Being an entrepreneur or solopreneur is hard-and the life is not for everybody. In fact, I think the life is not for most people. As an entrepreneur or solopreneur, you’re at a higher risk of burnout than almost any other group.
While others can “switch off” after 5 pm, as an entrepreneur, you’re constantly ON. Also, you’re constantly focused on one thing only – building your business. Tunnel vision. All the time.
But there’s something even MORE STRESSFUL than a daunting, never-ending to-do list:
Besides doing the actual work, people expect you to keep a facade of high-energy, success, and confidence. Even worse, as your business grows, the stakes get higher, too. Your business becomes about more than you. Suddenly lots of other people are relying on your decisions, too. Your decisions now affect your partner, your family, and your employees.
All of these factors can WEAR YOU DOWN if you’re not careful. This is what is called burnout. Burnout is most often discussed related to jobs in the corporate or government space, but entrepreneurship will take you there faster than anything else since you are balancing so many different angles.
This is the life of an entrepreneur.
Quality of life-or lack of it
Quality of life or a lack of it often comes with owning a business, and we often don’t realize it’s happening until you are there already. According to a study by American Express Small Business Monitor, about two-thirds of small business owners find it stressful trying to balance their personal and business lives.
Yet, true rest and real vacations are essential not only for an entrepreneur’s personal health but for the health of the business, as well.
Be realistic. It is virtually impossible to fully disengage from a startup business. You can plan your schedule in a way that you can add time for your personal needs. Being at rest is not simply a means of recharging your batteries for the next round of tasks that need to be completed. We need to learn to take both physical and mental time off from our business. Remember, burnout is a result of constant stress. Both at work and outside of work.
Automate and Accelerate
How do you create more time for you so you can step away more often? You need to automate as many tasks as possible. Take a good look at what you do every day. What can be automated or streamlined?
Use your calendar effectively
You can use acuity calendar to have others schedule directly on your calendar. Also, you can use your google calendar to schedule in your daily tasks and make sure you have time for your personal tasks. One example would be to schedule in breakfast and lunch. If your alarm is going off, you are more likely to take the time to step away.
Take care of yourself. In the end, the person to suffer will be you. It’s much easier to plan ahead and organize at the beginning that try to pick up the pieces when you are already run down.
