Are you struggling to keep your business going because you can’t seem to get a good routine going? Do you spend each day freaking out about what you should be doing?
As an entrepreneur, you’re not held to any company standards or workflows. You work for yourself, which means that it’s up to you to create those in order to make your business successful. But, what if you don’t know where to begin? What are successful entrepreneurs doing that you're not?
Luckily for you, I was exactly in your position. Every day was almost wasted because I would forget things, get distracted, and I didn’t know how to properly manage my time. So, from my experience, and help from some highly successful entrepreneurs, here are my tips for creating a routine that catapults you toward success as an entrepreneur.
Why Are Routines So Important For Entrepreneurs?
A healthy daily routine is actually proven to make entrepreneurs more successful. In fact, all successful entrepreneurs live their lives according to a daily routine. Here is why routines are so important for your success as an entrepreneur.
Creates Daily Structure
Daily routines create structure and keep you organized and more focused on what you’re doing each day. They also help you stay more resilient to the topsy-turvy life of being an entrepreneur. This helps you to manage stress much better.
Promotes Overall Wellness
Routines help you get healthier by setting healthy habits for yourself and making them a lot easier to develop. They can also protect your mental health, preventing overwhelm and burnout. Finally, a calming nighttime routine promotes better sleep. This, in turn, helps you think, focus, and work better.
Helps You Work Better
When you have a daily routine that supports your goals, it helps you build momentum through dedicated work time and steady workflows that. Also, a healthy morning routine lets you set the tone for the day and allows you to be more productive during the day.
Daily Habits Of Highly Successful Entrepreneurs
Here are some daily habits of the most successful entrepreneurs, that you should add to your routine. Don’t worry, you don’t have to do all of these things in order to make yourself successful, even one or two of these habits will help you!
“Eating The Frog”
Eating the frog is a term for doing the most difficult or time-consuming task of the day first. Successful entrepreneurs start their work day with something that’s really important or may take the most time. after that, all your tasks will seem easy, and you’ll breeze right through them.
Planning Ahead
Plan your days beforehand, during the evening before. Make preparations to make the next day easier for you like laying out your clothes, prepping meals, or scheduling your day beforehand.
Scheduling To-Dos By The Hour
The most successful entrepreneurs schedule their days meticulously, some right down to the minute. This ensures that there’s never any question about what to do and when to do it.
Creating A Routine That Aligns With Goals
Make sure your daily routine is helping you get to your goals. Your morning and nighttime routines should help you toward your personal goals and your workday routine should be helping you achieve your business goals.
Tracking Progress
One of the most forgotten parts of goal setting or habit development is tracking your progress. How are you supposed to know how you’re doing, if you don’t keep track of it? Make a habit tracker or notes about how you’re doing with your new daily routine.
Making Time For Friends And Family
I get it. Running a business is a lot of work. There never seems to be enough time in the day to get everything done plus make some time for leisure. But that being said, your social life is just as important as your work. Even if you’re an introvert, making time to talk to someone each day has vast benefits to your mental health.
Learning Something New
This is an important tip for you to remember. Life is stagnant without learning. Make some time every day to learn something new. Listen to the news, watch a documentary, or read a book.
Taking Breaks
The most important thing you need to do for your workday routine is to schedule breaks. If you work without breaks or switching off, I’m going to be honest here, you’re on the fast track to burning out. Preventative measures like a daily self-care routine are a great way to avoid that.
Tips For Creating Your Daily Routine
Now it’s time to create your new daily routine. Here are some tips to get you going:
Start With A To-Do List
The best place to start is by making a to-do list of all the things you HAVE to do every day, no matter what day it is or what happens.
Split Your Routine Into Three Parts:
The next step is to separate your day into 3 separate sections of the day. One for the morning, your workday, and one for nighttime, before you go to bed.
Morning
For your morning routine, you should be creating healthy habits that wake you up and set a positive tone for the day. Here are some examples of things you can add to your morning routine.
Wake up at the same time every day
Get moving
Open your mind with meditation or free writing
Don’t forget the caffeine
Eat breakfast
Set your daily goals and intentions
2. Workday
For the “meat and potatoes” of your day, you’ll need to schedule your workday using “time blocks”, dividing your time into what your workday consists of. Here are some tips for scheduling your workday routine:
Start with the biggest task of the day and move down the list.
Use a day planner to keep track of your tasks and appointments. You can use coloured pens to colour code which are tasks, meetings, appointments, events, and breaks.
Don’t forget to schedule breaks for yourself during the day.
3. Evening/Nighttime
Rest and relaxation are just as crucial as a good workday routine. Set yourself up with a good sleep tonight, so that tomorrow, you’ll be as productive as ever in making yourself successful. Make a nightly routine that gets you off your phone and allows you to wind down. Here are some things you can do:
Try reading after dinner or before bed instead of being on your phone.
Listen to some calming music or sleep stories to relax to sleep.
Do some yoga to stretch out and wind down after a long day at your desk.
Prepare for tomorrow by putting your clothes out and laying out your to-do list tonight.
After Creating Your Routine
The job doesn’t end after you schedule out your new routine. After you create your new daily routine, here’s what you have to do to make it work for you, and to help you with your success as an entrepreneur.
Try It Out & Adjust As Needed
Your new routine may need some time to really set in. But, if it’s not working for you at all after a week, then adjust some things and try again.
Keep doing that until things start working for you and stick to it! It only takes 21 days for a habit to develop, and after that, it’s second nature.
Make A Weekly Routine Too
If you do different things each day of the week, you can easily make a daily routine for each day of the week. Once you have your daily routine down pat, you can start switching certain things out and having something different every day. For example, you can work on marketing on Mondays, accounting on Fridays, etc.
This helps things from getting too stagnant and dedicating one area of your business to a specific day, it’s extremely helpful in getting things done and achieving your business goals, and FINALLY becoming a successful entrepreneur.
Start hacking your professional and personal growth today with a good routine!
I want to know. What’s your daily routine? Are you introducing any habits into your new routine? What works for you? Let me know in the comments!
Until next time!