When running a business of one, everything comes down to you. Marketing, bookkeeping, content generation, and problem-solving all land squarely on your plate. With such a heavy load, it’s important to be organized and energized, so that you can take care of business.
Prioritize
I’ve found that prioritizing is the only way to get through the day. There’s always something which will need to be done, but what needs to be done RIGHT NOW? That’s where you start. Each day will bring new challenges, work, and ideas. Stay focused on your big picture goal each day, and do the work that brings you closer to that.
Allow yourself to be inspired, but don’t allow yourself to get distracted. If you’re getting bogged down in emails, or you find yourself working on something that doesn’t mesh with your big picture — stop. Prioritize. Go from there.
Many people find it helps to make a list of the “must dos” right before they go to bed. I’ve found this works well — however, there have been occasions where using that practice has kept me up all night. If you are one of those (where knowing what you have to do keeps you awake, or upsets you), take a moment in the morning, first thing, and write or type your plan. Use numbers first, then the A, B, C’s out to the side of the numbers. No! You cannot use all A’s. As said before, prioritize and you will accomplish more in the day. Make sure that your 3 most important things are done everyday.
Take Care Of Your Health
Really — you know this one. Yet, how many times have you given your health, literally zero consideration? “Meh,” tomorrow. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, later.” So, you love ramen from your college days, go ahead and have it every once in a while — but you can dump in some fresh — or even frozen — veggies. Start thinking about this issue.
Truly, this is a priority that all too often gets overlooked. Remember the phrase “Nothing will work unless you do?” Well, you can’t work if you’re sick or exhausted all the time.
Your business starts with yourself. Make sure you get enough sleep, make sure you stay hydrated, and make sure you eat more vegetables than microwaved burritos. Health also includes getting some exercise. Try doing jumping jacks to get going in the morning or take a 20-minute walk on your lunch break.
Don’t make excuses for poor health. Your life is more than your business after all — your health should be a priority in your life.
Schedule and Automate
Set it and forget it is a mantra that applies to almost everything in our world today. I guess you probably can’t set and forget your dog. But you can automate your savings, your payments, and your food deliveries. So why not automate parts of your business?
Social media is an easy thing that you can schedule ahead of time. You can also automate invoice reminders and schedule meetings through companies like Calendly. You can have your scheduled items ping you ahead of time to quickly see if you still feel the same way, if you are worried about this issue.
Schedules will save your solo businesses life. I know for me, having something on my schedule means it will get done. If I have the option to automate it, even better! Otherwise, with the piles of work and items to remember — things can get lost in the abyss of working for yourself.
Set Reminders
Setting reminders for due dates, meetings, and everything else under the sun will save your life. Constantly being pulled in different directions means that your attention is fractured. Things can slip by you. Alerts will remind you when you have to leave for a meeting, or that you have a deadline that’s coming up.
Take a moment to get a few of these tips in your mind, they’ve saved me and I think they may help you, as well.
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