*This is a guest post from Jenny Shih
Entrepreneurship is a beautiful thing.
You’re at the helm of all operations. You’re the visionary and the final word on where you’re going and how you’re going to get there.
There’s also a down side to being your own boss: you’re also your own employee and everything depends on you! This is where things get tough.
Maybe you start off each week raring to go, full speed ahead with a to-do list a mile long. The first few items are easy, but as you get down the list, you start getting tired, distracted, and down right grumpy.
You begin to procrastinate, and suddenly, taking your dog for a walk or taking a nap becomes so much more important than drafting that new contract or polishing your latest product’s sales page.
As you continue to put off the rest of your tasks, more items pile up. Before you know it, you’re drowning in a sea of half-finished tasks and an overcrowded email inbox.
Does any of this sound familiar?
It must be obvious by now that you can’t keep this up forever. Your business can’t thrive when you’re struggling behind the scenes. Something has got to change.
Stop the cycle of overwhelm and kick things into high gear
Here are three way to help you shake off that cycle of overwhelm and kick your business into high gear like never before.
1. Focus on one thing at a time
I get it, you’re a creative! You’ve got a million sparks of inspiration coming your way on any given day, and your to-do list never ends. But you aren’t getting much done.
Overwhelm can be a big productivity-crusher.
The number one way to get through overwhelm and make progress on your big long list is to focus on one thing at a time.
Start by making a list of everything you want to do, from organizing your office to getting your first 1000 newsletter subscribers.
Then, pick one thing to work on right now, whether it’s the most urgent task, the most challenging, or the one that will bring you the most satisfaction.
Work on it until it’s done. When that’s complete, move onto the next one. Repeat.
Yes, it’s that simple.
2. Hire help
I know, I know. You swore to yourself that you would do it all alone. You’d bootstrap it. You’d learn to do it all by yourself. You’d never trust your baby with anyone else.
At some point, you’re going to need to hire some help, because changing the world is a big job.
Sit down and figure out precisely where you need assistance. You can choose the biggest headache area of your business or the nitty-gritty details that you dread. Hiring help should feel freeing, so pick areas that would feel liberating to delegate to someone else.
Once you’ve identified what you’ll delegate, think about who in your immediate orbit could help you out – or at least point you in the right direction.
Hiring help doesn’t have to be a big money drain. Hire someone for the most painful and energy draining tasks first; the energy you’ll gain from not doing those tasks can often help you generate additional revenue to pay for that help. You can also check out overseas services for a lower cost option. You can even try bartering your talents for the help you need.
3. Create effective systems
Don’t let inefficiency weigh you down or dampen your sparkle. Instead, set up systems that will help your business run like clockwork! Systems will also help you find more creative brain space to do your genius work.
The word “systems” can sound scary to some people. It makes them think of spreadsheets, number crunching, and exasperating hours spent on Excel. That’s really not what a system is.
A system is any set of tasks that you do repeatedly. For example, you may have a client intake system, a social media system, and a financial system. Each of those systems contains the tasks you do regularly associated with those areas of your business.
The goal in creating effective systems is to make repeated tasks efficient and streamlined, so you’re not reinventing the process every time you redo that task.
Identify the areas of repeated tasks in your business, and set up a streamlined system so those areas of your business run like clockwork. This can save you from a tremendous amount of stress and wasted time–both of which you can’t afford any longer.
Start doing these things now
There you have it, three little changes that can save you a whole world of stress and frustration and turbo-charge your business.
Start putting these ideas to work in your business: focus on one thing at a time, create effective systems, and hire help. The sooner you do, the faster you’ll get out of overwhelm. The faster you get out of overwhelm, the faster your business can start moving full-throttle.
You’ll be amazed at the immediate difference these changes can make.
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Jenny Shih of jennyshih.com is a coach and consultant for solopreneurs. Her clients are “idea factories” with growing businesses who need help planning, strategizing, streamlining and systematizing.
Jenny combines her background as a Fortune 500 corporate manager with her life coaching experience, fascination with technology and love of plan-making to help passionate superheroes change the world.
Jenny is the author of The System Flight Kit, everything you need to create effective systems in your business. Download your FREE copy right here. http://jennyshih.com/make-your-systems-fly/
Photo Credit: dgray_xplane
