Lost and Found: Here’s Your Motivation to Keep Business Going This Summer
Just a short post for you today because I don’t want to keep you from getting your work done!
Summer should be about enjoying yourself, getting outside and hopefully getting away from it all.
Of course, most of us don’t have the luxury of avoiding work all summer long. Sometimes, we’ve got to roll up our sleeves and get busy, but it’s not always easy if you work from home. I’m sure just about any home or Internet business owner can relate, so here are some tips to stay motivated this summer.
Work hours are your friend: We talked about this in the avoiding distractions post, but it applies here too. When you know when you’re supposed to work, you’re more likely to do it. If you leave your days wide open and think you’ll squeeze work in somewhere, it’s less likely to happen.
Focus on what you like doing: There’s nothing worse than dreading something on our to-do list. Not only do we procrastinate from getting that one thing done, but it can remove our motivation to do anything at all.
Always focus on what you’re good at and enjoy. Hire others or take on a partner to do the things you despise, but they enjoy. I’ve never understood why some people love crunching numbers and doing the accounting, but I’m so glad that they do.
Set summer goals: While you may not be working as hard in the summer as you do other times of the year, do set some goals for yourself. Set daily, weekly and monthly goals. Make them challenging, yet attainable and outline the steps you’re going to take to achieve them.
Reward yourself: When you accomplish a goal, give yourself a reward. Whether it’s a camping trip, a weekend away or simply an iced tea on the patio, everyone likes to have their work appreciated.
Appreciate yourself readily!
Give yourself a break sometimes: As entrepreneurs, we can be pretty hard on ourselves. We try to pack so much in, create ridiculously long to-do lists, but it’s not really necessary.
Always re-evaluate your work plan and adjust it to make sure you get the most important things done.
I guess the real lesson here is to know where you want to go and how you’re going to get there.
Always have a plan, but be prepared to adjust it where necessary.
Of course, if your motivation has gone down because business has slowed down, we have another problem. We’re going to talk about reviving a slow business in the next post.