The world is quickly changing, and we are experiencing a wave of those changes every single day, some of them on a deeply personal level, while others affect us primarily in our professional lives. Those, however, that have decided to start their own professional endeavors and establish a business know that it can be as rewarding as it is challenging. To suddenly find yourself unable to work and travel, while you’ve been working towards digital nomadism, or to find yourself running a remote team of curious souls scattered all over the globe – it can be daunting.
Achieving professional success, and through it, personal fulfillment means that you can adapt to these changes. You can thrive in this world of remote collaboration, temporary physical distancing, and digital nomadism on a break. As an entrepreneur, you’re built to withstand challenges. It’s how you withstand them and what you learn from them that makes all the difference.
The elusive work-life balance
We have always believed that working from home is a silver bullet that will ensure ample flexibility and work-life balance. It turns out, we need structure as much as we need freedom. To avoid getting sucked into procrastination as a hard-working entrepreneur, you should do your best to practice self-care and self-kindness regularly and at designated times during the day.
Be mindful during mealtimes, and schedule workout sessions to keep your body moving, but also schedule sleep so that you don’t end up working late every night of the week. Work-life balance takes practice and work, so make sure to find yours.
Maintaining a strong connection with remote teams
Whether you work with a handful of experts who live in different parts of the world, or you have teams working locally, but working from home, collaboration and communication are vital in these changing times. Chat tools like Slack or video conferencing software like Zoom can help you build strong connections while working remotely.
Make sure to schedule regular meetings with your scattered workforce. Let your teams connect through more than just project-related topics. It’s these personal bonds that you forge that will help you succeed and feel like a team and like a community, and not just a business.
Choose your partners wisely
Now that the professional landscape is turning into a global one, not merely a location-centric one, you’re free to work with experts from anywhere you please. For example, even if you’re located in the US, you can easily collaborate with a digital marketing agency in Australia, especially when you want to attract Australian customers to your digital business.
Why limit yourself to a subpar business partner for any segment of your operations if you can look for businesses that can truly work efficiently with you and collaborate effectively with all your team members, accustomed to remote work. Research potential business partners in the world when you’re expanding your target market and you want to grow – there’s no reason to go it alone.
Create work-life boundaries
This particular process serves to help you achieve better work-life balance and protect your mental health, although it is a useful stand-alone goal, too. For those who work from home, setting boundaries is essential for optimal productivity, but also for avoiding burnout, stress, and anxiety in the long run.
For instance, you can set up a home office that will become your designated work area where no other members of the household are allowed for the duration of your work hours. Not using the same phone for business and personal calls also helps keep your communications separate and with clear boundaries. This also allows you to avoid distractions and get more done without the hassle.
Use technology for time management
To do great things, we need to do a slew of little ones that get in the way. Sending that email in the morning to your accountant can help you get the ball rolling for landing a major investor. While it’s necessary to focus on and remember your grand goals, you need to be able to focus on the short-term tasks that make the bigger goals happen.
In structuring your work better with the help of tech, you can turn your hard work into a labor of love, as you’ll be able to automate many menial tasks while you focus on the more mission-critical assignments that make you feel purposeful. Automate social media posting, use project management tools to ensure accountability among your teams, schedule emails in advance, and use analytics tools to track your business website’s performance. These are merely just examples, as the world is brimming with options.
Starting your own business is a life-altering decision that can help you accomplish your professional goals, establish your career path, and reach your life’s greatest goals. In the midst of all that growth, there are external factors and changes that can affect your own rhythm of progress. Be it a health crisis the likes of the pandemic, or a sudden loss in your life – there is always another opportunity to rise above it all and adapt.
Use these helpful, wholesome ideas to make your professional journey worthy of your personal values. It can be difficult to manage all your globally scattered workers and partners, but it will be worth your while, as you will then eliminate any limitations and borders of your success.