Are You a Good Boss to Yourself?

You wouldn’t expect your employees to spend their days
off checking in on the business, would you? Can you
imagine requesting that they arrive early and stay late
every single day? You probably wouldn’t dream of asking
your employees to sacrifice their vacations, take work
home every night or let their personal lives suffer
because of their jobs. Yet you might be treating your
most valuable employee — you — in precisely that
manner.

by Maggie Flynn

If you weren’t driven and disciplined, then you
wouldn’t have become a small-business owner in the
first place. But it’s important to know when you can
turn that inner-taskmaster off and relax for a few
minutes. Here are a few tips to help you do just that:

Set a reasonable to-do list each day, and then go home.
At the beginning of each workday, you might try looking
at your never-ending task list and jot down the things
that absolutely must get done that day. On lighter
days, you can always delve back into the big list later
in the day. If you’ve already worked late and think you
should get a start on tomorrow’s tasks, don’t!
Congratulate yourself on a job nicely done and spend
some well-deserved time with family or friends.

Get out of the office. Would you expect one of your
employees to eat lunch at her desk every day? Or put
off personal errands indefinitely? Make sure you use
your lunch break for its intended purpose whenever
possible. Even if you’re just getting out for a walk
around the block, make sure to break up your day and
take a few minutes to relax and re-focus.

Delegate. If one of your employees seemed overwhelmed
with work, you’d likely ask another staff member to
step in and assist. Yet when it comes to your own
tasks, you might think, "It’s just easier to do it
myself." While this may be true in the short-term, you
need to learn to pay yourself the same courtesy you
give your other employees. Decide what tasks you can
let go of, and train the appropriate employees to take over.

If you are currently working by yourself, consider what
jobs you could outsource. For example, hiring an
accountant to handle the bills might just free up those
few extra hours a week you’ve been so desperately
trying to find.

Find a hobby. Wouldn’t you worry about an employee who
seemed to have no life outside of work? Being the boss
doesn’t mean sacrificing outside interests. In fact,
you’ll have more energy and enthusiasm for your work if
you allow yourself to step away from it every so often.
Make time to attend events that interest you, or take
up a golf or tennis game or some other activity that
will not only relax you, but keep you in shape, too.

Take care of yourself. This means going on vacation at
least once a year, just like the rest of your staff.
(And you wouldn’t expect them to call the office every
day they’re gone, so you shouldn’t either!) It also
means making sure you get enough exercise and sleep,
and eating a healthy and balanced diet. Keep up with
your annual doctor’s visits as well. If you do need to
cancel these appointments to put out a fire at work,
reschedule right while you’re on the phone so you don’t
put it off.

While following these tips certainly won’t eliminate
those hectic days when you end up at work until 11
p.m., only to get up at 6 a.m. the next morning and
face it again, it should help you remember that not
every day contains a crisis, and shouldn’t be treated
as such. Like most other people in our fast-paced
society, you probably sometimes feel that there will
never be enough time to do everything you need to do.
And you’re probably right. So why not accept this and
do the best you can with the time you have, and allow
yourself to enjoy some of it, too?

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