Most business owners are hellishly busy, working 24/7/365, but productivity is actually remarkably low. What you end up with, is a business owner who is frazzled, exhausted, demoralised and wondering why they bother with it all, because their business is massively underperforming.
It is said that, in the UK, 10% of start up businesses fail within the first year, with a staggering 60% failing within the first three years and only around 40% of those, then lasting more than 5 years.
Essentially, being self-employed is bloody hard work!
I used to cringe every time an employed friend would say to me, “You’re so lucky being self-employed, you get to choose your own working hours and do whatever you want.” It felt like such a slap in the face!
The reality of it for me back then, was that I was so afraid of what would happen if I said no to any work, that I worked every moment that I was awake! If I wasn’t physically seeing clients, then I was studying, marketing, doing admin, taxes, writing up clinic notes, researching, scheduling appointments, updating websites, and when I started to get bigger and sub-contract to other therapists, there was even more work to be done, managing diaries, writing procedures, dealing with complaints, replying to testimonials, learning about SEO, the list goes on. If I wasn’t doing work, then I was thinking about work.
When you are self-employed, you don’t have just one job title, you are the accountant, the director, the HR manager, the Saturday girl/guy, the cleaner, the marketing team, the list goes on.
No wonder sole traders are so exhausted that most fold after 3 years!
I personally spent over 10 years working like this, and yes, I burned out, more than once. But I would keep on getting back up and booking onto the next social media course, or how to be a better businesswoman event and force myself to learn how to do everything, to understand every aspect of my business, until eventually, enough was enough and I realised something so profoundly important!
I DO NOT HAVE TO BE EVERYTHING!
The most successful entrepreneurs and small business owners, have one fundamental skill that every single failed business owner is missing, the art of good delegation.
Not every job is meant to be done by you and once you understand and accept that, you will become more productive in what you are actually meant to be doing.
The best way to maximise your productivity is to give away the jobs that you are really bad at (or just really hate doing).
You are never as busy as you think you are. Busy is a mindset, that more often than not, is blown out of proportion by boredom and procrastination. If you are doing jobs or tasks that you find mind numbingly dull or paralyzingly difficult, then the majority of your head space and your time, is taken up with focusing on these awful tasks, thus taking you away from the work that a) you enjoy and b) brings you the big bucks and makes your business more successful.
To have a successful business you only need to learn to do three things. Offer something unique that solves a problem that your ideal client has, and be the best at fixing that problem, identify and delegate tasks that waste your time and zap your energy, be strict with yourself and your schedule.
Take some time out to track what you are doing every day and look for patterns. Which tasks are you directly getting paid for and how much time are you spending on them? Organise your diary to give yourself more time to do more of these tasks. Which tasks do you hate doing and are taking a lot of your time? Can these be outsourced? Find someone else to do these tasks for you.
Look at when you are doing certain tasks, is it ordered and scheduled or chaotic and unfocused? Do you have regular breaks? If not, why not? A tired mind and body are not productive or focused, learn to stop, take a break and come back with a clear head.
Take a look into some theories and practices for increasing productivity and work out what fits you the best.
For example, Parkinson’s Law is about setting shorter, stricter deadlines to get more done in less time and avoid unnecessary perfectionism.
The Pareto Principle or 80/20 rule gets you to identify which activities bring the most value and then focus your time and energy there.
Time Blocking, where you plan your day or week in blocks (e.g., admin from 9–10, client work from 10–1), is proven to help reduce multitasking and avoid unnecessary distractions.
There are hundreds of different theories and practices for increasing productivity, try different things out and see what suits you the best and do not be afraid to ask for help.