5 Tips for Getting Back in the Business Groove When Life Hits
One thing that true is that LIFE will always hit in some way. Whether it’s busyness, major changes in your family or home, having a baby, or even a tragedy. Whenever life does hit, it’s often difficult for your work and business to not take the same hit!
I know this full well.
Recently, my husband was out of town for 10 days so I was managing work, home and 3 kids’ schedules and craziness. During those 10 days, we had company, Spring Break, and then our family dog died (the first pet death for our kids.)
Life was a little crazy, and I was lucky if I showered, much less kept my business up to speed!
Sometimes we all need a little help and encouragement to get back at it when major life things happen.
Here are 5 Tips for getting back in the business groove when life hits.
1. Revisit your why.
Why is it that you run your business? What is it that motivates you to do what you do? Are you working toward financial freedom? Toward a cause that you are passionate about?
Your “why” provides the boundaries for what you do. It tells you what things you must do, and which ones don’t need to be on your plate.
Your “why” also gives you the motivation to press on when the day-to-day tasks seem difficult.
Revisit your why; do some journaling or thinking about it, and get inspired again about your cause.
2. Get away and re-evaluate your goals and priorities.
This step is important. When your work derailed, it did it for a reason. Your life was full – whether it was full of busyness, commitments, or even stress. If you immediately jump into adding tasks to your plate, you may find that you just derail again.
See if you can step away for a day, or a morning, or even for an hour at a coffee shop and take a look at your goals and priorities. Have they changed? Do you need to be more realistic about some goals so that you’ll find success? Do your priorities still stand, or have they changed?
Use this time to process however you think best. Perhaps it’s through journaling, or praying, or even talking it through with a mentor or friend.
3. Start building routine through one task.
Don’t head back into everything at once, pick one thing and dive back in.
Focus on the routine more than the quality.
If you are getting back into going to the gym, focus on going there daily – even if you just work out for 5 minutes! But no matter what, do it daily. Build the routine, and grow the quality as you go.
If you are getting back into writing, commit to writing one page per day. Don’t stress about the quality; build the routine. Quality will come.
4. Evaluate your schedule.
Here’s where you get to be realistic about your time, and how you want to actually spend your time.
Are there things that need to be cut altogether? Do you need to hire help?
And remember – just because you CAN cram a ton of things into your schedule, doesn’t mean you need to. Keep your schedule full of things that bring you life, and cut (or outsource) the things that drain you!
One note – “outsourcing” doesn’t always mean hiring a secretary or virtual assistant. It can also mean hiring a cleaning company, using grocery delivery, or even getting a babysitter more consistently!
5. Build momentum.
As you build routines back into your days, you will start feeling success once again. Each glimpse of success spurs you on to more.
Now that you have built some routines, you can start to strive for quality!
6. (Bonus Tip) Resist any guilt or shame over derailing!
Life happens, and it always will. It’s not something to feel guilt or shame about. Resist any tendency to feel shame. It’s a mindset that won’t be helpful, so why have it?
These are simply some tips that I need to revisit myself from time to time.
What things help you get back in the groove?