Managing productivity as a solopreneur
When we say the phrase “small business owner”, you naturally think of someone with possibly two to three employees or someone sitting on their own in a spare room of their house or even working away at the dining table when the family has gone to bed perhaps?
Being a small business owner is typically a lonely and isolated job, and with that comes a level of self-determination and management to ensure you're getting all tasks completed. Often as a small business owner, you don't have many options when it comes to delegating tasks, what you'll find is that all tasks big and small will be carried out by one person. It can often be a big workload for one person, but with passion and drive we make it happen!
Your boss can sometimes be a bit slack …
Try keeping yourself on task, and being focused on completing one task at a time. Multitasking may be in full force pulling your focus in many different directions. If you're hanging your head in shame or cringing slightly, don’t worry. You're not alone. We all do it.
Sometimes it’s the season you're in, sometimes it’s the projects you have on your books, sometimes it’s your mood/physical or mental health. No business owner is perfect, and I’ve heard it time and time again with many of my clients - struggling to manage their business, projects, clients and expectations is one of their biggest challenges. But let me reassure you that you are not alone in this. Small business is hard….very hard, but extremely rewarding.
Over the past 3 years of being a full-time solopreneur and multiple years as a manager of teams, I have had some experience with the ebbs and flows of productivity. How to keep moving forward. And how to get started again when you’ve completely hit a wall.
If you are getting distracted
Shiny object syndrome or just a million things to do, it’s so easy to become distracted when you're the business accountant, customer service representative, social media manager, project developer and the list goes on.
Today do these things before you start work:
Leave your phone in another room or if you have the capacity to do so, put it on do not disturb. Allowing all notifications to be silenced completely until you switch it off.
Write a list of everything that needs to be achieved that day and number them in order of urgency. Only move on to the next item when the previous is crossed off and completed to a level of satisfaction.
One tab rule! If you're like me you try to do a little bit of everything at the same time and get nowhere. Close all the tabs. Work on one screen at a time. And complete one job, then move to the next. Multiple tabs and screens add to overwhelm and usually leave you halfway through every project.
Tidy up your workspace. A tidy environment can ease the mess in our minds, allowing us to think more clearly. If you're short on time group together the items that are causing clutter and stress, now simply move them out of your view. You can revisit them another time. But for now clear the space and give yourself room to breathe and work.
If you are overwhelmed
The most common sentence I hear from clients is they are overwhelmed. Usually, they feel unorganised and don’t know where to start. This one I can help with, as I may be a little obsessed with planning and organising:
Write out everything you need to do/are working on individual sticky notes and put them into categories. Such as: clients, personal projects, marketing etc. Using a blank wall, list them all in columns by importance. Remove each note once you complete them.
Commit to using a tool like Monday or notion or a robust paper planning system. NONE OF YOUR PROJECTS SHOULD BE IN YOUR BRAIN.
Or keep it really simple, a piece of paper with dot points listing everything that needs to be done. Cross off each item as you go.
If you are bored or avoidant
This one can be confronting but it might be time for a really big thinking session. If you're bored in your business you might not be aligned with what you're producing anymore. Lack of spark or excitement might just be temporary (you may have a project on your books that is bringing some uncomfortable challenges) but if its a continuous feeling then you need to ask yourself:
What in particular is making me bored or avoidant?
What projects/people make me excited to work?
If you're avoidant are you - bored, intimidated or tied, I find this happens to me when a project has been drawn out for much longer than required. A project I was thrilled to start becomes a dead weight in my projects folder.
Do you still align with what your business provides? If yes, then maybe consider reflecting on the type of people and projects you choose to work with
If you don't align with your business, what could you do to change that?
If you're feeling this way I do believe it's one of the hardest productivity slumps to get out of. A lot of the time getting moving on these tasks is mainly because you just need them done, not because you want to. Here is what I do to help:
ONLY open that project when you sit down to work - remove all distractions.
Make a list of what needs to be done to have the project complete. Each tiny little step - sometimes seeing smaller actions are easier than trying to get you started and then the project in a chunk
A Lot of the time the reasons we are stuck can be overtired, overstimulated or just plain bored. As business owners who usually work solo, we are the only people holding us accountable. Try connecting with another business owner who is looking to be more productive. Hold each other accountable, keep up the enthusiasm and talk about your projects. This will help you both keep on task and most importantly provide some solace in an industry that means we usually are working alone or remotely.
Be your own mini team - working on different projects, perhaps in completely different industries but both with a common goal. To be productive, deliver high-quality products to clients and enjoy it.
Sheri x
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