You get the picture. This “soft stuff” matters. And while none of it replaces the need for you to do a wonderful job with your clients, if you lose them during the “campus tour phase,” you may never get that opportunity!
Unplug: disconnect to really connect
It may be time to take the work day back.
I know many of us started solo careers so that we could shake the shackles of the 9 to 5, but our hyper-connected digital lives are creating a space for us to work anywhere, anytime... and it seems that might be exactly what we're doing.
And of course, those of us working as solos are not the only ones feeling it. The blur of the line for sending and replying to work email and posting to social media has all of us too often feeling the need to work all the time. And we all understand why. It seems that even when we try to put that darn smart device away, we wonder and worry what we might be losing out on if we're not checking in. And in doing this, we're actually forgetting what we are indeed losing out on - the life in front of us that very moment.
Gulp.
Was that what we wanted?
Far too often our shift to being a solo leaves us feeling so dependent our on smart devices to stay 'connected', 'in the loop', and at the 'fore of everyone's mind' that we can forget that real connections come when we meet face-to-face, have conversations, extend ourselves, teach one another, learn, talk, listen, socialize, and make friends, and build community.
Because how connected can we be to the people, places, and experiences that are happening right in front of us when we're constantly pulled away and looking at something else; literally or metaphorically.
So in the spirit of building a work lifestyle that really works, here are few ways to consider unplugging with confidence in order to possibly connect authentically.
- Set working hours. Do this for you and for your clients. It doesn't have to be Monday to Friday 9-to-5 if you don't want that, but being clear about when you're available will help you get comfortable leaving that voicemail or email until 'opening hours'. Letting your clients know when your shop opens and closes will also help them understand when to expect to connect. This clarity in communication will make everyone happier.
- Power-down to promote creation over consumption. There is plenty to consume. Plenty. You'll do yourself and your business a favor if your 'creating hours' outweigh your 'consumption hours'. Make sure and tip your scale toward creation.
- Better manage your time online with smart tools. There are several online tools that can block access to specific websites for different time periods, like Selfcontrol, or that can completely disable your internet connection for a defined time period, like Freedom. Try them!
- Take extended technology breaks and build them into your calendar. This might be for certain hours or certain days, and when you get brave enough this might even be for certain weeks. Planning these technology breaks helps you be more mindful and intentional about your 'tech breaks' and helps you build the discipline to step away from that phone.
- Host unplugged events. Go on, give it a try. It's really okay if there are no social media photos to confirm all that fun at your event!
There really is no one 'right way' to unplug from work, so do what makes sense to you. But try unplugging, if for no other reason than to know, that we can still connect even when we're disconnected.
Spend Money to Make Money
Our JILLS have great things to say and we're so happy to share it!
Belinda Wasser is the founder of Rocket Girl Solutions and a guest contributor to THE JILLS NEWS. With over 25 years of experience in business workflow and logistics, Belinda offers up practical advice on running your business so it isn't running you. We're proud to have Belinda as one of our JILLS OF ALL TRADES and welcome her expertise in working with solo professionals and small business owners as their part-time business managers. Belinda loves taking care of the daily details and minutiae so business owners can get back to the work they love doing! Our JILLS have great things to say and we're so happy to share it in THE JILLS NEWS.
Our JILLS offer up some of our best tips and in this post, Belinda reminds us that we need to rely on the skills and talents of others to truly build our businesses.
Belinda Wasser, founder of Rocket Girl Solutions
I was in Rosie’s on Elm Street last Thursday, enjoying a few quiet minutes at the end of the day with my friend Jennifer. We were talking about the usual things – business, kids, weather and more business.
And then she said, “It seems like you have no problem spending money to make money.”
I don’t, but I was definitely surprised to hear her say that. To me, this isn’t just a good approach; it’s the only approach that really works if you want to grow your business.
Here are some of the things I had mentioned during our conversation which prompted her to say what she said:
“Debbie Faye is working with me on improving my speaking presentation.”
“I hired a business coach, Jane Pollak, to help me reach my goals for the year.”
“I’m working with Scarlett DeBease to update my wardrobe.”
“I’m interviewing new accountants to help me organize my business.”
Later, as I was driving home, I realized how happy I am about what has now become my standard approach: Paying wonderful, capable people to help me work better, faster and smarter.
In other words, instead of doing everything myself (the way I did for years), I surround myself with experts. That’s real leverage.
Unfortunately, lots of solo professionals don’t see the world this way. To them, spending money (especially if things are feeling financially tight) feels like an extravagance. What I’ve found, though, is that you have to spend it to make it!
When is it time to get help?
In almost all cases, the answer is: Sooner than you think! In my experience, people wait way too long to bring in support, often putting it off until things have gotten really bad with missed deadlines and worse.
So, here are two questions to get you started:
- Are you doing work you’re not really qualified for?
Tinkering with your website, doing your own taxes, setting up an email newsletter are all business essentials best handled by experts. Maybe you’re good at some of these things, but many people aren’t, resulting in poor quality work that takes a lot of time to complete.
- Are you doing work that’s below your pay grade?
There’s nothing shameful about putting together your own client gifts or running down to Kinkos to make a bunch of copies for tonight’s presentation. But much of this work can be done less expensively by somebody else. If you’re spending time on this, you’re not spending time doing higher value tasks.
Simply put, you can’t build much of a business if you’re not willing to rely on other people. Find others to support the high quality – high paying! – work you do best and pretty soon you’ll also be spending money to make money.
