What You Can Do To Stop Online Business Taking Over Your Life
By Carl Orlafsky
Running an online business can, at first, seem a great plan. You don”t even have to leave the house to start work, and you”re not desperately trying to schedule work meetings around all the other things you”re trying to do during the day - getting dinner on the table, changing the baby’’s diaper, putting the baby down for a nap, or even spending the odd spare hour or so with the person that you married. Work can be done in your own time, and at a pace that is comfortable for you. You have the advantages that being your own boss brings, without the associated responsibilities.
At some point, you will be brought sharply back to earth by the reality of running an online business. It won”t be long before you”ll be working long into the night to meet deadlines, taking your laptop along for the ride on vacation, keeping one eye on Twitter on your mobile while you try to watch your son’’s football game, and calling off all other non-work dates. All the supposed freedom that comes with online working will have turned out to be nothing but a figment of your imagination.
Guess what? Running a business is a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week proposition. Working on the Internet instead of out of a physical office just means you can”t sleep, because work’’s calling to you when you”re home. It lays down the guilt when you”re playing with the kids, or disconnecting to eat supper, or…
When it comes down to it, running your business online can sap your energy as much as a regular business can. In fact, burnout could hit you even faster, as you don”t get a break, or chance to leave the office behind you at the end of the day. However, the advantages of not being trapped in a nine-to-five lifestyle may still be attractive to you. You may also want to keep your regular client and customer base. So, how do you make it work?
Set aside specific hours in the day to work and communicate with clients.
One of the greatest benefits of Internet work is the flexibility it gives you. Establishing a regular schedule for your work and adhering to it, however, is essential to ensure that your online business does not entirely take over your life. Knowing when you have to work also means knowing when you can enjoy life outside of work.
Pick a schedule that works for you. 8 hours a day, no more than 10. Then, unless there’’s an emergency, stick to it. At the end of the day, fold everything up, put it away. Pick it up tomorrow. That way you can make sure you”re thinking about work at work and home at home, and you don”t hit the point where you”re ready to just throw the towel at the entire thing.
Focus your ”to-do” list on the ”must-do-today” items.
The biggest difference between running a business and working one is the never-ending list of things you have to do in a day. Because that to-do list is going to grow teeth if you let it, make sure you start your day with the list of things you absolutely, positively have to have done before you close up shop for the night. That way, when the end of the day comes and you”re nowhere near as done as you wanted to be, at least you know you”ve got the essentials out of the way.
Get a cell phone with no Internet access.
This advice is offered with caution, and may not be a realistic option for many business owners. I”m one of those people that needs to be able to check my email when I”m out and about, and I have to face up to the consequence that I spend my entire day in work mode. If, however, you find it difficult to get enough distance between your work and home life, it’’s a great idea to have a phone that is used for nothing but phone calls. You”ll ultimately be grateful for being separated from work for a while.
So, it’’s not really such a great mystery; to stop your business from driving you insane you must keep your work and home life as separate as possible. What’’s your best tip for running your business online and remaining sane?
About The Author
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