As the
office worker sits in their grey, air-conditioned cubical staring at the screen, they dream of being self-employed, flexible hours, perhaps working from
home. An abundance of time saved
travelling, able to integrate work with meeting friends for coffee, collecting
the kids, walking the dog, home cooking……
Cut to the
reality of self-employment and there have been some weeks where they had very happy
friends and kids, the dog was worn out from all the walking and the laundry had
never been so up-to-date but not much had progressed on the work front. And
other weeks where they were working day and night, no-one to pass the buck to and more stress than they'd ever had when employed. They rarely get out of their dressing gown and they're overdosing on chocolate biscuits….
Perhaps like
me, you’ve been there! There are 3
essentials of being self-employed and these apply whether you’re at home, in an
office, or out and about…
1. Employ Yourself
As your own boss, you have the opportunity to be a great boss! A great boss would be really clear about your
working hours, location, terms, duties etc.
You can of course build in flexibility but make it really clear. For example you might say you work 40 hours a
week but spread these over 4 days with 3 days off. You could allocate which days at the start of
the week. This is as much to protect
your personal time as it is to ensure you do the work that will lead to success
and pay the bills. When you stick to a
good structure, it minimises time spent contemplating what you ‘should’ be
doing and feeling guilty about things you haven’t done.
We need to get into new habits and having a regular pattern to our day is
helpful. When we no longer have a
journey to work, we might adopt rituals to start and finish work. We may have a specific work space, dress for work, light a
candle or put up a ‘do not disturb’ sign. At the end of the day we might take some
exercise, go for a walk or off-load to a friend.
2. Invest in yourself
There’s a temptation to convince ourselves the latest smart phone gizmo is
critical to our personal and professional success. The freedom to set up our workplace just as
we want can be overwhelming and budget breaking. I’d suggest focusing on the things that make
a difference to our wellbeing. Insurance
for peace of mind, technology which truly saves time and minimises repetitive
tasks, a workspace we feel comfortable in and training in skills that are
important to us. We are now responsible
for keeping our knowledge-up-to-date and our approach fresh. So invest in the one business asset that
accumulates in value- ourselves. Paid
sick-leave is a luxury of the past so invest too in keeping healthy and
minimising stress.
3. Recruit your team.
You may be a Solopreneur but that doesn’t mean you need to work alone. Network to find specialists you might need
someday- IT, marketing, book keeping, potential collaborators. You
might want to have an arrangement with friends to encourage each other when
your motivation drops and join forums on social media to share ideas and
contacts. Ensure you have real company
during the day- not just the reassurance of chocolate!
When you’re busy working in your business it can be hard to see the wood from
the trees and an essential member of your team is your coach or mentor. Most of us learn quickly on-the-job
but we fail to capitalise on this by building in the reflection time to
integrate the new learning. We need to
step back and consider our strategy with our trusted ally so we can make sure we are accessing all
the resources available and making the most of all
opportunities rather than thinking in our habitual ways.
I would like to be the trusted coach on your team and I have an offer for you this November. Experience a FREE* Life Strategy Coaching Session
and discover your top 3 priorities for 2015. There is a questionnaire to prepare and then we meet for an hour to discuss the themes and learning. The meeting is totally confidential and typical feedback is that sessions are positive, practical and inspiring.
Booking the time now will ensure, even with a busy Christmas period, you
are ready to make the most of 2015.
To reserve your appointment, or contact me by email or phone (details at the end)
*This offer is open to anyone who has ‘liked’ the Soul Sanook Facebook
page (www.facebook.com/soulsanook), is a member of one of our Meet-up groups or a linked-in contact. Sessions are free for the month of November only
And I look forward to reading your experiences on self-employment heaven and hell below or on facebook
Deborah Reeds
Life Coach
deborah@soulsanook.com
Tel 07702 737019
