At my coworking space, I usually meet other aspiring business owners and bloggers who are looking to grow profitable businesses online. Just recently, one of my friends who was working for an online magazine, quit her magazine gig to dedicate herself full-time to her blog. When I asked her what was going through her head, the first thing she said was that she was worried about how to stick to a business schedule.
Just recently, one of my friends who was working for an online magazine, quit her magazine gig to dedicate herself full-time to her blog. When I asked her what was going through her head, the first thing she said was that she was worried about how to stick to a business schedule.
I had that struggle too when I first quit my job to run my business full-time (Heck, I still sometimes have that struggle!) but I’ve learned some hacks over the years. Here’s how to stick to a business schedule when you just quit your job to work for yourself.
Don’t stress out about it too much.
Part of the struggle of sticking to a business schedule when you just quit your job is the idea that we have to stick to one. This is pretty natural when you’ve been going to school or working during specific hours all your life.
The beauty of working for yourself is you can work whenever you want. If you have to work weird hours, you can. No one is telling you where to be and when. With time, you’ll figure out the rhythm that works for you.
Work based on your energy levels.
In my book, I talk about how I tend to work based on my energy levels. That means I don’t try to be a morning person when I’m clearly not one. It also means I’m doing the heavy lifting in my business during late mornings and early afternoons. Finally, it means I don’t take morning meetings because that’s my best writing time.
In order to stick to a business schedule that works for you, you need to pay attention to your mind and body. It’s far easier to go with your natural rhythm than it is to fight against it because of some perceived notion of what a “business schedule” is supposed to look like.
Learn to be flexible.
This is going to sound counterintuitive in an article all about how to stick to a business schedule, but hear me out. In order for you to run your business well, you need to learn to have some flexibility.
Here’s why. Sometimes huge opportunities show up out of the blue. For example, last week I had the opportunity to go on live TV for a local morning show. I couldn’t say “Oh, I’m sorry, but I can’t make it because mornings are my best writing time.”
Instead, I reworked my schedule to fit the opportunity. I took the following two days off because I was fried and then got back to work over the weekend.
In the years that I’ve been working for myself, I’ve come to realize that learning to be flexible with my mind, body and time have been the most effective strategies in sticking to a business schedule.
