As a digital entrepreneur, I believe all you want in life is to find ways to enjoy the work you are doing while earning more and still making progress in life.
To achieve this, you need to have a clear vision of your objectives. At the same time though, you will also need to start making little but concrete changes to your work schedule on a daily basis.
You need to be able to stretch your legs. If you are the only one running the business, then that puts you in a more tasking position because you are the CEO and the staff of your company.
The challenge you are likely to face is that due to the massive workload, you are sometimes unable to define a logical and workable path that your business needs to take. That means you will always have a problem maintaining the balance between your work time and leisure time and this makes it more difficult for you to implement the changes that will allow you to work less and be more efficient.
This is the main reason why most people working online are always stuck in a cycle of trying to deliver on time and having enough time left to enjoy life.
To start with, there are small details we need to discuss first so that we will have sufficient time to focus on the big issues. Even though you know, you are overworking and getting underpaid which probably means those clients should be dropped.
You’re probably sure that there are better customers who will pay more and make you work less! But you are scared to cut off or negotiate better with these clients until now, but I’m very sure you are still not going to drop them anytime soon.
So to solve this problem, we need to look at the way you are managing your current workload because I can assure you that you could be more productive and efficient. If your work schedule starts at 1 pm or even 10 pm, then you are wasting a lot of hours.
Furthermore, you may well be battling with issues like finding it difficult to focus on your work or procrastination. Other distractions like phone calls can also hamper your efficiency or be tempted to play games every morning for the first 5-6 hours before you can do anything productive.
There’s also a high possibility that a change in technology or the way you present yourself will increase your efficiency. And that will serve as a starting point in implementing change.
We will need to take a critical look at how you work and determine whether you are getting the best from your workdays.
It’s time to take a look at how you work and whether or not you’re approaching your days in the best way possible.
The Importance of Discipline
Being the boss of yourself can sometimes make you have a chaotic life if you do not instill structure and self-discipline in your daily schedule.
If you are always working from 10 am to 10 pm, then you are not efficient and productive enough.
Read more: Cultivating Discipline and Using Productivity Strategies.
If you often find yourself working late into the night every day, then you need to check your schedule and reevaluate things seriously. Apart from not being able to live a meaningful and enjoyable life with your family and friends, it also shows a level of unprofessionalism. Because nobody wants to work with someone that is always submitting work minutes before the deadline.
Not only that, but you will also end up constantly feeling tired, drained and this will always affect your effectiveness.
So the way out is to inculcate self-discipline. This means that you have a scheduled time for sleep and everything; you set a time to wake up in the morning and a time to start work. This also means that when you are working, you are working. You will not allow anything like playing games, making calls or watching TV to pull your focus and get you distracted.
How to Get Out of Bed On Time, Every Time
Another thing you need to take into consideration is making sure you are standing up from you when the alarm goes off. One of the easiest ways to do this is to wake yourself up in stages.
DO NOT hit snooze.
It’s always difficult, the temptation will be massive, but hitting the snooze button won’t make you more refreshed or less. It’s always harder standing up at the first attempt, so that’s why you have to do it in stages.
You can start by first sitting up and checking your messages if it’s your standard practice always to check your phone in the morning, this should serve as enough motivation to start with. Likewise, you can sit up and have a little talk with your partner or watch TV.
It is easier to achieve success by taking this small step. In 10-15 minutes you will start to feel better, and it will be simpler to stand up than to go back to bed finally.
A Powerful Tool for Waking Up
There is also another tool that can significantly help in waking up early. This tool is called the ‘daylight alarm.’ This is an alarm that has been designed to come up in the morning the same way the sunlight comes up.
It gradually gets brighter as the new day unfolds. This device was invented to assist those that suffer from Season Affective Disorder (SAD). However, they can also be useful to anyone who finds it tough to wake up feeling fresh in the morning for two main reasons:
The first is when someone wakes you up in the morning before your alarm goes off, making you feel discomposed (a phenomenon that is known as ‘sleep inertia‘).
The second one is that after waking up using this tool, the room feels bright which serves as an energy booster and makes it easier for you to stand up compared to waking up in a dark room and looking for where your lamp is located!