No one said owning a small business was easy, but it is a challenge that’s filled with personal and financial rewards. The problem is, that when you’re running your own business it’s easy to take on too much and burn out quickly. These tips help you to work smarter, rather than longer.
1. Kick the hardest things first
If you want to lose motivation throughout your day, leave the hardest task until the end. There’s really nothing worse than having something looming over your head, knowing you can’t go to bed until you do it. When you tackle the most difficult things first everything else will seem easier - and quicker to finish - in comparison. Best of all, proactively completing them right away is an investment in a mindset that’s even more productive, inspired and happy.
2. Outsource or automate menial tasks
There’s almost an unlimited amount of ways you can streamline your workload.
There’s almost an unlimited amount of ways you can streamline your workload, by outsourcing or automating tasks. From business payment systems to marketing automation and calendar management, simply Google what you need and you’ll find a tool to help. You could also consider hiring a virtual assistant for a variety of tasks, like social media management, appointment scheduling or even setting up systems to automate everything for you.
Eliminate distractions for clear focus.
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3. Eliminate distractions
Many small business owners work from home, in co-working spaces or otherwise noisy venues! Although one of the benefits of running your own business is flexibility, you’ll never get anything done if you try to multitask with work and life obligations competing for attention. When a task requires strong focus, remove yourself from all distractions until it’s complete. Turn the TV off, hole up in a quiet room, leave your phone somewhere else or pop on some noise-cancelling headphones.
4. Devise an email schedule
No one can escape that dreaded inbox full of new tasks to complete, clients to respond to and questions to answer each day. To avoid wasting time, create an email schedule that suits you, rather than checking it all day and diverting from the task at hand. Don’t open emails you don’t have time to respond to, as you’ll just have to reread them when you do, plus you’ll risk losing them in the pile. A good system is to set an alert to check emails at two or three specific times per day, devote 10 minutes or so to it, then forget about them until the next alert.
Practice healthy self-management for long-term results.
5. Practice self-management
All the hard work in the world won’t make a difference if you’re not looking after yourself in the process. Manage stress by scheduling brief exercise breaks, don’t skimp on healthy eating and get enough sleep. Although it’s often harder to ‘leave work at home’ when it’s your own business, make a point of at least taking a day or two off a week, for pure recreation or relaxation. Achieving balance goes a long way towards ensuring you’re fired up for even more productivity, for long-term results.