In my quest to become a perfectly optimized business owner, I love to read books on productivity and time management that will help my clients (and me!) to operate on a level that uses our talents effectively and gives us the quality of life that we really enjoy.

David Allen, the author of Getting Things Done, has a little book called Ready for Anything: 52 Productivity Principles for Work and Life, and in the first chapter he states the following:

Something is coming—probably within a few days—that’s going to change your world.  You don’t see it yet.  You don’t know what it’s about.  But it’s there, rolling inexorably forward, destined to throw you a curve that you do not expect.  It could show up sooner or later—but it will show up.  Trust me.

Write down these words exactly four weeks from today on your calendar: David Allen said a month ago that something was coming I couldn’t foresee that would affect me significantly.  Prove me wrong.

What are you doing to be ready for anything?

What would happen if you suddenly landed that big job or project that you hoped would come? What would happen if you suddenly had a family member who needed your involvement in their care?  What would happen if you yourself suddenly had an injury or health issue that changed the way you needed to relate to your business for awhile?  What would happen if suddenly your business took off like a rocket?  What would happen if there was an economic slowdown and now it is affecting you? What would happen if the way your business has always worked changed?

I have had multiple clients, family, friends and associates who would be able to answer yes to one of the questions above in the last year.  How about you?

Are you ready for anything?

Many of us would say, “Maybe, sort of” but haven’t been taking action to ensure that we are, in fact, ready.

Here are some of the first steps that I have gleaned from David Allen’s book.  Getting started with these will help you get ready for the opportunities and curve balls that life throws you.

1.    Clear the Decks – Clean up and organize your working spaces so you can work more effectively and know what you have.

2.    Gather all your “to-dos” in one list so you know what all the things are that you have committed to doing.  Get things out of your head and on to your list.
3.    Know what your commitments are and make choices about what you can and cannot do. Do your to-do items fit with the roles you are committed to?  What can you eliminate or delegate.