By: Chelsea Meager, Founder & Creative Director — The Sole Circle

Being an entrepreneur is hard work. We’ve all heard horror stories about long nights and early mornings, canceled plans, and the myriad other sacrifices that come with being an entrepreneur, but this mindset of entrepreneurship can be incredibly toxic. 

One survey shows that over one-third of entrepreneurs suffer from burnout. If one hopes to succeed with their business in the long run, it is essential to set up work that helps one avoid burnout.

Although many entrepreneurs are tempted to be on the clock 24/7, it is important to remember the principle of sustainability. Although some serial entrepreneurs might be focused on the short term — achieving rapid growth in the hopes of an acquisition — many entrepreneurs are trying to build long-term success that will be able to sustain them for years to come. 

Losing passion for your actions is one of the easiest ways to undermine this long-term vision. If you don’t have motivation, what will push you to success?

Ultimately, understanding how you work best is the key to achieving long-term, sustainable success. By setting up a system that works for you, you are priming yourself for efficiency and happiness. Although all growth requires you to push yourself beyond your comfort zone, you should find an ideal balance where you are inspired to push yourself for greatness, but not so much so that you are constantly stressed out and unhappy.

Seamless Processes

Establishing seamless processes is the first step in creating the ideal system for your work. Consider every aspect of your business, from new client onboarding and offboarding to relationship management, the beginning of new projects, and more. While each project will have unique characteristics, challenges, and requirements, the goal is to create an effective backbone that you can apply to anything you do for your business.

When you can curate your perfect system, you will also start enjoying your work a lot more in the process. Once you have ironed out the operational aspects of your business that determine how you can work, you are free to be creative, which is likely why you started your company in the first place. This is when you will thrive, be happiest in your day-to-day life, and produce an ideal output.

Prioritizing Productivity

Since everyone defines productivity differently, you should also prioritize productivity on your own terms. Comparing yourself to peers or competitors will only hurt your self-image as an entrepreneur. Instead, set actionable and achievable goals for yourself to determine your success, and remember not to underestimate the power of celebrating small victories!

That being said, productivity has proven to be a challenge for many business leaders, especially those from younger generations who often deal with issues that can affect their attention span, such as ADHD. Some studies have estimated that 29% of entrepreneurs live with ADHD, and considering the rate at which ADHD and other conditions go undiagnosed, it’s likely that even more entrepreneurs have these conditions that threaten their productivity.

The good news is that even though ADHD and productivity might seem fundamentally at odds with one another, there are solutions to these challenges. As an entrepreneur with ADHD, your goal is to be as productive as possible without placing enormous pressure on yourself to avoid becoming overwhelmed. When your business is a well-oiled machine with streamlined workflows, business balance, and strategic operations, you can more easily overcome distracting tendencies and be more productive and creative.

Work-Life Balance

One aspect that many entrepreneurs forget about work-life balance is the importance of self-care—physical, mental, or emotional. Work-life balance is just as important when you are the leader of your own company as when you are an employee of someone else’s. 

Although it may seem like you have a never-ending list of tasks as an entrepreneur, your “to-do” list will only become more overwhelming as you ignore your body and mind’s needs. Taking time out of each day to recharge should be a crucial part of your workflow, but this doesn’t mean you must go completely off-grid and disconnect entirely outside of office hours. Sure, these strict boundaries may work for some, but others may find that shutting themselves off from work altogether only adds to their stress more than it relieves it. 

Don’t be afraid to step away from your workspace for a quick breather now and then to prevent your work from interfering with your personal life. Even if you love to work, you could start feeling resentful of your role and responsibilities if you don’t give yourself that all-important “me time.”

Admittedly, it will take time to find this balance as an entrepreneur. Still, once you can find your perfect system and establish an effective work-life balance, you will thrive as an entrepreneur and feel happier. Now is the time to buckle down and figure out how you work best because that is the first step in becoming your ideal self.

Published by Charlie N.