24 Jun In the driver’s seat
Timing really is everything.
Earlier this year I took a few days off in the Coromandel to attend the annual Beach Hop event. Normally this falls at the worst possible time for a busy tax agent. Late March is not known for its spare capacity. This year, with tax filing work largely completed ahead of time, I found myself in an unfamiliar but welcome position, space. Not just having time away from the office, also having genuine headspace.
That space changed everything.
Like many business owners, I had been carrying a growing sense of overwhelm around a major project. The main one for me for 2026 is migrating 5 years of website content into a new system. It felt large, unwieldy and time-consuming. Every time I thought about it, the sheer scale of the task threatened to stall progress altogether. When we’re constantly in reactive mode, even well‑intended strategic projects can start to feel too big to even start, much less actually complete.
Being away gave me something I hadn’t realised I was missing – calm focus. With fewer distractions (aside from bach life, shared meals, and contributing to meal prep), I was able to think clearly and deliberately. The project hadn’t changed – my relationship to it had.
Headspace allowed me to step properly into the driver’s seat.
Instead of circling the problem, I was able to:
- Identify the top focus areas rather than trying to do everything at once
- Confirm the right order of priority for next steps
- Decide what questions actually needed answering by software providers and in‑house support
- Recognise where external expertise would add value
- Break the work down into clear, manageable action points.
One note I jotted down at the time still stands out – one bite of the elephant at a time. It’s a reminder I return to often in business. Large projects don’t become manageable by shrinking them in theory, but by breaking them into believable steps you can actually take.
Another phrase that surfaced was being in the driver’s seat. For me, this isn’t about control for control’s sake. It’s about conscious direction. When you’re clear on where you’re heading, you’re better equipped to evaluate alternatives, test different approaches, and redo things when necessary – without seeing these as failures. Testing, re‑doing, and exploring alternatives are signs you’re paying attention, not getting it wrong.
This was particularly important as I prepared for onboarding and upskilling into a new system. Rather than outsourcing understanding completely, I chose to engage in a hands‑on review of features and navigation. This investment of time upfront builds confidence later.
There’s a broader lesson here for business owners and professionals alike. When capacity is stretched, we tend to delay the thinking work and stay busy with doing. Yet it’s the thinking, the ordering, prioritising, and questioning, that puts us back in charge of our direction. Without it, we risk defaulting to reaction rather than strategy.
Creating space doesn’t require a long break or perfect timing (though both help). It does require permission – permission to pause, to reflect, and to acknowledge that clarity is a productive outcome in its own right.
Driving a business is much the same as driving a car. You can’t change direction if you don’t have your hands on the wheel, and you can’t see the road if you never lift your eyes. Sometimes the most practical thing you can do is slow down just enough to choose your next turn.
End result? More like actively in progress – I have added to this project a pricing revamp and upping our core content – watch this space! That’s how progress happens – one deliberate decision at a time.
“There is only one way to eat an elephant, one bite at a time.”
– Desmond Tutu