Most of us are familiar with the motivational speech given by Admiral William McRaven at the University of Texas in 2014 and if not, here’s a link for the most salient part:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NudLfyl2cXc
Whether this resonates with you or not (some people prefer to let their bed air over the day with the sheets pulled back), the other comments he makes can also help us to keep going; just doing one task at a time makes things less daunting and once you start, it is generally much easier.
The problem with being a small business owner is that it’s hard to stop! There is so much we have to do from being the one to make the tea first thing to making sure that the book keeping is up to date and then get on with the jobs for the day.
Our large pre-frontal cortex makes us good planners, but sometimes living in the future can make us anxious; we can also get lost in the myriad of potential paths we can foresee and some people have an inclination to catastrophise (as a Mum, I’ve been guilty of the latter: let’s take spare clothes in case they fall in the pond and oh yes we need the kitchen sink in the boot as well..!). So it can be hard not to take that over- thinking into my business: I don’t really need 3 sets of spare printer cartridges.
I also find it quite hard to switch off in the evening. Just turning the PC off and shutting the door hasn’t worked for me. It’s too easy to go back in or sit on the sofa wondering if I should go back and check if anything has come in since I switched off.
I’ve tried quite a few other things, but the best I have found is to take the rubbish and recycling out of the kitchen – weird I know but it works.
Do you do something regularly last thing that marks the end of your work day?
