One of the members of our Learning Community was talking about how hard it was to maintain her focus on work because of interruptions. Her family needed her, friends wanted to talk–the interruptions were unpredictable.
It’s kinda obvious that to run our businesses we need time to do the work in, right? The challenge is the same thing as the benefit: flexibility.
You don’t have to disappear for 40-50 hours a week, on a set schedule. You can be flexible and get laundry, or a nap, or taking care of your kids, in the middle of what would ordinarily be work time.
It’s wonderful. For me, I’ve been working in a home office, being my own boss, for nearly twenty years. It’s enabled me to be there for the kids, to take naps, to enjoy life in all kinds of ways.
But it also takes commitment to the business, because… interruptions.
There’s another factor at play here, that isn’t often acknowledged.
Long-time-frame, strategic goals aren’t very visible.
After working with more than 4000 businesses over nearly 20 years, I can tell you that building a business often takes 2-4 years of focus on business development. This kind of long-range focus is hard to remain committed to.
When you are confronting what looks like an emotionally urgent situation involved a loved one, and the long-range building of your business, it doesn’t look like there’s much cost to losing hours of productive time at your business. Oops, there goes Wednesday afternoon, but they needed me, and I’m grateful I could be there for them.
That one afternoon doesn’t look like it slows down your business development. But it does.
Hear me out, because I’m absolutely not saying that you should ignore your loved ones. But there is something very important to pay attention to.
How development tends to happen.
Your business grows developmentally in small steps, mostly. Sometimes there are big leaps, but more often there are these baby steps that happen day in and day out, week in and week out.
This is true whether you like to work immersively, where you disappear into a project for days, and then emerge later back into the light of your normal life, or whether you like to work in small chunks of time.
Even immersive working can’t move the business forward months or years. It’s still incremental.
Your business is a legitimate need.
Tending to your business consistently, as you would a child, or a loved one, is so important. It asks for uninterrupted time on a consistent basis, and it deserves it. You deserve it.
Your business is a sacred container, a vehicle for some of your gifts and service in the world, and also a way to support you and perhaps loved ones financially. If it’s not given care, how can it give care?
But you know all of this, so what do you do?
Three things to take into account.
There are more than three things to work with here, but let’s look at these three today.
1. Honor your life’s needs.
So many of our clients fall into the Monday to Friday, 9-5 schedule unconsciously. But it doesn’t have to be that. What are your needs and desires? When do your loved ones need you? When do you want to be free?
Build your schedule to suit you.
2. Not every work minute should be productive.
Just because you’re having an “unproductive” moment or hour doesn’t mean you’re not working, and can then be interrupted.
I frequently pick up my guitar during my work day. Or stare out the window. Or go for a walk. This is work time, and is necessary to help integrate what might be simmering unconsciously, or just to shake off and clear my head so I can switch focus.
So many ideas, or just accessing a next round of productive energy comes from those breaks. But I am still at work.
3. “I can’t talk, I’m at work.”
Have you ever called a friend who said, “I can’t talk, I’m at work. I’ll call you later.” They didn’t explain what task they were involved with. They just were “at work.”
Working isn’t just when you are with a client or have an appointment. “I have a crisis, I need you!” “Do you need to go to the emergency room? Can I talk to you in 3 hours when I’m done with work?”
You don’t have to explain what you’re involved in. And you can prioritize: would you leave a job to deal with this, or can it wait?
Honor yourself and your work.
I know it’s not easy. I know that the way your attention is tugged on is hard to ignore, and may cause you to shift some big relationship patterns in your life.
As I said above, building a business, bringing your gifts out into the world, and earning a living can be considered as sacred work. I certainly consider it such. That sacredness requires love, care and a container of strength.
Please, honor the work you do. Honor the amount of consistent work your business calls for so it can develop.
If you have questions, or stories, please let me know! I’ll get back to you in a bit. Right now, I’m picking up my guitar for a few minutes. I’m at work, I can’t talk.
With love,
Mark Silver, M.Div.
Heart of Business, Inc.
Every Act of Business Can Be an Act of Love.
How to be sustainably self-employed.
When someone joins our Learning Community one of the earliest modules we suggest they take on is How to Be Sustainably Self-Employed. It took me years to learn how to work from home in a healthy, productive way, and I want you to get it much more quickly.
As one of our members said, “Oh my God, thank you, Mark! Seemingly obvious info that is not new, but I so desperately need right now!”
The module covers Creating a Schedule That Works for You, How to Truly Nourish Yourself, and Compassionate Accountability (including how to work within our Compassionate Accountability structure).
So many programs say, “Get such-and-such done!” But if you don’t have a supportive schedule, a nourishing environment, accountability with kindness… too often it doesn’t get done.
The doors are open for new members until August 22 (that’s next week), when we’ll close to allow all the new folks to integrate in, and we won’t be open again for some months.
There’s way more included that this module, it’s really just the start.
Take a look here: The Learning Community
It will also explain why you can’t develop a business inside a course.
Read that page, and ask any questions you may have.
3 Responses
I needed the reminder. Thank you.
Interesting sharing. I think that it is very important to have a balance between your work and taking care or interacting with your loved ones or probably just do some kind of relaxing to help you clear your mind to get through your job. As you said, though, you should always honor yourself and the work you have to do.
In my case, I usually prioritize to interact or taking care of my family even when I am at work unless it is something which really can be hold first. I think the priority is always your loved ones but of course you have to still try your best to finish your to-do-list that day during your working hours schedule while balancing it with that kind of needs.
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