Some entrepreneurs seek to act almost as a personification of their business – think how Bill Gates is synonymous with Microsoft, how Steve Jobs embodied Apple, and how Elon Musk’s own persona is inherently interlinked with Tesla and The Boring Company.

While the above examples are undeniably successful – and it is highly likely that the blend of person and business helped to contribute to their success and media profile – for most entrepreneurs, a blurring of their individual, personal self with their business self is far from ideal. As more and more entrepreneurs begin to recognise the inherent need for a work-life balance, entrepreneurs are now seeking to create a firm dividing line between the two sides of themselves. For entrepreneurs who are ‘the face’ of their own personal brand this can be a real tricky situation. Here’s a guide to maintaining your sense of self (and sanity) as an entrepreneur…

(Image: Me pondering about life. Outfit: Cardigan- Joanie, Chinos- M & S, Shirt- GAP, Shoes- Hotter)

If you have previously felt that you and your business are becoming intertwined to the point your professional life is transgressing on your personal life, there are a few simple changes that can help to create the distinction you need…

1 – Set a rigid schedule of “business” and “personal” hours

Modern technology has allowed us to be more connected than ever before, but this connectivity is responsible for some of the most concerning blurs between personal and professional lives. If you’re watching TV in the evening and your phone beeps with a business-related notification, it’s all too easy to just quickly reply, even though you’re technically supposed to be relaxing. Before you know it, you may find yourself answering work calls during social engagements or replying to emails on holiday – and every time you use personal time for business purposes, the line between “business you” and “work you” becomes a little less clear. Even as a blogger/ influencer it is imperative to separate your time to carve out much needed “offline time”.

The only way to confront this issue is to tackle it head-on; set strict rules for what is considered “business time” and “personal time”, and stick to them come what may. Set up out of office replies, voicemail messages, and away messages for texts to ensure your customers or clients are kept in the loop but, these methods aside, your personal time should always remain precisely that.

(Image: When it’s windy and you have big hair.)

2 – Obscure your personal details

Sometimes, separating your personal and business lives is more theoretical – a change in mindset or the way you approach business tasks, as we will soon discuss in more depth. However, sometimes the much-needed separation is very literal, and your personal details are a perfect example of this.

When starting a business, many entrepreneurs are working on a shoestring budget, which can lead to some compromises having to be made. One of the most common of these compromises is a blurring of personal and private details; for example, entrepreneurs have to list their personal address or telephone number as the business’ address or telephone number for early correspondence purposes. While many entrepreneurs understand that such a decision is less than ideal in terms of data security, the lack of choice dictates that needs must for the moment.

While the decision to provide your personal details as business details is understandable at the start of your business journey, it’s something that you’ll want to rectify as soon as possible – even if your business primarily operates from your home. There are a variety of ways you can do this, but using a virtual address and purchasing a cheap mobile phone and pay-as-you-go SIM card are the most cost-effective choices. With these in place, you can ensure that your personal details are truly personal, rather than shared in public, business-related spaces.

3 – Be wary of accepting praise for your business

On first inspection, the idea of being wary about accepting praise for your business sounds incredibly strange. Surely, praise is good, and you should revel in it, and use that praise to bolster your confidence for the future?

While there is something to be said for allowing yourself to bask in praise for the way your business operates, or the benefits your goods or services can provide, taking this praise personally – as an affirmation of yourself – can have extremely harmful consequences. If you enjoy a sense of personal satisfaction when your business is praised, then it naturally follows that you will experience a personal sense of upset when your business is criticised – which will inevitably happen. Many businesses owners are naturally delighted by praise, but criticism and complaints can hit them hard; the two are inextricably linked.

It’s therefore best to try and see praise and criticism as two sides of the same coin, and that coin is a reflection of your business rather than you as a person or entrepreneur. Wherever possible, it’s helpful to try and see praise through the lens of your business; if your business receives a glowing review from a customer, remind yourself the individual entity that is your business is the subject of the praise. While this can feel like you are denying yourself a sense of personal pleasure in the moment, you’ll thank yourself for this established emotional separation the next time your business receives a scathing review.

On a final note, some entrepreneurs treat their business like their “baby” – which is often thought to be a sign of an entrepreneur who is over-involved, or somehow too emotionally attached to their company. However, treating your business like a baby in literal terms is actually beneficial; babies are a reflection of their parents, but they are still their own unique little personality. If you can see your business in these terms – as something related to you, but not you exactly – then you should be able to benefit from a sense of emotional separation that will significantly benefit you throughout the course of your business career.

In conclusion: Running a business is a huge task, and one that places significant demands on you personally as the entrepreneur. However, separating your individual, personal identity from your business is crucial both for your personal safety and your sense of well-being. Hopefully, the tips above will allow your business to continue to flourish, but without infringing on your own sense of self.

“And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” -Steve Jobs

Stay fabulous

Christine

Ad: When you run a small business, there is a chance that you will become overrun with the amount of things you need to do. You may feel as though you just don’t have enough time in the day and that everything is just getting too much. This is completely normal, but there are things that you can do to try and save both time and money. Here are a few fabulous time saving tips for any small business…

Control your Email Account: The first thing that you need to do is take control of your email account. One way for you to do this would be for you to reduce the volume of the emails you’re getting. Recent reports suggest that the standard business owner gets well over 100 emails per day, and if you spend 2 minutes replying to every email you get, then you will soon see how this can add up to a large chunk of your day. If you want to save time, then you can easily reduce the amount of emails you receive by unsubscribing from certain services. You might also want to invest in an email software, as they usually give you the chance to unsubscribe from certain email lists in bulk.

Books like the Empowered Entrepreneur can offer great guidance

The Quality of your Emails: It’s so important that you use shorter, or even more efficient messages when sending your emails. If you are sending an email to a lot of people at once, then tell them not to reply to all when they do respond. When you do this, you will reduce the overall email volume and it will also help you to stay on top of your inbox as well. If you do need to respond to each person then it helps to set up folders so that you can look at them later on in the day.  This won’t take long but it will really help you to make the most out of the time you have.

Filing Systems: A lot of inbox programs give you the chance to create folders. Put your important contacts in one, your clients in another and then friends in a completely separate folder. When you do this, you will know instantly when an email comes in whether it is something urgent, and this will save you from checking your inbox every single time something comes through. If you can, it also helps to have your email connected to your phone. When you do this, you can send notifications right to your device and this can really help you to get the motivation to respond when you’re on the go.

Limit your Time on Social Media: The main area you want to limit your time is social media. There are so many tools and apps out there that will block social media for you, and the best thing about them is that they can do it in set hours. If you don’t have the self-control required to avoid Facebook or other related sites, then you might want to invest in something like this, as it will have a positive impact on your working day.

Process Everything: Every single day, you will be bombarded with “things to do”. This can be very frustrating because if you don’t stay on top of them they can easily become overwhelming. If you want to get around this then do anything that will take you 2 minutes or less, right there and then. If you know that it is going to take longer than this, then put it on your calendar for a later date. You can also delegate if this is easier.

Close the Door: Sure, open door policies are great, but they really can reduce your overall productivity. If you want to get around this then you need to have a closed-door policy. This will give you the chance to get your head down and concentrate, and your team will know that you don’t want to be bothered.

Batch Tasks: Checking your email constantly throughout the day won’t be doing anything for your productivity. Instead, you need to respond to your emails once or twice per day. If you want to get some help with this, then it is a good idea for you to invest in an intelligent information management system. When you do this, you can easily store your files, access them at any time or even extract data. This will make it way easier for you to process your documents, and it will also make it easier to give other people access.

Set Small Breaks: You may think that in order to get everything done, you need to work constantly and without a break. After all, the less time you take out of your day, the more time you will have to get everything else done, right? This is not the case at all. In fact, sometimes, having a break can free up way more time in the day because it gives you the chance to focus and recharge. You can go back and accomplish almost any task much faster and you can also give yourself the chance to re-evaluate that to-do list.

Outsource: Delegating is important when you run your own business, but you also need to outsource as well. By outsourcing your smaller jobs, you can run your business more efficiently and you can also bring in way more profit too. This doesn’t take long to do, and it could stop you from spending tons of time on menial tasks that make absolutely no difference to your bottom line or your company image.

So, it’s not easy to free up more time in the day when you run your own business, but by taking the above tips into account, you can be sure to do it a little easier…

“when you change the way you look at things, they things you look at change”-Dr WayneDyer

Stay fabulous

Christine