Don’t have the time at the moment?
Had a bad week at work? Loathe your boss? Doing work you don’t like? Dreaming of running your own business?
So what’s stopping you…….?
Fear of failure?
Feels a bit risky?
Don’t know where to start?
Security of current role?
Too many financial commitments?
Just waiting until next week; next month; next year; because that will be a better time?
Do you really not have the time?
That’s a strange concept, because we all have the same time – 24hrs per day, 7 days per week. How we choose to use it might be different!
So what you are actually telling yourself is that you do have the time, but you are choosing to prioritise something else over starting your business. And that’s ok. To start a business you need to have commitment and enthusiasm for it. If you can’t make the time to get it started, then you probably won’t make the time to make it succeed.
Why is starting your business a priority for you?
This sounds like a crazy question, but what do you think starting a business is going to change in your life? What are you trying to make better?
Perhaps you want to be more in control of your own destiny. Or you don’t enjoy the work your are doing. Could be that you don’t have the flexibility you want. You might want to pick up the kids from school, or go for a run at lunchtime, even work from a different location. Covid 19 has changed a lot of employers’ attitudes and some are more progressive than others but at the end of the day, you still need to play by your employer’s rules.
So what would you change if you were the employer – the one writing the rules!
Have you re-evaluated how important starting a business is to you? If getting started has moved up your priorty list, then keep hold of that enthusiasm! There is going to be lots to do and you’ll need to make some space to get it done.
Below are some practical tips on how to free up time to get started.
1. Get up early, or put in a couple of hours in the evening.
Whatever type of business you’re going to start, it won’t happen on its own. Some people are early birds and are productive in the morning. Others are night owls and prefer beavering away late at night. Do whatever works for you and set aside some time outside of your normal schedule to start working on your business. Personally, I set aside a 2 hour slot on a Thursday morning to work on my business (at 5.30 a.m.). On a cold, dark, winter’s morning in Scotland that’s not the easiest, but once you get into a routine it just becomes the norm.
2. Plan out what task you are aiming to complete and when.
Do this before you start working, then no extra brain power is required for thinking about what you need to do – that bit’s been done. You can just fire into the task at hand.
3. Spend less time on social media.
Ofcom states in its “Online Nation” report of 2021 that the average time spent online each day is 3 hrs 25 minutes. This includes all online activities such as news sites, Google etc. Facebook accounts for 28 minutes on average. If you’re an average user, limiting the time you while (waste?) away scrolling through Facebook or other social media could easily free up a couple of hours or more each week.
4. Make a conscious effort to set a finishing time for work.
In our knowledge economy where there are mutiple communication channels which make messaging easy and instant it’s tempting to keep dipping into work, even in the off hours. How many times have you checked your work email out of hours? Now that working from home, at least for part of the week, has become the norm for many, the end of the working day has become more blurred. Use a marker to end your working day – take the dog for a walk, get out for a run, do some household chores, but do something that creates a break. The office commute used to do it, but who wants to go back to that?
5. Think about what you are doing that you don’t need to do.
When you start a new job, everything is new and you’re more inclined to ask questions. Once you’ve been there for a while it can all become a bit routine, but that can also make us blind to what the newbie sees. Do you really need to produce these weekly reports – who’s looking at them? Usually there was a good reason for instigating a task, but sometimes it just carries on, even when the original reason for it doesn’t exist any longer. Are there tasks that you could peform more efficiently if you re-designed them, or hand off to someone else? This goes for home as well. Why can’t your teenage kids tidy their rooms, cut the grass, make the dinner once a week? It might be easier if you grease their palms with silver (or transfer a few quid to their bank accounts).
6. Schedule time in your diary
Schedule time in your diary for working on getting your business started. And stick to it. Booking time makes it feel more important and helps you keep the time free. It’s also a reminder to do it. That way you won’t forget, or push it out for something less important. Write down in advance what you want to achieve in each block of time, as per point 2.
So now you have some practical strategies to create space to start working on your business idea.
Go for it, have fun and good luck!