Self-employment has no shortage of ups and downs. When a well-paying client suddenly quits, or your marketing doesn’t seem to be working, or your laptop goes kerflooey, it’s easy to become discouraged. Especially when you work mostly solo, it can be a difficult task to keep yourself motivated about your business when you hit a roadblock.
Most self-employed professionals and creatives experience times when it gets hard to keep moving forward with your business agenda. Maybe you’re overloaded with client work and feel like there’s no space to breathe. Or several things go wrong at once, and you begin to wonder if any of your efforts are worthwhile. Or there may be elements of self-employment that aren’t your favorites. When you’re full of energy and enthusiasm you can make them happen, but when your spirits are low, it all seems too hard.
Here are five ways to give your business life a boost when you’re feeling down.
1. Make your to-do list shorter.
When faced with an impossible task, most of us feel disheartened. But when we believe we can accomplish what is in front of us, we are often more likely to get going on it.
If you feel overwhelmed by everything you should be doing, tear up your to-do list. Then start a new list, and put just three items on it. When you complete one of the three, cross it out and celebrate, then add a new item. You’ll feel much less stressed and more productive once you’re faced with a less daunting agenda. You’ll often get more done by planning to do less.
2. Co-work with others.
When you’re feeling discouraged, it’s easy for time to slip away while you do less-important things. You know you need to work on marketing or copywriting or invoicing, but it’s just not happening.
Make an appointment with a friend, colleague, or group for a specific block of time when you’ll each work in silent company (in person or online) to complete what needs doing. The benevolent peer pressure of a co-working environment creates accountability in a supportive container that can work wonders for productivity under challenging circumstances. I use this formula for my monthly Get It Written Days, and also participate in Shut Up and Write sessions every week. Other venues for this type of co-working include Focusmate or Groove.
3. Do your work somewhere new.
If you find that you’re pulled to other activities during time you’d like to be paying attention to your business, try changing the location where you do your work. Move to another room in your home, to a conference room in your office building, or to a library, nearby park, or café. A new setting can remove distractions and sharpen your focus.
4. Connect with a fan.
Sometimes the best place to look for motivation is outside yourself. Who are the people in your life that you would consider your champions? Make contact with someone you can count on to be positive about your abilities. This could be a friend, family member, colleague, or coach. Ask your champion to remind you of other times when you’ve overcome obstacles and accomplished goals, so you can get back in touch with what you’re capable of.
If no live champions are at hand, spend some time reading your fan mail. Track down any notes of thanks you’ve received, or testimonials you’ve collected, from clients you’ve helped in the past. Reviewing their acknowledgments will make you feel better about yourself and inspire you to do more great work in the future.
5. Revisit your purpose.
In the press of multiple tasks and deadlines, it’s easy to lose track of why you’re doing all this anyway. Spend some time reconnecting with why you went into business in the first place. Who were the people you wanted to help? What personal goals were you trying to achieve? What was your vision of a successful business?
Holding a clear mental picture of your intended destination can keep you on the right path when the going gets tough. Every time you have to tackle something you find challenging — like placing a sales call, getting out the invoices, or writing a client report — visualize the positive results these tasks will help you achieve. Keeping your goals in mind when you take on difficult jobs helps you constantly remember the reasons you’re willing to work for them.
In an ideal world, of course, we would get all our business tasks accomplished with ease and confidence within the time we have available. But since that’s not the world most of us live in, consider that doing anything to help your business is better than doing nothing about it. In the long run, you’ll want to dedicate an appropriate amount of time and effort to achieve the results you want. But when you get stuck, what you need most is just to get going again.
The next time you feel overwhelmed, resistant, or discouraged about your business, try one of these quick fixes to jump start your engine. The simple act of getting things rolling will make you start to feel more positive again about your business and yourself.
