Thursday, February 14, 2013 posted by Rebecca Daneault
We’ve all been there. No matter how well intentioned we are,
and no matter how hard we try, sometimes we just get overwhelmed. This is
especially the case with entrepreneurs and small business owners, who wear many
hats and are responsible for multiple duties in order to keep their business
afloat. When this happens, it’s time to take a step back and make the difficult
decision to reduce some of your commitments so you don’t end up getting burned
out. If you’re teetering on this point right now, here are some tell-tale signs
to let you know it’s time to scale back a little.
You can never
complete your to-do list. There are always going to be times when you have
to push a few things from today off until tomorrow, but if you’re finding that
you are unable to ever finish your list of tasks, or that it just seems to keep
growing, it’s probably time to either cut back on some of your responsibilities
or delegate some stuff to another team member that you trust.
You can’t stay
focused. When your list of things to do becomes so overwhelming that it’s
hard to concentrate on one thing at a time, it’s a pretty good sign that you’ve
got too much on your plate. As much as you’d love to keep up with everything,
if you can’t devote the adequate time and attention to each thing, what good
can come of it?
You never say “no”.
One of the biggest challenges that small business owners face is saying no. You
don’t want to ever turn away business, or let someone down by not taking on
that additional project. The problem is, the more you take on, the less time
and energy you’ll be able to devote to each and the more likely things will start
falling through the cracks. Sometimes you just have to know when to say when.
Your service levels
have slipped. Regardless of the industry you’re in, customer service should
always be your top priority. The problem is, when you take on too many
commitments and spread yourself too thin, the level of service you can provide
to your customers will inevitably start to decline. If there’s any reason to
take a step back and get some of those items off your to-do list, this should
be it. After all, you’re nothing without satisfied customers.
You didn’t have time
to read this. Ok, well, obviously this one is a bit tongue in cheek, but
you get the point. Nobody knows better than you when you’ve hit that point of
being overwhelmed. And when it starts to affect other areas of your life and
business, it’s time to scale back some of those commitments. That’s the only
way you will be able to do your job effectively, efficiently and in a way that
doesn’t drive you and your business into the ground.
Labels: small business tips, time management
posted by Rebecca Daneault @ 10:33 AM