1. Set a ‘Normal’ Schedule
One of the worst things an entrepreneur can do is be available all the time. Sometimes, when we start a new business, we want to be available all the time to make sure that things are being done correctly. While this is a noble idea, it is not practical at all.
We need to be able to stop, rest and spend time with friends and family from time to time. You can be “on-call” for emergencies only but allow your employees to handle the running of day-today tasks.
Be sure that you train them to understand what to do in typical situations and provide guidance on how you make difficult decisions. If you own a retail business, consider being there some days for opening schedules and on other days closing schedules. Don’t forget to schedule days off too.
Especially try to avoid the “clopen” if you own a retail business that is open late and opens early by staying late and then being in very early the following morning. Encourage your employees to avoid doing this as often as possible, as well. Of course, sometimes this may be necessary, but don’t make a habit of it.
2. Hire Good People
This one sounds like a no brainer, but sometimes people do not often realize how important it really is. If you hire people who can do their jobs effectively, you can focus on the important things and be much less stressed. Remember as well that good doesn’t mean average, they need to be really good for you to relax.
“It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.” – Steve Jobs
3. Plan
This is different from your schedule and you must plan what to do with your schedule. Your schedule is the hours you work and the plan is what to do with those hours. For example, you could have Meeting Monday, Business Building Tuesday, Work from Home Wednesday, Training Thursdays and Free Fridays. These may be the extent of your planned agenda, but you should also have a plan for each day. If you know Mondays are your days to plan meetings, don’t schedule one while you are training an employee on Thursday.
You could also plan blocks of time. For instance, 8-10 Meetings, 10-2 Training and Lunch, 2-5 Business building phone calls, 5-6 Free Hour. Nothing has to be uniform either. You could schedule in 10-minute blocks or 2-hour ones. You might even schedule some of each.
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