Enjoy this guest post, courtesy of Douglas Spencer of Spencer Brenneman.

My, how time flies. It seems like just yesterday we were making those New Year’s resolutions and plotting out all those audaciously ambitious goals for 2020. Well, my friends, Q1 is history and if you’re like most people (including yours truly), you have probably been distracted by less important but more urgent matters. That means your plans are sitting at home alone like a lonely puppy waiting for his family to return at the end of the day.

It’s now or never really, to ask ourselves if those branding projects really are a priority or just a nice to have? If the latter, take a deep breath and relax. Focus on the day-to-day and move on. However, if it’s the former, it’s time to make some tough decisions about your lagging branding projects, because the first days of June, October and January will be here momentarily. Here are some approaches to consider:

• Quantify the costs. Thinking both long- and short-term, what are the costs of not moving forward with your big branding projects? What are the costs of ignoring the distractions that continually derail your best intentions?
• Enlist help! Thinking both long- and short-term, what are the costs of not moving forward with your big branding projects? What are the costs of ignoring the distractions that continually derail your best intentions?
• Reimagine the process. We approach all our branding projects with an expectation of how we will tackle them. Refocus on the final outcome and then reimagine other, less time-demanding approaches. From freelancers to partnerships, there just might be another way. In fact, there’s always another way.
• Put in earplugs. If those squeaky wheels that are distracting you from your big project really do not have a long-term, negative impact on your bottom line or overall well-being, take a deep breath and ignore them. For the type A’s amongst us who have trouble with loose ends, know you’re not alone but sometimes a little mess is needed when building something big.

If we can help you with your lonely puppy (I bet we can), please let us know. We’re great with pets and give out good treats.