3 Things to Master That Will Win Back Your Time
by Dana Reese of The Buddy Effect
Connect with Dana: Website | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn
Learning how to be an entrepreneur who enjoys holidays weekends off without missing a beat is essential when it comes to running a business. Finding a healthy work-life balance is vital, although it isn’t the easiest thing to do.
Most of us choose to be in business because we have a passion that we’re executing, a problem that needs to be solved, etc. At some point, we also thought that entrepreneurship came with time freedom…at least I thought this initially.
No one (and I mean NO ONE) starts their own business to get caught up in the trap of not owning their own time. Before you know it, you’re working past your hours, during weekends, and on holidays.
Chaos does not have to be your life, buddy. You do not have to be an overstressed and overworked entrepreneur.
If you want to be an entrepreneur that owns their time, there are three things that you are going to have to master.
Master the Art of Disconnecting
Learning how to be an entrepreneur with a healthy work-life balance is difficult – trust me, you are not alone.
We all need a break. There are proven benefits of disconnecting from work:
- Relaxation helps your brain recharge in the creativity department and improves your mood.
- To stay sharp and embed new information as quickly as possible, your brains need to relax.
- Stepping away helps change your perspective when needed.
- Disconnecting is about your overall health, as well as your ability to provide optimal performance. The exhaustion you feel after long work hours will cause overwhelm. Your ability to value rest will be beneficial to you and your business in the long run.
Master the Art of Letting Go
If you are ready to unplug, you have to learn how to do just that. Of course, there are a few things that you won’t be able to automate or delegate, but you have to be able to differentiate the tasks that can’t be transferred from the tasks that can.
To do this, you have to train your team effectively so that you can trust them. Be sure to map your processes out in a handbook so that your team has something to revert to before reaching out to you for help. Your team should know that when you’re offline, you are offline. Equip them with the freedom to figure things out on their own and advise that they only reach out to you if help is still needed.
Master the Art of Systemizing and Automating
If you want the public to recognize you as a solid brand, you have to be able to run a well-oiled business. You have to have a system in place, no matter whether you’re working 15 hours per week or 65 hours per week. One of the biggest reasons why entrepreneurs struggle is the fear of things slipping through the cracks. Build an automated system, and you don’t have to worry about forgetting to send an invoice or following up with a prospect.
Also, you’re going to want to have a system in place before reaching out for help. You don’t want to bring someone into a completely unorganized and chaotic business. Creating a sound system will keep everyone informed and accountable, minus the stress.
You shouldn’t be trading in your time-freedom for the “entrepreneur” title. I’m sure that you didn’t launch your business to work it like a job. Congrats to you — you no longer have to request days off or rotate holidays off. Act like it!
You can’t keep running on E and expect the results of that to not show up in your business. The world is not going to end if you take a break (or two…or three).
With strategies and a team in place, you will be enjoying guilt-free breaks, three-day weekends, and vacations, just like our clients over at The Buddy Effect.
Question: what are you going to do on your day off?
More about Dana Reese:
Connect with Dana: Website | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn
For Dana Reese, productivity strategist and Chief Executive Officer of The Buddy Effect, a virtual assistant company, it means stepping out into the realm of uncertainty. “I was most apprehensive about losing my job security. I couldn’t afford to fail because I had two little ones depending on me,” says Reese.
As a former teenage mother who successfully completed both undergraduate and graduate programs, Reese attributes much of her success to the struggles that she had to endure. Often times, she worked two jobs at once while attending school full-time during her undergraduate program. Reese understood the importance of a solid education, but also knew that it was her duty to provide for her daughters.
Prior to the inception of her business, this mother of two worked for a Fortune 50 company. However; in an unfortunate set of circumstances, Reese was laid off. Despite being offered an alternative position within the company, Reese decided that it was time to step out on faith and start her business – and in October 2017 she founded The Buddy Effect.
Reese describes her personal mission as being able to increase the productivity and efficiency of small businesses, being that small businesses account for 99.7% of all businesses in America. “I have always supported small businesses,” remarks Reese. Dana, along with her team of Buddies, partners with service-based business owners in order to knock out their tasks, train on time-management techniques, and implement automation plans, overall increasing the efficiency in both their professional and personal lives.
Dana Reese is not stopping anytime soon -- it’s only the beginning for this “Virtual She-E-O”.
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