Entrepreneurs, Business and Time Management
So, another week is coming to an end, and you guessed it… A new week will be kicking off tomorrow at 6am! I have lots on my to-do-list for next week, however I say that every Sunday… I guess one way to look at it is a busy entrepreneur is an entrepreneur in business. I actually enjoy having so much to do it sounds impossible! I believe it is good to set big / bold targets, to continually push yourself to do and be better.
Since going into business I have found the busier I get the quicker time seems to go… It is one of life’s catch 22 scenarios, the more you have to do (or want to do) the less time you have to do it! For those who know me getting up early is no hardship, I am fortunate to of worked all my life, you could say my body is conditioned to get up, get dressed and go to work! Creating a disciplined body clock, being able to motivate yourself and work hard without instruction is vital for any self employed person.
One down side about being entrepreneurial is your mind often wonders from idea to idea, this can be counter productive if you start to neglect your main business (bread and butter). I tend to allocate the hours of 9 to 5 to Tidy Design (our core business) and work on other sites / projects before and after what you could call my day job. It has taken years for me to listen to my wife and ignore emails from clients over the weekend (unless important that is), stop giving out my mobile number (referring customers to our land line and office hours), and generally finding some more me time! However, on the other hand… I know some of the solid business relationships we have with our clients are kind of linked to that extra special service we give… So I would say it is a balance we all need to find between life and business. What works for one may not work for another.
Finally, you must create a successful environment for yourself! To make the most of your time you need everything in its right place… Searching through paperwork is not productive, not having a to-do-list could result in you scratching your head thinking “Umm, what should I do now?”… At the end of the day your time needs to make your company money, in some cases it needs to be billable, in others it will be all about planning, building and nurturing the growth of your company.
If you enjoyed reading this article then please post your thoughts or comments below. Remember to live to work and not work to live, by this I mean we all have a choice… I know work can take over your life if you let it, but we can all change how and when we work.
