The more time I spend with business owners, the more I realise that for many, the business is running them and not them their business. Do you know the feeling? You have so much to do that you don’t know where to begin. So, you find yourself asking:
- Do I jump into my emails?
- Do I start on important project?
- Do I worry about the state of my bank account?
- Do I do a little social media?
- or, Do I grab a drink? ;-)
Running a small business can be overwhelming. You wear many hats and often carry the load of more than one person. You work long hours, into the night and the weekend. Often, this can lead to a feeling that the business is running you and not you it. In the short-term, this may work for you, but in the long-term, this ‘normal’ way of operating can zap you of passion, energy and results. Telling you to prioritise is just dumb. You KNOW you need to prioritise. But, you’re at full capacity and all the work isn’t getting done. So, what do you do?
Here are three ways to feel a little more in control in business (and in life!):
1. Pick One Big Thing This Week What is the one big thing that, if you paid attention to it, would net you a little peace of mind? Is it working on your financials or putting together a marketing campaign to generate more leads? Your ‘one big thing’ may not be enough to have you feel totally on top of your work, but its completion or moving it forward closer to completion may just have you feel happier about life and work. Pick one thing. Get it done. Pick the next thing. Just don’t list so many things that you’re again in overwhelm. Not all tasks are equal and they shouldn’t be as high a priority as each other.
2. Share the Work if You Want to Get Things Done I recently had some business owners create an organisational chart for their ideal business model. They had to forget who was working for them now (or who wasn’t) and they were asked to forget all the roles they were playing and to create a chart with all the functions they wanted handled in their business. I then asked them to put their name in ONE box and to think about how they could move towards having the other responsibilities taken care of by others. Of course, objections arose. They didn’t have the budget, the lacked the capacity to train others, clients only wanted to deal with them. It was a train wreck. They were in a spiral that they weren’t going to get out of easily. Unless you can find a way to get help doing the tasks that are not your specialty, it’s going to be hard to grow your business. Today you can outsource just about any job to people anywhere in the world AND you can do it with your budgeting mind. (If you missed it, take a listen to the Outsourcing to Grow Your Business webinar. It’s free for Premium Members and located in your member resource library.)
3. Take Time Out Often, when you’re frightfully busy, the last thing you can think about is taking time out. Who has time???? This last week I found myself on planes a number of times and those stolen moments, when my phone wasn’t going to ring and my email wasn’t going to bling, when I couldn’t post to Twitter or Facebook… those moments were some of the most peaceful and productive. One of our members, Belinda Weaver of Copywriter Matters, has the right idea. Months ago she started “The Friday Experiment” and, while each Friday she closes the door to customers, she uses the time to work on her business. And, business is booming. That commitment to working on her business is paying off. And, she’s got no LESS work than the rest of us. I think what she’s got is a terrific gift she’s giving herself and her business.
Is there a day or half day you can give yourself, uninterrupted to refocus, to reflect, to feel like you’re a little more in control? I’m picking a day in the next week to do just that. To take time out to just plan, reflect, write. I’ve done it before so I know the power of it. I just haven’t made it a habit, a ritual. Even if you can’t do all three things to feel more in control, perhaps you can pick one and go at it hard. Your joy and the love of your business can be highest when you’re achieving what you want, when you want and designing life on purpose.
