How To Empower Your Time And Navigate Away From Burn Out
Your unwavering commitment to excellence could be influencing a productivity tunnel vision that’s hindering you from scaling while actually enjoying your business.
I’m not saying to lower the expectations you have for yourself or your team. Nor to change your dedication to making your clients happy. But when we allow our commitment to excellence to shut out boundaries, processes, and best practices, we can inadvertently set ourselves up for constant overwhelm, a reactive approach to work, and an imbalance between our professional and personal lives.
We neglect our own strategic priorities and ambitious goals. We end up not being in control of our own time.
The key to changing this is in time empowerment, not just time management. In empowerment, we realize that we can scale our business without all the stressful, pull-my-hair-out, exhausting days.
What Is Time Empowerment?
Empowering your time means you’re dictating where your time is best spent. It’s deliberately saying what is and isn’t worth your time. On the flip side, time management is simply the tools to help us get things done and check off the boxes. You can have amazing time management and still not be seeing your goals move forward at the pace you want.
When we empower our time, then we are in control of our schedule and have the space to work on the client projects we enjoy, to develop new strategies for our own business, and to enjoy whatever work-life balance vision we have for ourselves.
For me, this means I’m able to consistently take Fridays off to spend time with my kids. For one of my clients, it means they’ve been able to set more ambitious goals year after year while no longer working late nights and every weekend. These are hallmarks of time empowerment that can transform how we run our business.
Identifying Your Empowerment Roadblocks
You don’t have clarity on where your time is really going: are you moving from one task to the next? Or putting out one fire only to have another fire come up? Without a clear understanding of where your time is going, you’ll find yourself in a cycle of checking off tasks that don’t align with your priorities. Your virtual assistant can analyze your emails, calendar, and tasks to help guide you on what to keep on your plate versus what to delegate.
You don’t have time management habits: one coach says do this, another coach says do this, and your processes are changing faster than new social media trends. Without any semblance of routine, structure, or prioritization in your day-to-day, then you’ll find yourself constantly reacting to urgent matters rather than proactively managing your time and energy. Consider discussing time blocking, eat the frog, and other time management strategies with your VA and the best way to collaborate on how to keep you focused and on track.
You don’t have a support system: Even with the best time management practices, you’ll never find balance if you’re doing it all. This doesn’t just apply to solopreneurs but also business leaders with teams in place! I’ve met CEOs who spend their days more like operations or HR managers rather than the visionary leader of their business. You cannot get stuck in a ping-pong routine bouncing from vision, strategy, management, and implementation. Define your role as business leader or senior manager and be open to trusting and delegating to your team so that you can stay in control of your own time.
Navigate Away From Burnout
Take time to recognize where these roadblocks are popping up in your day and consider what small steps you can start to take so that you are in control of your time – not your team, not your clients. What can you do this week to set yourself up for time empowerment and navigate away from constantly feeling like you’re on the verge of burnout?
At Auxo, our expertise lies in streamlined processes and virtual assistants who serve as thought partners, not just doers. With a focus on operational excellence, we empower our clients to transition from reactive, overwhelmed work styles to scaling their businesses through time empowerment.