Working 7 days a week does not automatically make you successful. Although it feels counterintuitive, feeling productive doesn’t mean you actually are productive. You need time to step back and assess.

You have to make time to care for yourself before you can care for your employees and customers.

As someone who likes to be in control of every event and decision making process, let me tell you that there are plenty of easy to implement and reliable options to help you let go of the reins… at least a

little bit.

 

Scheduling is key. Create time in your schedule to schedule. Organization significantly decreases feelings of anxiety and prevents you from becoming overwhelmed. You will feel more in control of your time when you’ve seen it written down and know that time has been allotted for that sales meeting, employee review or even for social media. You can use an app on your phone, a bullet journal, or a plain old paper calendar. Calendar blocking is a great way to organize and fit the most into your schedule.

 

In addition to your calendar, there are countless other resources at your disposal to save time and effort. Skype or Fuze can save you the drive. Apps like Canva or Over can help you create unique ads inexpensively or even free. Advertising on social media platforms means you can post your creative ads from anywhere, anytime, for free! Tools like QuickBooks and SquareSpace make accounting a lot less intimidating. Designed for small businesses, Proven, helps you organize your hiring, letting you post job listings to multiple job boards with one click on your smartphone.

 

One major resource you might be overlooking is other people… Delegate! Ask for help, you don’t have to sign every contract and plan every sale and create every ad all by yourself. Sometimes another perspective is the missing piece to growing that next big idea. Lean on dependable, trustworthy, creative employees. Look into outsourcing work, by hiring a service or a freelancer, this way you can focus on the tasks that make the most use of your time and talents as a busy entrepreneur.

 

You are in charge of your day. Of course, there will be times when you have to answer the phone over

the holiday or pull an all-nighter trying to make a deadline, but what about in between those times?

Evan Williams, co-founder of Twitter, actually leaves in the middle of the day for the gym after prioritizing his morning tasks to re-energize and come back focused for the afternoon. While this might not be practical for everyone, it’s worth considering what that could look like for you personally. Take a friend to lunch, take a couple days off to spend with your kids over Spring break, sign up for a 4:30 yoga class, plan an exotic vacation!

 

You don’t always have to be on the clock! Make time to find an approach works best for you and your family. You’ll be happier and have a more focused energy to pour into your growing business.

 

 

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