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Many business owners, like us, choose the entrepreneurial path so we can make our own hours. This is a great benefit over an employment position which would make us work the hours our employers would dictate we work. We can get out of bed to start working at the time we want (as long as that coincides with what is best for our clients) and we can stop working whenever we want. However, what ends up happening is most of us work many more hours than employees. Part of the reason is that most of our work doesn’t feel like work. We enjoy working on our businesses, which is why we chose to start them, and we want them to be as successful as possible. Another reason is we may be the only person who can solve a particular problem.
But, is working a lot really the best way to grow our businesses?
Studies have shown that when we start work, or shortly thereafter, most of us are at our highest energy and productivity level. Then as the hours go by, our energy wanes and our productivity decreases. When we know that we have to stop working, say because we have an event we need to get ready for, a plane to catch, or something else that we have committed to, our energy and productivity level increase, as we want to try to get done as much as possible before we have to stop working, and we are looking forward to the event we will be going to. While on a break from working on our business and doing things for ourselves, our health can improve, stress level reduce and we may feel happier and more fulfilled as we are spending more quality time with our family and friends.
You may have experienced this when going on a vacation. You work quickly to get lots done before your vacation, so you can relax more and have fun on your vacation. Then, you come back refreshed, with a clear mind and even more energy, which means you start back to work with a high productivity level.
This is fantastic, but, it is not feasible for most of us to take a week off for a vacation every month. So, how else can we get more high productivity times, so we can work less and accomplish just as much or more?
It’s called “time blocking,” which means that you purposely block times in your calendar for specific things and don’t take client or prospect meetings during those times. You can use time blocking to create weekly structure for your business, such as time for prospecting activities, time for marketing activities, time for client service, etc., and I recommend that you do it, but, also block time just for you, for family, exercise, reading, TV, outings, or whatever else that is not work-related that you enjoy.
It fulfills the time deadline part of the productivity equation, the looking forward to part, and the the rejuvenation part. So, even though doing things outside of your business may take away some time from working on and in your business, you can get as much or more work done and perhaps better work done, when you take breaks.
Top 7 Tips for Growing Your Business through Self-Care:
Tammy Defoe is the Founder and President of GTApreneurs Inc. She is a Business Coach, Sales Trainer and Public Speaking Instructor. She is very skilled and experienced at helping entrepreneurs grow their businesses.
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