I left Marin General Hospital and had to call my colleague to get an update.

We worked together, as I was his product specialist. It was convenient. I lived in the same territory he covered. Thus, we spent a lot of time together. We were a top 5 team in the country for the product I represented.

We spoke daily, sometimes multiple times. This was a many times a day call. I wanted to see how the rest of his day went.

Lucky for us, we had another trial of our product. Unlucky for us, we couldn’t begin the trial. We already had four trials going. There was no time.

It is the problem of putting too many things in motion.

This isn’t the busy problem where you have the dreaded conversation:

“How are you doing?”

“Oh, I am so busy.”

“Well, that’s a good problem to have. Better than the alternative!”

Yes, that is the worst conversation. Usually, because you know the person is not that busy. None of us are really that busy.

In this case, we weren’t “busy”. We were over-committing ourselves, which is a mistake.

This is a symptom of impatience, which is sometimes good to have. Other times, it can cause lost opportunities. We oversell our clients and then we get fired.

Why does having too many things in motion happen?

I only know why this happens to me. Not why it always happens.

It typically happens when I have down time. The normal downtime that happens in business. Most often when you are starting out and building your client list.

I spend too much time filling the funnel. Then I over-commit myself and lose business. This leads me to have more ups and downs and less consistency.

It has happened to me when working as a Sales Professional. It happens when I look for jobs.

I think I might have a problem.

How do we solve for it?

If we don’t make the first mistake, which is forgetting about the client, then we might be able to be proactive.

If we are smart, we can postpone a deal. We know that doesn’t happen often because time kills deals.

Another option is being patient and more strategic with our time. We can develop a sound strategy to focus on consistency.

Putting too many things in motion is not a good problem to have. We become distracted and we cannot commit to our clients or projects.

It’s an unwillingness to make a choice.

Sometimes that’s ok. Other times, it’s unsustainable.

If we take a step back, create a better plan, we might be able to avoid this scenario. Other times, it happens and we cannot avoid it.

Now, I try to be more strategic with my time. Let the lows in business go. Stick to a process the best I can. It helps me minimize these mishaps.

__ __ __

We never did get that trial. We over-committed, had to postpone, and the hospital never let us back in.

Sometimes, I guess it is better to wait until we’re fully committed.