Written by: Eszter Zsiray, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
3+1 tips on how to work more effectively
For new business owners, one of the biggest traps is working endless hours on activities that won’t bring in the added value they hoped for and then they are not having enough time to focus on the most important things. Nothing is more annoying and stressful than working hard and not having any results. Being an entrepreneur should not only enable you to have a nice income but to get the freedom to spend enough time with your family or to take a day off when you feel like it. The devil is ‒ as usually ‒ in the details.
1. Focus on the effective activities
One of the most common mistakes of new entrepreneurs is focusing on activities that might bring in some added value but not results that you would call success. It is very typical for example to spend a lot of time on social media as we have this belief in our head that posting on Instagram or Facebook every day will bring in the number of followers and then the number of clients we always wanted. And while sometimes it might be the case and organically building up your followers is the key to success, very often you just follow what others think is the most important instead of evaluating what works for you, for your business, for your market, for your personality.
You can get a better picture by evaluating where you put most of your energy, time, and money. Now, look at what success would mean for you, what is the definition of success in your business. Are your activities actually resulting in what you called success? While there are always soft benefits of activities, it is very important to be honest with yourself and evaluate and re-evaluate. Are you focusing on the right things?
Coaching tip: what are the areas, activities, channels where you spend your time, energy, and money? Now look at it, what are the activities bringing success for you? So for example you spend a lot of time building up your social media and posting daily, but your clients find you through references and networking events, then what are the lessons learnt here? Focus on what brings you success and see how you could improve even more on that area or activity, and stop doing things that don't bring in the desired benefits.
2. Organise yourself
It is not a secret what difference it can mean to be well organised. With creating healthy habits and a schedule for your work you already had done so much for your effectiveness, not talking about the fact that lack of organisation can increase stress and anxiety – which is usually not helping at all! Define what your working hours are and what your regular and ad hoc tasks are. Plan the tasks, meetings, activities in your calendar to actually see how much you can finish realistically within your week. Create tasks lists and prioritise them. Have realistic goals and learn to be okay with not finishing everything but leaving tasks to do for the next few days as well. It is also wise to add some extra time and be generous when planning as tasks might need more time than expected and there are always some unexpected tasks that can ruin all your planning.
If you are one of those who hate the pressure of the close deadline but feels that is the only thing that can motivate you to actually finish things – well, I have good news. You can break the bad habit by evaluating what is the price on your mental wellbeing and stress level and make a conscious decision to create new habits with planning ahead. You might not feel that crazy adrenalin, but you can experiment that you just function equal or even better in relaxed circumstances.
Coaching tip: one of the simplest and greatest tools is the Covey matrix to prioritise your tasks. If you feel overwhelmed by the huge amount of tasks, just breathe first, then take a step backwards and categorise your tasks. Draw a box and divide it into four quadrants, the horizontal axis will be Urgency so Urgent and Not Urgent while the vertical axis will be Importance, so Important and Not important. (Feel free to google an example like this). Which are the tasks that are falling into the Urgent and Important quadrant? Which will go into the Important but Not Urgent quadrant? Which belong to the Urgent but Not Important one? And finally, which are neither Urgent, nor Important, so basically fell into the nice to have a category?
Start your weeks with categorising your tasks and activities and you will be able to immediately see where your focus should go.
3. Get out of your comfort zone
Starting a new business means a lot of activities that you haven't done before. You will learn new skills, competencies, you will learn a whole lot about legal requirements and accountability. But also, you might need to put yourself more out there and that can be scary.
In most businesses or at least in the marketing part of your business you will need to put yourself out there. It might mean that you will be showing more about your own world or private life which can make you feel very vulnerable. Or you will let your network know about your new activity and it might bring out your insecurity. Whatever is what seems to be for you the hardest new task, often it is about hiding in the zone of comfort instead of going out there to the unknown where you are visible and therefore vulnerable.
Coaching tip: first of all, spend some time thinking about the activities that you might avoid to do as they seem scary and you would need to get yourself out there way more than you feel comfortable. Then think it over, what are your biggest fears that could happen if you put yourself out there? What are you afraid of exactly?
If that is about other people's reactions, think it over if it is within your control to influence what other people will think or comment or how they will react? If you look deep into yourself, you will see that there is not so much that you can do about it. Other people's reaction is hardly ever about you, most often it is about them and how they see the world, what filters are defining what realities they live in. But considering what others might think is not only exhausting but might be bad for your business.
+1. Balance
Being productive also means living in balance. You can't just work hard and not rest and recharge the batteries. On the contrary, you will be more productive if you pay enough attention to your physical and emotional wellbeing, meaning sleeping enough, eating well, focusing on meeting your social needs and exercising regularly. Productivity doesn’t mean working 20 hours a day. It means working smart and not hard. You will see that your best ideas, most creative moments might even not happen while sitting over your desk but while you are out there for a walk or having some time to meditate.
Coaching tip: set time apart not only for your work duties but for your wellbeing. What do you need to prioritise with equal importance your me-time as your work time? Did you ever think about how most people give work a default Top 1 priority and never even considered that it is not the only option? What if you could organise work around your wellbeing activities and not the other way around? Now if you say that it is impossible, is there a chance that you are telling yourself a story without even considering if there are other ways?
Take the time to see what you could actually do differently and also ask yourself the question, why did you become an entrepreneur in the first place? If one of the reasons was to be able to have the freedom to build up a life you always wanted, it is in your best interest to be effective and productive!
You can find more tips on the topic on my website and in my e-book, Entrepreneur's Mindset Academy.
Eszter Zsiray, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Eszter Zsiray is a Certified Life Coach, author, blogger and creator of the program VELL©, supporting her clients on three continents to successfully transform their lives.
With 17+ years of leadership experience she is passionate about human potential and growth. Her research areas are ownership & responsibility, self-sabotaging behaviours, the positive impact of confidence and empowerment, growth mindset and healthy habits for a mental and physical wellbeing.
As a mother herself she is committed to serve women and mums and she created a special programme for new mothers to adjust to the new life challenges and a programme for women entrepreneurs to shift into the proper mindset and to thrive in their professional and personal lives.
