This week’s blog is all about The Feedback Loop. Think of the next couple of weeks like the NYT game “Connections” but like way easier to figure out. Seriously though who wins each day, it’s way too d*mn hard and makes my brain feel all loopy.
It’s the week after Spring Break and I don’t know about you but the pile of stuff I have put off is UNREAL. It’s definitely a “14’er” (IYKYK) - for the record I’ve climbed a mountainous hill maybe like 8,000ft but never like an actual mountain, which also means I’ve never climbed to 14,000ft, but I feel like there’s a metaphor for entrepreneurship in there somewhere.
In order not to spiral into the depths of procrastination despair and let the drama of not getting everything accomplished and feeling like there’s more and more piling on…and oh yeah the f*cking laundry…. That’s also why this week is all about “loops,” the good and the bad.
WOAH - These next few newsletters are all going to connect the loops….
The loop of doom is real. It’s real in life and real in mindset - let’s start with some basic loops so you can spiral upward this week.
This week is all about The Feedback Loop - a process designed to collect, analyze, and respond to feedback in your business…but honestly, I find it invaluable for mindfulness, life, and productivity, too. Implementing mindfulness techniques in business, The Feedback Loop also involves four (4) critical stages:
- Gather Feedback
- Analyze Feedback
- Implement Changes
- Follow Up
This loop can help you streamline business decisions and enhance productivity… it goes a little something like this….
Let’s use the example of a boutique fitness studio owner to bring this loop to life:
- Gather Feedback and Plan: The owner observes attendance has dropped in certain classes and decides to investigate.
- Survey customers to understand needs, and check calendar for holidays and school events
- Research current fitness trends or potential ideas for new offerings
- Set objectives for improving existing offerings
- Analyze Feedback & Do: Plans are made for a new class incorporating small weights to refresh the class offered.
- Add new class to schedule
- Market class with email updates and social media push
- Train staff on new offerings
- Implement Changes and Check: After a period of time, the success of the changes is evaluated, based on attendance and customer feedback.
- Analyze attendance
- Continue to collect customer feedback about new class
- Gather feedback from staff
- Follow and Act: Aka the 3 P’s - Pursue, Pivot, or Punt the idea: Made a decision based on the results - utilizing small business tools for effective decision making (The DECIDE Framework).
- Pursue: If classes are successful, consider adding more
- Pivot: If classes are unsuccessful, analyze why, then wait and gather more information, or pivot the idea
- Punt: Or use the insights gained to help inform other future decisions and try to find a new idea
*Cough* *Cough* Big Key Takeaway that I want you to notice: there are little to-do’s under each main item and you can’t move to the next part of the feedback loop without completing the first step…. So in order to not spiral down the loop, you have to finish item one (1).
So, let’s put this to work in your actual life and actual business instead of just all the talking/reading about how my business does this….I mean how the “boutique fitness studio owner” incorporates the feedback loop.
It’s time to take a Reality Inventory: Avoid the loop of to-do’oms.
Let’s start here: What does your to-do list actually look like? (Omg please don’t tell me it’s just all in your head…do you even know what’s going on up there?) In order to not spiral into to-doom, let’s take a look at something as basic as how you set-up your to-do lists.
Here’s how I to-do things:
I used to write everything down in a black notebook and I have SO MANY NOTEBOOKS, however, I’ve moved into the digital world and I’m a huge user of the project management software ClickUp. (Eventually my goal is to make you a lil’ template so you can use it and download it too.)
Each day I create a to-do list of my top three (3) things I MUST do. That normally also includes whatever main calendar item I have…. If I have 5 meetings - those are my to-dos. Yes, I can accomplish stuff between meetings, however, nothing is worse than trying to hurry and get something done and half-*ssing it and then being late to the meeting because I was so focused on working on that thing (seriously though, that happened on Monday, as in two days ago - so yeah, I’m not perfect at this either.)
My productivity and my mindset have improved dramatically because I’m not just adding infinity items to my list and then I feel like I never accomplished anything. I can cross stuff off when my main priorities are Kristin Cavallari dunzo, and I can add more. The feeling of having each item crossed off with no items left is truly a mental relief that I didn’t know I needed as an entrepreneur.
Because I had to be the bearer of bad news if you didn’t know this, but…there will ALWAYS BE SH*T TO DO.
From to-dooms to spiral into purposeful productivity, The Feedback Loop is not only crucial in business evolution (like that boutique fitness studio) but also in productivity with even the basics like a to-do list. By creating a structured approach of gathering, analyzing, implementing changes, and following up on all that feedback we can loop from chaos to curation. By using the Feedback Loop both in business and personal productivity, it will lead you to more organized, fulfilled, and productive days ahead…just remember the loops never stop, just make sure your to-do’s do.
Keep looping it up, and catch more courage, trust your capability, and pursue your strengths.
Next week: we loop into The YES Entrepreneurial Mindset Loops (omg I know can’t wait either...)