Are You A Prisoner Of Your Own Business?

By: Alice Coaxum

One of the biggest reasons that most people decide to go into business for themselves are that they usually want to earn more money, have the career of their own choosing and to be able to fire their boss and set their own schedule. Are those any of the reasons that you decided to start your own business? Is  being in control of your own time important to you?

For me it was one of the most important reasons. As a homeschooling mother of four and a wife I am better able to help my family when I can control my own time. I don’t worry about if I’m going to be able to take off today or if I will be late taking my children to appointments and other outings because I couldn’t get off of work at a reasonable time or if the hours will conflict with the schedule that my family keeps.

Daycare wasn’t an option for me and when we decided that our family needed more income I knew that whatever I chose to do, had better fit in with our schedule or it wouldn’t work. I wasn’t in the best of health so working a traditional 9-5 was out of the question. I started looking for solutions to my dilemma online.

By the time I decided to work from home I had already removed my children from their brick and mortar schools and began homeschooling them. This is one of the best choices my husband and I have ever made and I really wish I had done it from the beginning.

Everyone’s situation is different and while you might not homeschool or have health problems, you may need to be in control of your time for other reasons. There isn’t a right or wrong reason because they are personal to each one of us.

Controlling or Controlled

When you say that you want to be in control of your time, you don’t want to trade one prison for another. If your business is taking up all of your time to the point of seriously interrupting the flow of your normal life, than you aren’t controlling your time. You are being controlled.

Isn’t this one of the very reasons that you chose to go into business for yourself, so that you could call the shots. Working your business 24-7  isn’t a wise thing to do. While your business should be considered important and treated as such, you need to have boundaries.

Would you allow a supervisor or boss of any business to force you to work every waking moment of the day? Of course you wouldn’t because that would be tiring and you would quickly get sick of that job. How long would you be a productive employee if all you did was work and you never took the time to enjoy yourself, spend time with family and friends or just relax? You would burn out.

While you might think that you are okay doing that, you really aren’t. Working at that rate consistently is tiring. Even if you are making money, you can’t really enjoy it. Consistently overworking dulls your creativity because you aren’t giving your mind time to relax, learn or think because you are constantly going. Over time you will probably feel like giving up because the same prison of time control you previously wanted to escape is the same prison you have created for yourself.

Experience Teaches

I can say from experience that I am more creative and productive when well rested and relaxed. I feel better physically. I know that with my health conditions, being rested in a necessity. I’m at my best when I’m well rested and relaxed. Being grumpy and tired all of the time isn’t the life for me. It makes me feel like I’m just going through the motions but not really living. My family is happier when I have time to spend with them. My children want to share what goes on in their daily lives with me besides, homeschooling and my husband needs to be able to connect with me. I can’t do that If I don’t have the time.

I don’t feel that I’m doing what God expects of me as a wife and a mother if I have no time to devote to  my family. I don’t feel that I can productively build my business if I don’t have time to unwind and relax, think and take in knowledge in areas I need to or have time to plan and be creative.

Treat Yourself Well

When we go into business for ourselves, especially if we are alone in building our business, there is no one to stop us or be the voice of reason. The boss isn’t going to say, “Hey you neglected to take a day off for the last 8 weeks!” or “Why don’t you take the rest of the day off?” That voice of reason is going to have to come from within you but you have to have the right mindset to hear it. You deserve to enjoy yourself, relax, rejuvenate and learn so you can be even more creative and productive.

Don’t feel that you are being lazy or non productive if you take some time off because it will greatly benefit you and who knows what you will achieve when your mind has had time to relax. If you plan your time off right, your business won’t suffer because you won’t go super hard for months and then need to crash for weeks at a standstill just to recharge.

Are you a prisoner of your business or have you been in the past? How do you plan on changing that or what have you done to change your it and has it made a difference for you in your life or with your business?