116: What’s Keeping You Up At Night? 🦟 On Business Mosquitoes

Free Time with Jenny Blake

“If you think you’re too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room.” That’s a gem I found in MBS’s book, How to Begin, from Body Shop founder Anita Roddick.

It came to mind last night while I was being plagued by a particularly elusive mosquito my husband dubbed “Maverick.” (Yes, after the Tom Cruise movie.) In my sleep-deprived state I searched for the meaning—and the business metaphor—behind this pesky, pernicious little beast.

Thus, after a midnight brainstorm, I bring you this solo episode on finding (and eradicating!) the mosquitoes* in your business.

*Don’t get them confused with the Butterfly Effect—tiny moments (supposedly) sparking massive change, or Splatology—low-stakes time clutter accumulating until you can’t see through the windshield any longer.

🌟3 Key Takeaways—Business Mosquitoes are:

• Persistent interruptions that interfere with much more important goals (i.e. sleep, peace).
• Often hard to see, and harder to catch (until they’re perched on the headboard resting fat and happy after feasting on you)
• Relentless in waking you up to deal with the problem (unless you resort to bury every inch of your body under the covers, the proverbial head in the sand)

📝Permission: Put boundaries in place that prevents others from interrupting your peace!

✅Do (or Delegate) This Next: Identify your biggest business mosquito: What’s keeping you up at night? How can you put a solution in place that doesn’t just squash one, but prevents many more “bites” in the future?

📘Books Mentioned:

• Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business
• Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One
• How to Begin: Start Doing Something That Matters
• The Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator
• Radical Candor: Fully Revised & Updated Edition: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity
• Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less

🔗Resources Mentioned:

• Article: The Mosquitoes Are Coming for Us
• Indoor Mosquito Trap (scroll down to the hilarious reviews): Katchy
• Sleep and Fitness Tracker: Whoop
• Jenny’s private BFF Community
• Gotham Production Studios

🎧Related Podcast Episodes:

• 057: You+ vs. You 2.0 with MBS
• 106: Splatology—On Clearing Time Clutter
• 062: Made by Monday On Content "Frog" Batching

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