Focus & Concentrate on the Essentials. Simone Janson

      Concept Create Practical Tip: Formulate tasks, focus goals, keep track - 9 tips

      // By Dr. Sonja U. Klug

      In this small series, practical tips for creating a concept were presented. One of the core problems of many people: keeping an overview.

      Keep an overview

      Finally, there is another problem that hinders many people in the elaboration of a concept, especially when it is more complex:

      In view of the extensive information you lose the overview. How can this be done?

      Help, too much info!

      Do you know such sentences? "It is far too much" "I have far too many documents, but far too little time to read everything and really work through it." Or: "It is far too much material and material for me to be able to keep everything in my head at the same time and get a real overview."

      Stop! The next demotivation trap lurks here: Do you really have to read and work through everything? And do you have to juggle everything in memory at the same time? The answer is clear: No!

      Our learning methods: yesterday's snow

      Although we are accustomed to our school and training system to read everything from point to point and then maybe have to memorize it, too, this is snow yesterday!

      With this antiquated work style, you will not be able to go further in the age of permanent information overload and high-speed management, but will end up in a dead end of unfinished, semi-finished tasks that will pull you off.

      9 tips for a better overview

      However, what helps you keep an overview are the following tips:

      1. Free yourself up for more efficient reading methods

      Get free from old workloads - there are more efficient methods that do not exceed your reading capacity, nor overload your brain, but still let you be the master of the information and material flood.

      Another problem, however, is: "I don't see through" "I have no problems with the fabric filling, but how should I relate the different facts to one another and then interpret them? The content of my documents is so heterogeneous that I fear that I will not be able to see through it. ”

      2. To understand complex facts

      In particular, when a situation seems contradictory and unclear, it is not easy to develop a coherent picture and a coherent concept.

      Another problem is the complexity of many issues. Complexity is not to be confused with complexity. “Complicated” simply means “difficult”; “Complex”, however, means “multilayered, forming a multitude of confusing interrelationships, networked with one another, forming a system”.

      3. Relax, instead of being demotivated from the beginning

      Today many things are not only complicated, but also complex - but still manageable. For the weighing and interpreting of different information, there are also qualitative and quantitative methods, such as the morphological matrix and the paper computer.

      So relax, and do not let yourself be demotivated before the start of dummy problems!

      4. The real problem when creating a concept

      Now that you have reviewed my three tips, I would like to ask you directly the question: What is your personal problem in the development of your concept?

      The real problem is that before you get started, you need to be clear about your job:

      5. What is the task?

      Let us assume that your task is to develop an advertising campaign for a new software product. In this case, the goal could be: "The concept should illuminate all elements of the distribution mix and identify the most promising ones."

      One condition could be: "The advertising budget must not exceed two million euros." In a nutshell Formulate the goal of your concept as well as all related conditions precisely and completely, in writing.

      6. Use the 3 steps to create a concept

      I would like to draw your attention to the 3 steps that are necessary for the proper creation of a concept and which I have dealt with very extensively in the following articles.

      7. Objectives in mind

      In this way, you always have the essentials of your task in mind. This is particularly important if you are in danger of "drowning" in the variety of information and the complexity of the individual work steps.

      A concept is mostly not self-purpose, but pursues an overriding goal; it is created, for example, to serve as an information basis for further work steps. Now formulate the higher goal in writing.

      8. The overall goal

      In the case of the advertising campaign, the overall goal could be: "The concept serves as a basis for decision-making for the meeting with the advertising agency on February 20th."

      Now consider whether you still pursue other goals with your concept. For example, these may be personal goals that are not directly related to the work task but are nevertheless important.

      9. Do not forget immediate goals

      In the case of the advertising concept, the goal could be: “I want to convince the advertising agency with my concept and win for the solution I have found. With the concept, I would like to recommend myself as head of the advertising campaign. ”

      Tip Do not keep up with dummy problems, which ultimately can only call down your abilities unnecessarily. Concentrate on the essence of your concept, namely the immediate goal: