If you work from home, and for yourself, you’ll know that one of the biggest challenges you can face every single day is getting the right balance between working all night and day, or sitting around with a complete lack of motivation and being unable to lift a finger.
It’s a very common complaint for business owners that they seem to veer from one extreme to the other when it comes to organising their time properly, making sure that they get everything done, while also ensuring that they switch off when they need to, to get a proper work/life balance.
It seems to me that there are three types of online entrepreneur out there.
The first is the workaholic, who spends every waking hour, day and night, grafting at his or her PC in an effort to make their business the most profitable, the most successful and the most lucrative.
The second is what I think of as being the ‘Daytime TV’ business owner.
These are the people who have fantastic intentions every day, and yet always seem to end up spending their time doing anything but working, until their family return home from school or work and they get a sudden mad flurry to get everything done and look as if they’ve been productive.
The third type of person is probably the one most common to all of us.
This is the ‘see saw’ type, who goes from one extreme to the other.
Some days, or even weeks and months, they’ll be completely focussed on work to the extent that they can’t think of anything else.
Suddenly, after they’ve managed to burn themselves out, they end up veering off to the other extreme and sit with no motivation for a long period of time, trying desperately to get back to that state of mind where they can achieve again.
Do any of these three types sound familiar to you?
I thought so!
Here’s my strategy for overcoming the pitfalls which come along with each of the three character types, to make sure you work to your best capabilities, without risking burnout…
For the Workaholics
Admit it – at some point or another since you started your online business, you’ve been guilty of being a workaholic.
These are the times when all you can think about is your latest venture, or getting that next training course under your belt, or achieving more sales, getting more customers, or re-launching your products and services.
Suddenly, nothing else seems important but work, and your family start to joke that they’d need to take you to a surgeon to get your laptop amputated if they ever hope to spend any time with you again!
While it’s pretty natural to get fired up about your business, especially when you work for yourself and you’re the one accountable for its success or failure, it’s also really important to make sure that your passion doesn’t eclipse every other aspect of your life.
For example, if you find yourself cancelling a family trip out, or lying to get out of a social engagement because you want to publish just one more post, it’s probably time to rethink your approach.
Remember what’s really important to you, and the reasons why you wanted to set up your own business in the first place, to give you an incentive to cut down your working hours to a reasonable time and focus on family, friends and leisure interests too.
For the Daytime TV Addicts
When you work for yourself, it can be truly tempting to walk away from your business and spend time enjoying a few days doing hobbies and interests instead of working.
However, if you find that you are wasting time every day because of a lack of motivation, you need to find a way of getting your passion back and understanding what is getting between you and a successful business.
Often, people can become lethargic or de-motivated because of something as simple as a lack of routine.
Download a reputable calendar and divide your day up in to simple chunks of time, with activities allocated to each, to make sure you stay on track.
Ban distractions like television or household chores if you work from home, and set up a work schedule that mirrors what you would be doing if you reported in to a boss.
Just because you don’t have to report in to a senior member of staff doesn’t mean you don’t have responsibilities – in fact, you are much more accountable when you run your own business than you would be if you worked for an organisation.
By recognising the triggers behind your lack of motivation, and putting a plan in place to combat distractions, you’ll be able to get your business back on track and find the energy to be productive once more.
For the See Saw Personalities
Some people seem to swing between two extremes at all times.
For a few weeks, when an interesting project comes along, they can throw themselves in to their business and go hell for leather to achieve their goals.
Once the project is over, however, they find themselves slipping in to a fog of apathy and can’t seem to bring themselves to get motivated again.
If you have this type of ‘see saw’ approach to your business, it’s important to recognise what triggers each phase, and what really motivates you.
If you get excited by new projects, think of ways that you can maintain a steady enthusiasm by introducing a few new things in to each working day.
If you burn out because you’ve worked too hard when the passion grabs you, try pacing yourself so that you can be consistently productive without neglecting other aspects of your life such as friends and family.
No matter what your work personality is like, it’s important to recognise your approach and put in place a strategy to maintain a steady, balanced home working schedule.
Sometimes, sitting back and considering how you’ve worked over the past (say) three months can give you real insight in to your usual approach, and help you get the distance you need to analyse your working patterns and develop some really strong mechanisms to keep you working at a steady pace all day, and then switching off your PC each evening to kick back and relax for a while!
So…are you a workaholic or daytime TV addict or see-saw?
Please share your views in the comments below.
Hi Andrew.
This is a great post! I work for myself from home and fit into the Workaholic section.
I do have a few rules to ensure my work doesn’t completely take over though:
1 – Gym every morning.
2 – Date night once a week.
3 – No work on a Sunday.
I’ve been self employed for almost 14 years and the above has worked so far.
Mark
Thanks for sharing your ‘rules’.
I also go to the gym each morning and once a week my wife and I go dancing.
I do sometimes work on a Sunday though – but it sounds like we are similar!
Andrew
Dear Andrew –
Can’t seem to pigeonhole me. Sometimes a workaholic. Sometimes, a slacker.
But I do like to do media coaching and I want to say you did a GREAT JOB on your first one here.
Looking forward to more.
Thanks, Corinne.
Next video up and I am enjoying myself. I can see myself doing more and more each week.
Andrew
This is a way too informative post, Andrew. I can see how much effort you have put to make it up..
I have shared this post on my facebook 😉
Hey Andrew I must really appreciate that you have made me realise my mistake.I actually belong to the second type of people mentioned in your article and hope to improve after reading your post.
Joel
So have you improved since reading the post?
Andrew
thanks for such a nice article andrew,
the reason behind failure of most of the blogger is the 2nd and 3rd type of quality you mentioned. many people thinks blogging as a piece of cake, and when they enter into blogging they realise how much wrong they were.
and this result in their inactivity in blogging..
Anamika
My post is not just for bloggers. It is aimed at all those who work from home but I understand exactly what you are saying. Many bloggers believe the hype of ‘easy money’ and when they find out the hard way…that it is not easy…they give up.
Andrew
You’re right. Working from home is difficult indeed. Who could know that better than me? I am always juggling to maintain a balance between social obligations, familial ties and work.
I think I actually dont fit in any of the categories you’ve described above. I am a workaholic at times. At other times, I am a slacker.
More important than categorizing here is getting your message. And that is about learning to tackle the work from home in a manner that will not affect adversely your responsibilities as a wife and mom nor affect your performance on the career front.
Ambika
I understand what you are saying. Getting the balance right is really hard. When you go to work – i.e. another place (not home), there are less distractions.
Andrew
Andrew
I really am not sure where I fit in. I do work hard but I can also switch off and relax, quite easily. Perhaps that comes with experience?
Steve
Steve
I do think it comes with experience. You know when to work hard and when to relax and take things easy.
Andrew
Hi Andrew,
I place myself in the third category. There are times when I overdo and then comes the idle period when I just lose my concentration. You are right, I should try to keep my work consistent and keep myself motivated at all times. Thanks for a perfect article on rediscovering ourselves. Nice one.
Hey Andrew,
Nice post and Thanks for sharing this post with us. I really enjoyed this post while reading and that’s why I love blogging because it is the only job which we can do from our home.I do blogging only for 3-4 hours and have no specific rules.