Are You the Taskmaster?

Don’t you just hate it when your boss gives you an unrealistic “to do” list. It is like they don’t even know how long these things take. All that pressure is anxiety producing and makes the job miserable. Wait…what if you are your own taskmaster? What if you only set aside a few minutes to work on marketing and hope you will be able to figure out a new idea and design and post it in 15 minutes. Except, it takes an hour to figure out the design on Canva and even longer to figure out how to cross post it on Facebook and Insta. By the end, when it takes four times as long as you anticipated and your hair is on fire with frustration, you might hate your boss and want to quit your job all over again.

 Here's the thing, when you are your own boss you get to find more humane ways to work. In my experience, that starts with setting up your “office hours” on a regular basis and guarding that time. Just block it out of your schedule and if someone wants a lesson (or for you to walk their dog) just tell them you are booked. And you are. By you! Even if you don't need to work on an immediate project, you can be doing research about what is next.

 Then comes the part about being realistic. There are so many skill sets required to run a business! Sometimes there are layers of skill sets you didn’t even know about until you give it your first try. I’m not suggesting you wait until you have it all figured out to give it your first try because…you know, perfectionism is paralyzing... and you may never actually make anything public if you wait until you have it all figured out ...and you will NEVER have it all figured out! 

 So …what do we do? We watch for the something new we want to try, a website, a marketing campaign, a come back coupon, etc. We get started. We figure out what we don’t know. We honor our built-in office hours to learn how to do the things we don't know how to do... in a humane time frame. If you plan ahead to take the courses, watch the tutorials, read about the new algorithm, etc. you will feel less frustrated. 

 You will also be an informed, realistic and compassionate boss. You deserve that:)