One of the hardest things about being self-employed is the many plates you have to keep spinning in order to ensure your business & home runs smoothly.
You may be finding that being in lockdown has added to the pressure of balancing your business and home life, resulting in spreading yourself too thin. The more things you try to juggle, the more likely it is that something will get dropped!
I have put together a few things that you can do to try to manage your time better during lockdown:
1. Delegate! – This has to be the most simple solution to avoid spreading yourself thin. Handing over tasks to someone who is capable & reliable will free you up to concentrate on more important things. Think of how many hours each day which you waste on tasks that can easily be done by someone else. The ability to delegate is an essential tool in business.
2. Automation! – Set up an Auto-responder on your emails to ease the pressure on replying straight away to inbound emails. Schedule task reminders to keep you on track during your day.
3. Prioritise! – Compile a list of everything that you need to do & mark them in order of priority. This allows you to concentrate on doing the most important things first so that if you need to drop something you can easily identify those tasks that are of lesser importance. Highlight tasks that can be rolled over to another day, this allows you to structure your day accordingly.
4. Adapt! – If you are finding it difficult or too stressful trying to work during the day with the family being at home, why not adapt your normal working hours so that you are working earlier or later in the day where there is less chance of distractions. Drop your clients an email advising them of the changes to your schedule. Most, if not all of your clients will be flexible and understand your current circumstances whilst we are all in this unfamiliar territory.
5. Relax! – Although this seems counter-intuitive, it is so important that you are looking after your well-being. Spinning too many plates will easily increase your stress levels. Therefore, if you are fully rested both mentally & physically, you will be in a much better frame of mind to tackle things head-on without losing patience & getting stressed so quickly. An hour of relaxation can save a future week of burnout! Get outdoors, enjoy the sunshine and make the most of the hour of exercise that we have been restricted to!
If you find yourself spreading yourself too thin & need help in identifying methods to cope then give me a call on 01733 838000 or email [email protected]. Together we can formulate a plan to keep your business & home engines running smoothly.
Thank you for reading my blog. Please do check out my other articles for more information on how you can better organise yourself and your business.
