April 12, 2022
While we might like to project, and even believe, that we are tireless machines motivated by dreams of success and able to ignore the stresses and strain along the way, the truth is that business owners are only human. As energised as you might be, as clear as your vision and goals might be, you are as susceptible to burnout just like anyone else.
However, by being more aware of the sources of that burnout, you might be able to identify risks before they hit you, making you better able to avoid the risk of plummeting productivity that can hit so many, especially those who are just getting their business up and running.
Business owners have to wear a lot of hats and keep a lot of plates spinning in the air. It’s very easy to feel your focus start to slip, to move towards things that shouldn’t be as much of a priority. While we will look at how you can manage these different needs, first, you should be able to identify which of them best requires your attention. Don’t waste your energy on tasks that don’t require it, use a priority matrix to figure out which are most important, first and foremost.
Of course, while you might be able to maintain your focus and ensure that it remains where it needs, that doesn’t mean that the other work doesn’t need to be done. It just might not have to be done by you. First of all, where possible, you should look to delegate non-essential responsibilities to your own team. Delegation has to be done with care, however. Don’t try to delegate anything that requires your official stamp as a business, and make sure that delegation offers the work the opportunity to step up and display or develop abilities that could help develop their career.
Sometimes, specific responsibilities might be a little outside of the roles and responsibilities of the team. Indeed, you might be an expert to really handle them to the level of care that they demand. Two common areas that tend to require outsourcing first are marketing and digital technology. Working with an IT support team can help you ensure that your IT needs are being met to the right standard while allowing you to focus on areas of the business that would benefit much more from your attention. Some things require the investment of a real expert.
Business owners are expected to be thoroughly and completely invested in the role of running a business. Indeed, you should be a lot more committed than your workers, but that doesn’t mean that you should let your work-life balance suffer as a result. Make sure that you take the time to set boundaries, and try to avoid working outside of your normal work hours and environment as much as possible. Sometimes, the situation may well call for it, but you want to avoid making it a recurring issue.
When you have delegated what you can and made sure to find the experts for what demands their attention, you are still going to have a workload of your own to manage. However, there are likely to be tools to help you manage that work much more effectively and efficiently than you have been doing. Take a look at the wide range of automation software that you might be able to make use of. From accounting to sending out emails to setting a schedule, there’s a ton that you can streamline so that you’re not constantly bogged down by the minutiae of repetitive, energy-draining work.
Running a business is a financial enterprise. As such, you have to ensure that you’re staying on top of bookkeeping and managing your cash flow. What you don’t want to do is complicate things by keeping your personal and business finances in the same place, for instance. Furthermore, you should ensure that you pay yourself a salary, rather than trying to operate by just taking what you need from your business funds. Even if you’re a sole proprietor, you want to avoid giving yourself undue financial stress, as your business decisions are likely to be affected by this stress.
Burnout is a reality of professional life. Aside from doing what you can to prevent it with the tips above, you should ensure that you plan for breaks to take yourself out of the frying pan once in a while. No one can work tirelessly forever and don’t believe anyone that tells you they can.
