(As they say in Ghostbusters)

Who you gonna call

(when you REALLY don’t feel like working)?

Since you work for yourself… there IS nobody to call!

You know the saying, “When you work for yourself, you have the toughest boss there is.” I mean, this boss won’t even give you a mental health day off - or any comp time for those late nights. And, you have to be on your death bed before you can call in sick.

Believe it or not, we all have days when it is just not that easy to get going, or to be productive when you get there. Let’s face it – even when you’re in business for yourself, with all the incentive in the world, it is sometimes hard to stay motivated and productive every day.

You…just….have…to…get…going.

Here are some tips, tricks, tasks and techniques that will help to push you into action on those kinds of days.

See the bottom of this post for more on how you can provide your own input on how to get going!

Most of these ideas will actually come from your old world of (sorry to have to use this word) working for others. Routines, schedules, appointments, deadlines and interaction with others are pretty powerful incentives for getting things done, and getting them done in a timely manner. If the nature of your career does not automatically impose these restrictions on your working day, you have to find other ways of imposing them on yourself.

Let’s face it, when you work for “the man”:

• You have to get to the office at a certain time
  
• You have quarterly sales targets to meet
  
• You have to file reports or make presentations at given, fixed intervals
  
• Etc.
  

If you don’t - there will be repercussions!

Since you are now the man (whatever your gender may be), you have to play that role as well as many other roles in your company.

Your Work Hours

First and foremost, report to work on time. Fix your working hours and do not let anything but the direst emergency interfere with them. Especially if you have employees of your own, this simple, old fashioned tradition will work wonders. You know from the good old days how employees can be tempted to slack off when the boss is not around. In addition, setting an example for your staff that you are happy and excited to get in and get started will spark excitement in them as well. Don’t expect your employees to feel pumped up about the work they are doing when the person who is benefiting the most from it does not show any excitement. Get into work a few minutes before your “start” time, make or pour your coffee and sit down at your desk by 9:00, or whatever time you have chosen, rarin’ to go.

For the sake of balance, family harmony and your health, you should also have a fairly fixed quitting time. Yes, you may have to work later on occasion, just as in the bad old days, but wasn’t that one of the things you decided to escape? Of course, take advantage of adjustments in your work routine that now allow you extra hours, but don’t become a slave to your freed up time. If you have given up a two hour commute for a fifteen minute ride to the office, then great, you have an extra hour and a half in your workday now. An hour and a half, however, not four. Start closing down, planning your next day and clearing your desk fifteen or twenty minutes before your self imposed quitting time and then get up and leave.

Scheduling Tasks

The district sales manager (you) no longer requires a monthly sales report. The comptroller (you) no longer requires a monthly P& L. The accounting clerk (you) doesn’t even pester you for your travel vouchers to close out that last business trip. Just because no one asks you for these reports and statements doesn’t mean that they don’t have to be done. They do, and if they are not done in a timely manner, you will end up pulling together the information in a haphazard manner when it is needed for a bank loan, a tax return or to balance the checking account. To avoid this, it is necessary to include some of the old deadlines and routines of the work world in your own business. The nice thing about being your own boss is that you can pick the parts you want to keep, like order and routine, and discard the bad parts, like an unreasonable boss, a long commute and the limits of a paycheck.

In this area, once again, it helps to pretend that you have a boss watching over your shoulder. Make a list of the chores, reports and duties you know should be done routinely. Use a simple system like a calendar or a computerized version of a tickler system, but take the time to schedule a fixed date for all of these tasks and STICK TO IT. Review your sales and profits on at least a monthly basis, whether you do it manually or with an accounting program. Balance the company checking account by the 20th of the month, if it is normally received by the 15th. Fix a date to inventory stock, or even office supplies. How often has a small project turned into a big one when you had to run out to get the necessary supplies? Attending to these tasks in an orderly manner, and on a scheduled basis will save you time and even money.

Motivation

When are you legitimately sick, and when are you just not in the mood today and, since no one is really expecting you in anyway, you can just goof off? If you are not 100% motivated today, it is easier to find an excuse not to work when you do not have someone to answer to.

Once again, we have to look to the alternate work world that our jealous friends and neighbors live in. If you were at your old job, would you really call in sick today? You have a report due (it’s on your calendar, and you are sticking to it, remember?), you are behind in your sales goal for the month and you need to review a project that one of your staff has been working on. Looking at your calendar for the day, you realize how important each of these things is to your long term goal, and you report in as usual, even if you are tired, have a little headache or it’s too sunny to be indoors.

Looking at the other side of the coin, you also have to be able to judge the times when you really need to take off. If all of the above items were scheduled for today, and you truly didn’t feel well, would you call out sick at your old job? This is the litmus test. Your career would have been greatly affected if these major tasks were neglected, but if you were really under the weather, you would have realized that it simply had to be-you would not have performed at your best in any case. Your business is affected just as much under your current circumstances; the decision process has to be the same. Treat the process the same as well. If you have staff who report to you, call the office and let them know you are sick. Adjust your scheduled tasks to allow for this day, and then concentrate on getting well.

Many of the traditions and processes of the working world developed from a need to get things done efficiently. As much as we may hate to admit it now that we have broken away from that rate race, these systems will work to our advantage in our own businesses as well.

What is your NUMBER ONE motivation or productivity secret?

Now it’s your turn.

You can help out a lot of people – and give us all a much-needed boost with your input.

Just enter a comment by clicking on the link below.

And tell us:

What is your number one motivation or productivity secret? What do you do when you just don’t feel like putting in those extra hours? Do you put on some great music? Do you tell yourself positive affirmations? What? Tell us!