Entrepreneurs often work long hours, trying to do everything themselves and assuming they’ll be able to slow down once their efforts pay off. “If you keep operating that way, you’ll either plateau or you’ll burn out,” warns Valeri Hall Little, a business-efficiency designer whose company, intandem, helps business owners streamline operations so they can focus on what they do best. “We need that downtime to rejuvenate, to renew and to have the energy to do more.”
To help you find more “me time”, she suggests the following:
1. Be mindful of your energy
Knowing when you’re naturally poised to produce will help you understand when you’ll be at your best – and when to take a break. “If you’re a morning person and you go right into your inbox at 9:00 a.m., you’ve just depleted and wasted the prime energy-and-focus time of your day,” explains Hall Little. She recommends using your peak-productivity periods to tackle the most important items on your to-do list (think: product development, generating leads and the like) rather than getting bogged down in time- and energy-consuming minor tasks.
