Have you got the right balance?

When starting up a business we are undoubtedly drawn to the advantages that this opportunity brings. From it, we can gain flexibility, independence, financial rewards, opportunities, creative freedom and personal satisfaction.

But all too often, we find that these advantages are being outweighed by the negatives. We find ourselves living and breathing work in order to get it off the ground and have financial gain.

Inevitably, working all of the hours under the sun can resort in us losing sight of our dream of having more time for ourselves  – which ironically is one of the key areas that drove us to become a business owner in the first place – and instead, becoming resentful of our business.

Yes, success can be seen as having more money (which is great and, in some ways, essential) but ultimately, success should be seen as having a good balance where we have time for ourselves and our family, as well as being able to look after our health and well-being. As with machines, we need to ensure we have a break from time to time in order to prevent ourselves from “overheating” and reaching burnout!

As a business owner, it is important to establish good routines to prevent these negatives from creeping up on us, and so I have put together a few tips that I have picked up from various different resources such as reading books and coaching as well as advice given to me from other business owners that have found themselves in this situation.

Plan your schedule

The best place to start when organising your schedule is with planning your year! You should add any key dates such as holidays, birthdays, events and reoccurring meetings to your diary.

Then at the start of each month, you will be able to plan around these dates for any monthly re-occurring tasks that you need to carry out. A good way to do this is by categorising your days around important business tasks, clients, house duties and hobbies/time to yourself.

From this, you should then be able to plan your week (I tend to do this on a Sunday evening) where you can add in any one-off tasks or appointments to your schedule.

To organise yourself even further, you can write you schedule/to-do list the night before, noting any calls, emails or urgent tasks that require your attention. It is important to remember to plan time for yourself around your schedule too!

Have a to-do list and a NOT to-do list

Yes, a NOT-to-do list!! When it comes to planning our day, a lot of us find working from ‘to-do’ lists helpful, however, what we do not refer to is a ‘not-to-do’ list!

Having a list such as this is perfect for those who are notoriously bad at time-management and procrastination. For example, you could write on your ‘not-to-do’ list “do not go on Facebook during working hours” or “do not spend any longer than X amount of time on Y task”

You will find ticking the items off your ‘not-to-do’ list just as satisfying as you do with your ‘to-do’ list.

Time block your day

Some people find that time-blocking their day helps them to stay focused on their schedule and prevents them from becoming distracted on other tasks that are not necessarily urgent.

A useful way to time-block your day is by colour coding key tasks for a set amount of time throughout your working hours. I’d recommend having a 15-30-minute buffer on these time slots for if your task overruns or if you get distracted by an urgent call or email.

It is also important to remember to block out times for having a break or lunch! As they say, “Look after the minutes and the hours will look after you!”

Prioritise your work

Prioritising your work is a great way of enhancing your productivity. When compiling your ‘to-do’ list you should:

• Identify which tasks are urgent, important and non-urgent. Ask yourself “Is this something I MUST do or SHOULD do?”
• Assess the value of each task
• Order tasks by the amount of effort and time that is required
• Be flexible and adaptable when tasks don’t get completed or go to plan
• Know when to re-schedule any given task that you have not managed to complete – These are mainly non-urgent tasks.

It’s important not to feel guilty or frustrated if there are tasks that you have not managed to complete on your to-do list and to remind yourself that they were clearly not that important if you did not get them done!

Work at the time when you are most productive

If you find yourself more energised and productive at certain times of the day, why not take advantage of this time to do some of your work.

Some people find they are more productive early in the morning (“The early bird catches the worm”) where there is likely to be less distraction or interruptions from family members or phone calls. Other people find that they work better in the evening.

If completing tasks outside of normal office hours works for you, that’s fine, however, just ensure you get that time back for yourself at another point during the day.

Delegate or outsource your work

If you are finding that there are just not enough hours in the day for you to complete essential or obligatory tasks, why not consider delegating them to an employee or outsourcing them to a person who specialises in the field of work that you are struggling to do yourself?

Today, there are more and more people who are setting up businesses in the service industry on a remote basis, which is ideal for small businesses who do not want the responsibilities that come with employing an in-house member of staff.

Such freelancers can include Virtual Assistants, Sales Representatives and Digital Marketing Managers etc. Being a Virtual Assistant myself, I can support businesses with not only admin but a variety of other business-related tasks too.

For more information on the support and services I can offer, please take a look at my services page.

In conclusion, it is important to maintain a healthy work-life balance in order to reduce stress and prevent burn out. By implementing one or two of the tips that I have shared, they will soon become second nature to you, and will hopefully help you to become a happier and more successful business owner.

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.