The A to Z challenge and writing about woman entrepreneurs. You may read the previous posts here.
A is for Ambition
B is for Business Plan
C is for Customer Connection
D is for Distractions
E is for Enterprise Evaluation
F is for Fatigue
G is for Gratitude
An uneasy mind does not function as well as one which is in harmony with the natural cycle of the world. The struggle and obsession with balance is often dis-empowering. Instead look for the harmony in natural cycles. As a startup requires a considerable amount of attention, the general harmony in the life of a woman entrepreneur is disturbed. Her own needs take a back seat, and other duties and responsibilities take over her life.
Instead of having fixed times for work and play, it becomes a mad rush to get all manners of work done before some personally set deadline. Family time and family life is totally disrupted. Personal time ceases to exist. All that seems to happen is one task after the other, with no breathing space in between. Where once she thought that owning her own business would be easier than working on a schedule for someone else, she realizes that being her own boss is rarely fun and even more demanding than working for an external boss.
The balancing act of trying to do everything required at home by the family, and trying to do right with her own business can leave the woman totally out of sync with her own priorities. Everything that comes across her plate is urgent, it may not necessarily be important, but the urgency burns away the desire to sit down and think the actions through. Needless to say, in place of the balance that she so desperately desires, she ends up with anxiety and stress that threaten her health and the well being of her business venture.
Hunting for the harmony that will allow her to work in peace and still be the best wife and mother can take work. This is where having Standard Operating Procedures or SOPs will help. In order to set up these SOPs, the woman entrepreneur needs to sit down and work things through in her own mind first. Then implement it with a ruthlessness that shows everyone that she means business. Convincing herself is important, because without the conviction of her own thoughts there is no way she will be able to convince her family or her business team.
What You Will Need: A comprehensive list of all your responsibilities, the actions you need to take, and clarity of thought. (Yes a paper and pen as well)
The first thing you need to do is write down the responsibilities you have in different areas of your life. Both as a entrepreneur and as a family member. Once you have these jotted down, focus on the actions that each of these responsibilities requires for you to take. For instance as a mother, you may be required to look into your children's education. As a business owner you may need to procure some raw material for your final product. And so on.
You should now have a second list. This one is of the actions that are required to keep every area of your life running harmoniously. Allowing you to achieve the balance that you strive for. Consider each action that you need to take. Do you need to do everything physically by yourself, or is it possible to get someone else to help you with it? Can a tutor help with monitoring your children's homework? Yes. Can you hire someone to shop for raw material for you? Maybe not, if you need to see all options available before making a choice.
So go through your list of actions. Against each action that you can find a way to delegate, now mark a D. Also add the names of people who can perform this action instead of you. Decide if you need more staff to help you or if family members need to pitch in. This is a simple and effective way of freeing up your time so that you can focus on tasks that only you can do.
Think of all your marketing plan steps. Do you need to handle everything yourself? No, you don't. It is possible to get a virtual assistant to help with some aspects of the business. If you feel you can't hire anyone as of now due to monetary constraints, think about recruiting people from your family or friend circle. You can always find help when you have clarity of thought about what you wish to achieve.
F is for Fatigue
G is for Gratitude
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H is for Harmony
An uneasy mind does not function as well as one which is in harmony with the natural cycle of the world. The struggle and obsession with balance is often dis-empowering. Instead look for the harmony in natural cycles. As a startup requires a considerable amount of attention, the general harmony in the life of a woman entrepreneur is disturbed. Her own needs take a back seat, and other duties and responsibilities take over her life.
Instead of having fixed times for work and play, it becomes a mad rush to get all manners of work done before some personally set deadline. Family time and family life is totally disrupted. Personal time ceases to exist. All that seems to happen is one task after the other, with no breathing space in between. Where once she thought that owning her own business would be easier than working on a schedule for someone else, she realizes that being her own boss is rarely fun and even more demanding than working for an external boss.
The balancing act of trying to do everything required at home by the family, and trying to do right with her own business can leave the woman totally out of sync with her own priorities. Everything that comes across her plate is urgent, it may not necessarily be important, but the urgency burns away the desire to sit down and think the actions through. Needless to say, in place of the balance that she so desperately desires, she ends up with anxiety and stress that threaten her health and the well being of her business venture.
Hunting for the harmony that will allow her to work in peace and still be the best wife and mother can take work. This is where having Standard Operating Procedures or SOPs will help. In order to set up these SOPs, the woman entrepreneur needs to sit down and work things through in her own mind first. Then implement it with a ruthlessness that shows everyone that she means business. Convincing herself is important, because without the conviction of her own thoughts there is no way she will be able to convince her family or her business team.
The Exercise
The first thing you need to do is write down the responsibilities you have in different areas of your life. Both as a entrepreneur and as a family member. Once you have these jotted down, focus on the actions that each of these responsibilities requires for you to take. For instance as a mother, you may be required to look into your children's education. As a business owner you may need to procure some raw material for your final product. And so on.
You should now have a second list. This one is of the actions that are required to keep every area of your life running harmoniously. Allowing you to achieve the balance that you strive for. Consider each action that you need to take. Do you need to do everything physically by yourself, or is it possible to get someone else to help you with it? Can a tutor help with monitoring your children's homework? Yes. Can you hire someone to shop for raw material for you? Maybe not, if you need to see all options available before making a choice.
So go through your list of actions. Against each action that you can find a way to delegate, now mark a D. Also add the names of people who can perform this action instead of you. Decide if you need more staff to help you or if family members need to pitch in. This is a simple and effective way of freeing up your time so that you can focus on tasks that only you can do.
Think of all your marketing plan steps. Do you need to handle everything yourself? No, you don't. It is possible to get a virtual assistant to help with some aspects of the business. If you feel you can't hire anyone as of now due to monetary constraints, think about recruiting people from your family or friend circle. You can always find help when you have clarity of thought about what you wish to achieve.
