Tuesday's email was a bit of a tongue-twister: “Why don't we do what we know we should be doing?”. Try saying that after a few drinks :)

But it was also a very important point.

The reason many of us aren't achieving what we want in our business usually isn't because we don't know what to do. It's because we know, but we find it difficult.

I find in my business there are a bunch of activities I find easy. Responding to emails. Reading articles or books. Investigating new online tools.

And there are a bunch of activities I find rather more difficult. Writing. Planning. Thinking.

Not that I find them impossible. It's just it's easier to reply to emails or check out the latest blog post from someone I follow.

So if I have 30 minutes free, chances are I'm going to do one of the easier things. Or I might start a difficult task but as soon as I get a bit stuck instead of persevering I switch to responding to emails or reading blog posts.

The easy tasks are important too. But it becomes dangerous if I do them to the exclusion of the difficult ones.

One thing I've found that helps a lot is to get the environment right for my challenging tasks.

If I'm going to be doing planning I sit by myself in a coffee shop with my notebook and calendar. I *don't* bring my computer and I switch my phone onto silent.

I write my marketing emails and blog posts late at night when everyone else is in bed and the house is quiet (it's 1am right now as I write this). 

Changing your environment can be a big help to changing your behaviour. And it can begin to establish positive habits by building an association between the space and efficiently doing task you want to do.

Next time you're a bit stuck, try changing your environment. Move to a different room in your house. If you work in an office, book yourself into a meeting room by yourself for a couple of hours. Or head out to a coffee shop.

It can make a big difference.