Boing! Boing! Boing!

By Maria Valdez Haubrich
 
When I first read the Staples press release about “Small Business Owners Diagnosed with PPS” my first thought was, “Oh brother, is this some sort of womany-PMS syndrome I probably have?” But, the more I read about Ping Pong Syndrome (PPS) I know I have it.
 
PPS describes business owners who bounce around between competing work demands and distractions brought about by worries about the economy, new technologies, family demands and more. I know I definitely have my days where I start one project, only to get distracted by another task, and then have to stop that task to put out a different fire. The result is my To-Do list gets longer and longer and I get more and more frustrated. And, if you know me, I LOVE crossing things off my To Do list.
 
The survey goes on to describe business owners who are concerned with cost-cutting measures, making a presence on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, protecting important computer-stored data and more. With so many modern concerns it’s easy to let your big picture goals slip in priority while you’re bouncing around trying to deal with financial pressures, etc. So what suffers is advancing the business.
 
I can tell you in the first two years we’ve been doing our business it is so hard to try and deal with cash flow, marketing, new projects and more, that unfortunately sometimes the big picture gets a little fuzzy.
 
Staples is trying to help small business owners get their act together by launching a new program called Staples stick to It! Business Challenge. By logging onto http://staples.stickk.com/ and making a commitment to achieve your goals, you can keep track of progress and at the same time earn EasyPoints redeemable for Staples discounts. Spring is a great time to get your goals back in focus, and this sounds like an easy way to revisit your goals and earn some merchandise to boot.