Finding Focus in a Solo World
The recent changes in our economy have been devastating for some and liberating for others. While some who have been given the lead parachute have been shell shocked, others have found new freedom and are striving for new opportunity in the solo world. I’ve often said that if we were able to provide affordable health care to the self-employed that we would see an explosion soloprenures, new ideas, innovation and opportunity.
From the ashes of the collapse of our financial system a new crop of soloists is emerging. Some by choice, others not. Some will survive, thrive and drive new innovation. Others will peel off back to the corporate world when things get better or try and fail. Both are fine. But the landscape will never be the same.
Many of us have dreamed of going solo, the 21st century version of the wild west…riding off into the sunset to stake your claim on your 40 acres. Just like those early settlers the new soloists will find it’s not all rosy out there. Aside from the obvious financial difficulties, the new soloist will find a host of bear traps, varmints and quicksand waiting to spoil their dream.
That new found liberty comes the need to do things differently. The office environment created order or structure that whether you liked it or not helped keep you focused. But as a soloist that structure no longer exists. The good news is as a soloist you can impose whatever structure you like…it’s also the bad news.
Some of us are able to easily create this structure (maybe I’m using the wrong word here) and move forward. For others (actually the vast majority of us) creating a self imposed structure is a new skill that has to be learned. Those of you in the first category read no further, the rest may want to keep reading.
What are some of the bear traps that soloists face regularly. By bear traps I mean those things that pull our attention or even physical self away from doing our job (whatever it is that brings home the bacon). Here’s my list which is by no means exhaustive:
- Not starting – doing nothing – being stuck in neutral(worse yet Park)
- Distractions (What’s yours?)
- Jumping from one thing to another
- Hyper attention – being sucked into something with diminishing returns
- Getting caught in the E-mail trap
- Screesucking (as coined by Edward Hallowell) – being hypnotized by the computer
- Your favorite goes here______________
Here’s a personal confession. I’ve been working solo for over nine years. My profession is teaching people how to be more focused and organized and I am just as apt to fall prey to these traps as anyone else. Working successfully on your own is a skill and a discipline.
I bring this up because I’m beginning to see a trend. Since our recent meltdown I’ve heard from dozens of former corporate clients (nice to hear from you again folks) who have gone solo by choice or not. Most were able to stay on task in the corporate world but have lost that focus in their new, less unstructured environment. I think these are the observant ones. My guess is there are 10 times that number who are struggling and don’t even know it. I feel a need here and am just exploring how to help.
So I’m writing this to start a dialogue. What bear traps are catching you? You don’t have to be a soloist, heck the recent round of layoffs haven’t been pretty for the survivors either. Please post a comment, send me an e-mail or give me a call to share your situation.
This will be the first part of a series. I’ll use this forum to share solutions by pulling from my resources, sharing the experience of readers and provide links to other web sites and resources that look good. If it’s as big an issue as it appears maybe I’ll start a separate blog. You tell me.
