You
know that episode of Seinfeld when Jerry or George
asks Newman why it is that so many postal workers suddenly
go off the deep end and blow their coworkers away with a
semi-automatic? Newman's answer (in suitably
melodramatic tone): "Because the mail ... never ... stops."
Running an online business is a bit like that, so be prepared.
You
don't feel like that to start with. Oh no. If so, we'd
think
twice before cashing in our day jobs to do this full-time at
home. No, in the beginning it doesn't feel like work at all.
It's, well, fun.
After
a while, though, the novelty starts to wear off and it
begins to feel a little less like play and more like real work.
That's OK though. You'd still much rather work for yourself
than your old boss so you figure you're onto a good thing.
But
then it happens. One day you wake up and realize the
thought of switching on your laptop makes you feel ever so
slightly sick in the stomach. Whereas once your routine was
1. get out of bed, 2. stumble into the study, 3. turn on your
computer and 4. start your morning mail download BEFORE
5. feeing the cat (and if you're owned by a cat or two you know
just how significant this priority really is), now you find yourself
beginning to put off downloading your mail, feeding the cat
becomes first priority as does almost anything other than
sitting down and actually starting work for the day.
You
suddenly realize that an online business is always just
that. Online. All the time. No such thing as weekends
in
this business. Email continues to trickle (and often flood)
in
every day of the year. Every single day. Think about
that.
It doesn't stop just because it's the weekend. Or Christmas
Day. Or because you're on vacation. It is relentless.
Sometimes you will know how Newman feels and even begin
to have moments of sympathy for him.
Once
you get to that stage, you have, my friend, Hit The
Wall. Congratulations. You are now officially running
an online
business.
So,
what can you do about it? The wall, that is. Here's
nine
tips that will help.
1.
PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE
Well,
obviously, the best thing is not to let it happen in the
first place. Easy to say, tougher to do. After all,
it's only if
you know there's a wall there you CAN hit that you stop to
think of ways to slow yourself down before you get there.
How
do you avoid burnout in a traditional paid job? Balance
and moderation in all things. By working a set number of
hours a day and no more, taking time for things you enjoy and
not just work and the preparations for and recovery from, work.
Enjoying some "down" time, in other words. Taking a break
from your responsibilities and having some FUN for Pete's
sake. Life wasn't meant to be easy but it wasn't meant to
be
all work either.
But,
as I said, you have to know the wall is there before
you can avoid hitting it. If it's just too late for you, here's
how to get back on your feet again.
2.
TAKE A TIME OUT
Set
up an autoresponder for all your mail notifying everyone
sending you mail that you are away from your office for the
next two days (or however long you can comfortably take
without damaging your business). If you must process
orders manually, take care of them but let everything else
wait.
On
your time out, the object of the exercise is to mentally
break from your business so you can get some perspective.
This means taking a whole day off, and not thinking about
what you should be doing or what isn't getting done. Just
focus on taking the day off. Do something you enjoy but
haven't done for ages. Go for a walk in some nearby
gardens, go to the ocean and sit on the sand and ponder the
horizon. Meditate. Go for a long drive in the country.
Do
whatever you want that's enjoyable for you but nothing
related to your business. Something that gets you out of
your own head for a while.
By
the end of this day, you should have cleared away most
of the cobwebs and relaxed your mind. Once you're in this
state, your thinking will be clearer and you should be able
to take a step back and look at what you're doing with your
life and your business with greater perspective and
objectivity.
The
day after your day off, think about how you are running
your business and how you might restructure your habits so
you are more productive but still have something of yourself
left over for yourself ... and others. You may realize, for
example, that you're never free of the ball and chain (how I
affectionately think of my laptop) because you're in the habit
of checking your email compulsively 30 times a day and have
somehow got the idea into your head that you must answer
your mail within 30 minutes of receipt. Says who? Just
because email is a near instantaneous form of communication,
that doesn't mean your response needs to be instantaneous.
Now,
I'm not talking about letting a week go by. Obviously
running a professional business requires that you respond to
your mail (online and off) in a timely manner. But it can
certainly wait a few hours until the time you have set aside for
next reading and responding to email. So don't let your
computer become an anchor dragging you down. It's a tool to
assist you in your business. It is there to serve you, not
the
other way around.
3.
MAINTAIN FOCUS
One
of the main reasons for burnout whether you're running
an online business or work in a more traditional paid "job" is
allowing work to become all-consuming. The internet, in
particular, can become addictive if we don't watch it. How
many times have you found that an entire day has gone by
while you've been "busy" on your computer but, when that
day is over, you have a hard time identifying anything
particularly productive you have done with that time?
It's
extremely easy to lose focus online. You go online to
research a subject for an article you need to write for this
week's issue of your ezine. Along the way you see
something that catches your eye and before you know it two
or three hours have trickled away like sand through your
fingers with nothing to show for it.
When
you sit down at your computer to work, work. If you
want to do other things online, schedule time for them.
Non-work time.
4.
TAKE REGULAR TIME OFF
No
matter how much you enjoy your online business, spend
enough 18 hour day/seven day weeks and you'll burn out. No
question.
When
you work a traditional full-time "job" you have time off.
For most of us it's the weekend, for others, such as shift
workers, that time off may fall at different times. But the
one
constant is that when you work, you need time off to rest,
recuperate and regenerate your body, mind and spirit.
The
same holds true when you run an online business.
Just because you CAN work 18 hour days/seven day weeks,
does this mean you should? Even looking at it from a purely
business perspective, do you really think you're doing your
business any favors by working yourself into the ground?
Where are you going to find that 'zen' time when you have
your most creative ideas? When are you going to plan for the
future growth of your business? Certainly not when you're
up
to your eyeballs in 'busy work'. You can think much more
easily, clearly and effectively when your mind is relaxed and
calm. Who said that thinking time can't be spent at the beach
or in the hammock in the back yard?
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Elena Fawkner is editor of the award-winning weekly ezine,
A Home-Based Business Online, a down-to-earth publication
containing practical home-based and online business ideas,
telecommuting job listings, original articles, free e-books and
much more. She also runs the A Home-Based Business Online
website at at http://www.fawkner.com.
You can subscribe to her newsletter at the site.
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