YOU HAVEN’T HAD A DAY OFF…EVER
When you work for yourself – and especially if you work from home – the lines between work and life become completely blurred. As an entrepreneur, you’ve gotta get a life!
One of my favorite challenges to give entrepreneurs is to pick a day to take off 100% and replace work with something fun. You must pick something you really enjoy or else you’ll find yourself in front of your laptop by lunch time. It’s amazing how hard it is to step away from your business for even just a day when you’ve let it take over your life.
YOU ARE BUSY EVERY DAY, BUT YOUR BUSINESS ISN’T GROWING
We entrepreneurs, we are the wearers of a million hats. We answer all the emails. We file all the receipts. We update all our social media profiles. And we still never get it all done.
The problem we all run into? We’re so busy every day, but at the end of the week or month {or year!} we look up and realize we’ve been busy with busywork.
Time to hit reset! Take a break and let yourself dream about what you’re really trying to accomplish with your biz. Once you’ve got a clear vision, you’ll be reenergized to work on the right things in your biz.
YOU LIVE AND BREATHE BUSINESS EDUCATION
Take a look at your nightstand, your podcast app, and your Feedly account. Are you addicted to learning about business and marketing?
I get it – there is so much to learn! But information overload is one of the leading causes of overwhelm, procrastination, and comparisonitis.
Put yourself on an information diet. Only dive into new training when there is a specific skill you need to learn. Implement and integrate it into your biz before you take in more new information.
YOU TAKE YOUR iPHONE TO BED (AND MAYBE EVEN THE BATHROOM)
As an entrepreneur, you’ve gotta be available 24/7/365, right? Isn’t that why you wake up and grab your iPhone – so you can respond to any emergency email that may have come in overnight?
Yes – you need to unplug. And even more than that – you may need to create some boundaries between you and your biz.
Set clear office hours and let everyone know about them! Only check your email during office hours. Only accept calls during office hours. Set an autoresponder on your inbox letting people know your office hours. Breathe easy knowing that people now understand why you don’t respond to their 2AM emails.
YOU REALLY THINK YOU CAN RUN ON 5 HOURS OF SLEEP
I used to think I was one of those naturally energetic people who would get a burst of creative energy around 10PM and work until about 2 – then be up and at it again by 8AM.
Then I became a mama {to twins!} and realized sleep deprivation does not lead to good work. If you’re running on fumes, your brain is fuzzy, slow, and struggling to stay focused. Ask yourself if you’re really getting the rest you need – and if not – add these business savasana practices!
Racheal Cook is a green smoothie enthusiast, restorative yoga advocate, and business strategist who works with yogi-hearted entrepreneurs to create more ease and less stress in their business. She’s the creator of The Fired Up + Focused Challenge, a 28 day challenge for entrepreneurs to end overwhelm, get into inspired action and claim your life back. You can join The Fired Up + Focused Challenge here or connect with Racheal at TheYogipreneur.com.
