How Should I Grow My Business? By Avoiding Overwork

It’s surprisingly easy to work too much when you run your own business because there is certainly always something that needs to be done.

There always will be. With so much virtual working, BlackBerries, laptops and other technology that allows us to work from anywhere, it’s easy to do so.

But you mustn’t.

It’s essential that you know when and where and how to draw the line for yourself because business has a sneaky way of taking over your life if you allow it to. This requires discipline. Be disciplined about your time and your space.

Here are a few tips to try:

– Create a separate physical space for your work. And be able to close the door. That allows others to give you the privacy you need to work as well as closing the door behind you when you are finished working.

– Create a work schedule. Make conscious decisions about when you’re working and when you’re not. Then stick to those decisions. If you need one day a week with no work, make sure you take it consistently. You can make an exception on occasion, but do it deliberately, then get back on your regular schedule.

– Organize and track your time. One of the biggest challenges is organizing your time, especially when you’re busy with client work. It’s essential to prioritize what needs to be done every day with some kind of list system, either online or on a good, old-fashioned piece of paper. There will inevitably be crises that arise to interrupt your well-laid plans. But if you have your plan written down, you can turn right back to it once the fire is out. Also, tracking your time with software or simple time sheets also will allow you to see where your time is going and make some changes so that you direct the use of your time rather than letting it slip away.

– Learn to say no. You may be in the habit of taking whatever work comes along just because it’s paying work. Or you may be a people-pleaser who doesn’t like to say no. But that’s not a profitable business strategy because you will end up taking on jobs that you know in your gut are a problem and you’re likely to spend too much time and aggravation getting them done. Best to say no at the beginning and free yourself for other things.

– Communicate your boundaries to your clients. Make it clear at the beginning of any new business relationship what your working hours are and how and when it’s best to contact you. You can have a policy whereby you don’t take calls on the weekend or after hours; if you make an exception, make it clear that it’s an exception. You must train your clients to work in the way you do, not the other way around. And don’t always answer the phone just because it rings. If you have Caller ID and you’re in the middle of a project and a client calls, you don’t have to pick up.

– Keep your business in perspective. Business is business, nothing more. It’s not your life. It’s not your identity. It’s not the most important thing in the world. You must be able to walk away from the work each day and not let it infiltrate the rest of your life. People who go through traumatic experiences realize quickly how unimportant business is, but you don’t have to experience trauma in order to get and keep that perspective.




How Should I Grow My Business? By Avoiding Overwork - To learn more about this author, visit Ilise Benun's Website.

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