Most people think of “progress” as something measurable. Something that is quantifiable using a percentage complete. Something that is visualized with a progress bar or a pie chart.  For most of life, this is true.

When you’re making your way from elementary to high school, its easy to see your progress after each grade is completed. When you’re making your way through college, it’s easy to see your progress after each semester is completed.  When you’re working on a project at work, it’s easy to see your progress after each task is completed.

These are all examples where there is a clearly defined list of activities to complete, where there is a blueprint. But this isn’t your reality anymore because now you’re doing something that’s as clear as mud and has no blueprint.

Now you have no idea how much must be done to complete your goal. Now you don’t have anyone to guide you step by step. Now you don’t have a trail to follow. So how do you measure progress now?

In this situation, progress is not measured by crossing items off a list. As a matter of fact, progress is not measured at all.

Instead, progress is an expression of discovery.

Discovering what works and what doesn’t. Discovering systems and processes that deliver repeatable results. Discovering the time of day where you’re most productive. Discovering your strengths and weaknesses. Discovering, discovering, discovering…

Every time you discover something, you make a little more progress.

As I shared a few weeks ago, I’m taking Seth Godin’s online course titled The New Business Toolbox: Help Your New Business Do It Right The First Time. In the first session, Seth decides to start off by breaking down the idea of a business model in simple terms.

The way he explained it really made a light bulb go off for me.  He describes a business model in terms that helped me create this equation.

V x L² = R

With V being Value, L being Location and R being Revenue. Godin explains in so many words that when assessing your business model, location is more important to revenue than the value you are selling. To explain his reasoning for this, I will use an example of a pizza shop’s business model to keep things simple.

Most pizza shops offer a similar value proposition – tasty pizza at an affordable price. Assuming all things being equal in terms of taste and price (no pizza entrepreneur starts off with the dream of making the most expensive bad tasting pizza in town), then the differentiating factor between pizza shops is all about where that pizza shop is located.

If it’s a pizza shop located in the mall, the business model is simple…sell pizza to the people who come to the mall.  If the pizza shop is located in a city’s business district, then its business model is to convert foot traffic during lunch time into customers. If the pizza shop is located in no man’s land near a sprawling suburb, then its business model is delivery.  As you see, the factor that impacts the business model more than anything else is the location of the pizza shop. It impacts the price they charge, their marketing, their operating hours, the type of people they must hire, and how they handle customer service.

That’s why pizza shops located in the mall don’t deliver. It’s also why you can argue over the best pizza in town all day, but most people won’t drive across town for that great pizza when they can get decent pizza 5 minutes away.

We’ve all heard the real estate mantra LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. Well this is an obvious concept to apply for brick and mortar entrepreneurs who sell in local markets, but not so obvious for everyone else.  What Seth Godin did in his first session is explain why you should apply this simple concept to any business model using location as a metaphor for a customer acquisition strategy that scales.

To-do lists are an essential part of a productive day for many people. I tend to prefer a to-relax list over a to-do list as I explain here. However, when your plate is full with menial tasks that just have to get done, to-do lists are still the best way to get focused.

Unfortunately, I’ve had a lot of menial tasks on my plate to start the year so I’ve been using to-do lists pretty often. One of the things I noticed is that based on how much time I “think” I have, I will create my to-do list differently.

On the days I allow myself time to sit and really think about my day, I set-up my to-do list like a schedule. I look at the hours I have in the day, the tasks I have to work on, and how long each task will take. Then I create the to-do list with time blocks assigned to each item.  As a result, hour by hour throughout my day I know exactly what I should be working on and if I’m falling behind schedule.

On the days I feel I have to rush to get working, I just right down everything I have to do in no particular order as fast as I can. Then throughout the day I pick and choose what to work on like I’m selecting items from a menu.

As you may expect, I always get more done on the days I take the time to implement my to-do list as a schedule. I spend less time procrastinating, less time surfing the web, and less time mindlessly snacking.

I now realize that rushing through the day is costing me the time I thought I was saving.

With that said, my conclusion is simple. Slowing down to plan out your day allows you to get more done than rushing to start.