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I hope this doesn’t happen to you. Because I think it is the most exhaustive and frustrating feeling in the world. If you’re a man, you can probably stop reading here. You aren’t likely to have much experience in this area. But then again, maybe you can relate because you’ve seen your girlfriend / wife / mother / [insert other panicking lady figure here] doing it.
Does this sound familiar? Company is coming. You were tickled pink in expectancy (or at least in amiable agreement) at the time of the invitation. But now, two weeks later – although you knew the time was upon you – your house looks like hell in a giant hand-basket. You can’t avoid it. You START cleaning.
Forces Are Pulling You in Every Direction.
You make a mad dash for the vacuum only to be distracted by the dirty socks on the floor. You bend over to pick them up and a glimpse of the bedpost suddenly reminds you that the guest bed hasn’t been made. You then realize that your only queen-size fitted sheets are still in the hamper. Good f****** gravy!!! Panic has officially set in. You are at your wit’s end on where to start.
Projects, Products and Business Ventures.
OK, so you’re living with the charming creature who turns into this freakishly confused cleaner, you’re paying good money for someone to wash and mop or you could give a cent about your visitors’ sensibility to dust and muck.
But maybe you can recognize this scenario in your work. You know. When you’re starting a new project, developing a new product or planning your next business venture. Let things get a little complex and suddenly the pulling forces that be are pulling your attention in every direction. Where to start?
Start at the Epicenter.
In their latest book “Rework” Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, the founders of Basecamp, Ruby on Rails and 37 Signals, tell readers to start at the epicenter. Here’s how it works.
Divide your tasks into three categories:
- the stuff you could do
- the stuff you want to do
- the stuff you have to do
The stuff you have to do is where you should start.
Jason and David use the following analogy: You’re starting a new business. That new business is a hot dog stand. What do you have to do to make that business work?
At the very minimum you need to be sure you have hot dogs (it’s a matter of debate whether you need a bun 
) and a stand. In this analogy, these things represent the core of your business. Start there.
You might want a nice banner on your hot dog stand and customers might want relish on their hot dogs, but without the hot dog and the stand, you have no business.
So, in order to find the epicenter of your cleaning frenzy or your project, product or business venture, ask yourself one of these equally pertinent questions:
“If I took this thing away,…
- would the guests ever come back?
- would the thing I’m selling still exist?
You’ll feel it in your gut when you’ve hit the epicenter. And I’m guessing it’s your fun-loving personality that keeps the guests coming back. In all seriousness, start by washing their sheets
Until we meet again,
Shailia
