Wondering if you're giving too much? You may be:
Unfortunately, this is a recipe for burnout. Instead, I wish for you to have long-term personal fulfillment and vibrant energy in your business. Let’s prevent burnout by creating some awareness around which activities you may need to drop, and which activities are worth your energy…
First, let’s look at your high-value activities. Try to give at least one quick answer to each of the following questions. You answer in whatever order you’d like…
It’s good to answer these questions at least once a year. Your answers will show you two things:
You’ll know that you’re providing genuine value to others when you see reciprocity when you don’t even ask. For example: people on their own initiative sharing your content or referring new clients to you. Match the amount of energy expenditure with the amount of value you’re providing to others. If you want a thriving business, then whenever you spend lots of energy, it should also result in lots of value to others! By contrast, look at everything else you do with your working time, and all other types of people you engage with, and actively question whether you should continue doing those things and working with those people. By eliminating some tasks, and avoiding engagement with some people, you open up your energy and time for more of the right activities and the right people. To help you eliminate less productive tasks, keep a careful log for 1 week of where your time is going:
Compare your answers from this list, to your answers from the previous list. What activities are taking your time and energy, yet are not creating value for others nor for yourself? I encourage you to consider eliminating these activities so you can make room for better use of your time… even if you don’t yet know what you’ll fill the open time with. The more you can honestly answer both sets of questions in this article (perhaps you need to work with a friend or a coach on this) the more clarity you’ll have as to what to eliminate, and what to enhance. If there are activities that aren’t high-value for you but you don’t feel you can eliminate them, then find out how to automate them using a tool like Zapier. If you don’t know how to use Zapier, or want to delegate the task, use a consultant or VA skilled at helping solopreneurs. For some ideas on how to spend time wisely, refer to this blog post: How to spend your working/business time as a solopreneur. |
George Kao is a Marketing Coach for small business owners, especially solopreneurs such as Coaches and Mentors. He focuses on ethical & effective ways to grow one's platform and build true livelihood.
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