurially minded people.
Those are our strengths. But like many things, our strengths can easily become our weaknesses.
When you combine the ability to see a wide range of options, with the ambition to try and tackle them all, and the spirit that nothing can get in your way...
You've got a recipe for overwhelm.
Beating back feelings of being overwhelmed requires:
Being realistic about what can be accomplished in a period of time.
As we move at lightning speed in our execution, it's easy to overestimate what we can get done and underestimate how long it takes us to do it.
Taking stock of everything we are trying to do and getting a firm understanding of how much time and effort each priority will take is the first step in eliminating the feeling of being overwhelmed.
Prioritizing what we are working on to have maximum leverage.
In The ONE Thing, Gary Keller (founder of Keller Williams), offers a great question to help you maximize the output of the time you are putting in:
“What's the one thing I can do, such that by doing it everything else is easier or unnecessary?"
When you approach your to-do list with this question in mind, you'll probably reorder things quite a bit.
But how?
Many of our clients inherently understand this, but simply don't know how to do this.
And that's why we introduced a tool to help turn this concept into reality...
Introducing, the Modified RICE Model
Introduced by Intercom, a SaaS-based communications company, the RICE model was designed to help software engineers and product managers prioritize product development, updates, and projects.
And we've modified the tool to help you, as a solopreneur, prioritize everything you do in your business.
In Intercom's version, there are 4 categories for each project idea:
Reach: How many users will be affected by this action?
Impact: How big of an impact on the person/user/goal will this have?
Confidence: How confident are we about the estimates we're making?
Effort: How many "persons-months" will this take a dedicated team member to do?
The answers to each of these are converted into a number, and then a simple formula turns them into a single RICE score.
The RICE score then determines what is getting tackled first, second, and so forth.
How can we use RICE as solopreneurs?
Glad you asked.
We'll need to modify this a bit to make it work. So, "Make a Copy" of the template
I created for you here and follow along.
R is for Revenue (optional): What is the projected revenue you can expect based on what you know right now if this project is executed? Plug your number into the spreadsheet.
(Note: Revenue is not required. You can use the second tab for non-revenue-related projects, or if you just don’t want to use it. If you use revenue, be sure to keep the timeline consistent over when you expect that revenue to be realized.)
I is for Impact: What is the overall impact this project will have on your broader strategy? Select from the dropdown menu in the spreadsheet.
C is for Confidence: How confident are you in the projections you've provided? Select from the dropdown menu in the spreadsheet.
Effort: If one person were dedicated to this, how many "person-months" would it take them to complete?
If you've used the inputs I've provided, you'll automatically get a score. The higher the score, the better ROI you're going to get from the time you invest.
And there you have it.
A simple, easy way to score where you should be investing your time... and where you shouldn't.
