Nothing to do?!%#@!*)

The other day at work, a business associate came and told me she had nothing to do.  My initial thought was "great, glad you got it all done." Then I started to realize what this meant to her business and looked deeper into mine and wondered if there would ever be a point where I am actually done.
    A business owner has the ultimate responsibility to 'finish' every job detail in the business whether it is there direct job or they have staff to delegate the duties. Organizing, cleaning duties and strategy development should be a never ending battle of time and manpower.
     Growing up I always wanted to do the 'hard' things first, get them out of the way and then the rest would be easy. However, after trial and error I've found it more important to get the 'easy' things out of the way. If you finish the quick things first you satisfy the most responsibilities just in case you are not able to finish everything at that moment. The pile in your inbox becomes smaller and the mental challenge of having lots of paperwork is not so daunting moving forward.
     Distractions and procrastination can hinder a project from happening so it is important to leave yourself notes. A list works well if you may find yourself jumping back and forth between objectives and tasks. Make sure to cross off, crumple up or delete notes to give you the immediate gratification of finishing something. If you are working on a long term project, make notes of what must be done before hand and when you have time leading up to the event you can accomplish items from the list so not to wait until the last minute.
     With a never ending Inbox, lists of jobs, and strategy sessions to plan for, you should never find yourself with nothing to do during your day. Understanding your job will never end is a difficult lesson to learn because as kids we are taught to finish things. Finish your homework, finish your practicing and my favorite, finish your vegetables all come to mind. And if you are a business owner, you are finished with reading this so get back to work.