Can you run a business without the hustle?
Hustle. Burn out. Languishing. These words are constantly thrown around when describing running a business in today’s world – but do you need to experience them to run a successful brand?
Let me give you a bit of background. Towards the end of last year, I started to feel lost. My business was doing well but I found it increasingly difficult to show up on social media and market myself. Each time I did, I would spend the rest of the day mentally drained and, although I’ve been freelancing for almost five years, I started to really question whether I should be continuing along this path.
I spent most of my waking moments fretting over followers and planning my next moves, and this slowly spread into my family time
True to my journalistic nature, I had to find answers. My career deep dive opened a world of self-discovery; multitudes of podcasts and audio books (some of which I have listed below); and the idea of slow living and gentle productivity.
What is slow living and gentle productivity?
Sloww.co defines slow living as “conscious, intentional, mindful, and living deeply”. It is a quiet movement against the fast-paced, hustle culture we have become so accustomed to.
So, what has slow living got to do with running a business?
Slow living intends to take the “busyness” out of business, which initially seems wildly unproductive but, when put into practice, can give back more intention and focus – helping you home in on your ‘why’.
For me, running a slow business and using gentle productivity is a work in progress, unravelling my perfectionist ways and allowing my business to settle into the spaces of my already busy mum life.
For those wanting to follow along, here’s what I’ve learnt so far:
1. Use time blocking
I’ve been lucky enough to work quite flexibly over the last few years, mostly around my little ones’ schedules and needs. This worked well for my business however, I regularly found myself feeling burned out and stressed because I just couldn’t “do it all”.
Here’s where time blocking has saved me. Before I take on a new project – whether it be as straight forward as writing a new article, or a large endeavour such as working on a client’s PR strategy – I check my current schedule and see if I can block out the right amount of time between now and the deadline to be able to successfully meet it.
If I find the project won’t slot in my current schedule without significantly changing and/or removing some of my main priorities, I don’t accept the work.
This might seem crazy, especially for those just starting out, but I know so many business owners who take on all the opportunities that come their way and, although this seems great for their business in the short term, it will mostly definitely lead to burn out. Their overall productivity also tends to suffer as they juggle too many things at once.
2. Set boundaries
Strong boundaries around your main priorities are so important when successfully running your business long term. If your inbox is anything like mine, there is always someone wanting your skills, time or money and sometimes that can make you feel a bit ‘pimped out’.
Many of us choose to run our own business for the flexibility so it’s important to regularly list and reflect on your priorities and continue to put these first. If you’re like me and want to be available to attend your kids’ school events and playdates, then block out those events in your work calendar just like you do your work priorities.
If guilt creeps in, think about what you will care about in a year’s time. Will you think about that one Zoom call you needed to postpone, or missing your child’s first awards assembly?
3. Schedule space
There’s nothing worse than having back-to-back meetings all day and then feeling like you haven’t accomplished anything by the evening.
As we all know, many of our meetings can be summarised in an email*, so scheduling in buffer space around each appointment, call or meeting is great to allow yourself time to meet your to-do list, check emails or just go get a coffee and unwind your brain for a bit.
After all, these moments of breathing space are where are most creative, which will benefit you and your clients/customers!
*Top tip: when you do have a meeting, make sure to create an agenda so you don’t go off topic – this saves time and energy!
4. Be gentle with yourself
We all have our strengths and weaknesses. I find marketing on social media the hardest part of running my business (and the biggest time suck if I don’t manage it correctly!) so if I block out time for it, plan ahead and then schedule in some breathing space on either side, I am able to do it without feeling as mentally drained as I once did.
Every day will not be perfect – life does like to throw curveballs (hello covid, floods and potential WW3) – but if you be gentle on yourself, give yourself the space you need and stick to your priorities, you may find you can breathe again, without the dreaded hustle wearing you down.
