ave you ever sat down to do something that you thought would take an hour, only to find yourself still working on it several hours later?

I do this all the time.

And recently I've realised that sometimes the problem isn't how long the job takes.

It's my expectation of how long I think it should take.

"I'll Just Build the Page"

One of my classic examples is building something for my business.

I've done my own websites for years, so I'll quite happily think:

"I'll just create the sales page."

Easy.

Except the sales page isn't actually the job.

It's one part of a much bigger process.

How are people going to find the page?

Are they coming from my website, social media, an advert or an email?

Once they're there, what do I want them to do?

If they're buying something, where does the button take them?

Is the checkout working?

Is the payment system connected?

What happens once they've paid?

Do they land on a thank-you page?

Do they receive an email?

If it's a digital product, how do they receive it?

Do they get added to an email list?

Do I need to tag them according to what they're interested in?

And suddenly...

My one job has become ten.

The Job Wasn't Taking Too Long

This is the interesting bit.

I can sit there becoming increasingly frustrated because something that "shouldn't take very long" is taking hours.

But was it really taking too long?

Or did I completely underestimate what the job actually involved?

There's a big difference.

Because if I expected ten separate steps to take time, I probably wouldn't be frustrated.

I'd simply work through them.

But when I've mentally labelled those ten steps as one small task, suddenly I feel slow, behind or inefficient.

We Do This With Bigger Goals Too

And I don't think this only happens with websites and business systems.

Think about some of the things we tell ourselves:

"I need more clients."

"I need to grow my business."

"I need to get fit."

"I need to sort out my back."

"I need to start marketing properly."

"I need to launch my new product."

Each sounds like a single goal.

But what sits underneath it?

Probably quite a few steps.

And sometimes there's a huge mismatch between where we are, where we expect ourselves to be, and what actually has to happen to bridge the gap.

That's where frustration creeps in.

What Is Your Shop Window Actually Supposed to Do?

In the podcast I use the analogy of a shop window.

You can have a beautiful shop window.

People can walk past it.

They might stop and look.

Some might come inside.

A few might buy something.

But what happens next?

Do you want them to come back?

Do you have a way of staying in contact?

Can you remind the people who looked but weren't ready to buy that you exist?

Do the right people even understand what your shop sells?

It's the same with our businesses.

Sometimes we create the visible thing — the website, post, product or offer — and expect that to produce the outcome.

But there may be an entire system underneath that outcome that hasn't been built yet.

So Perhaps We Need to Change the Question

Instead of asking:

"Why haven't I got there yet?"

Try asking:

"What actually has to happen between where I am now and where I want to be?"

Write the steps down.

You might discover that the thing you've been beating yourself up for not finishing isn't one unfinished job at all.

It's ten jobs.

And you've already completed six of them.

That feels very different.

Create Your Own Checklist

This is something I'm going to do more of myself.

Rather than relying on my brain to remember every step each time, create the workflow once.

For example:

Sales page done.

Traffic source decided.

Links checked.

Checkout tested.

Payment connected.

Thank-you page working.

Email triggered.

Tags applied.

Automation working.

Tracking installed.

Now instead of thinking, "Why isn't this finished?", I can look and say:

Six done. Four to go.

That's clarity.

What's Your Expectation?

So this week's coffee question is:

Does your expectation match what you're actually trying to achieve?

Maybe you're not moving too slowly.

Maybe you're expecting a ten-step process to behave like a one-step task.

And sometimes simply seeing all the missing pieces changes how we feel about where we are.

Because running a business — and life generally — is a constant learning process.

I've been doing this for years and I'm still learning, still making mistakes and still occasionally wondering why my "quick little job" has swallowed an entire afternoon.

But that's part of the journey.

Make the mistakes.

Learn from them.

And next time, write the bloody checklist. ☕

Chaos, Coffee & Clarity with Saree

Helping you find the missing piece in business, health and life.

Full episode - Spotify

https://open.spotify.com/episode/03mmS8okpy4p1wytzHY6BZ?si=jjV_IxaLSwqlapTbJhdmJA