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I have no idea I'm afraid but hopefully someone on here has an idea or two. 

Haha oh dear! Maybe it's a blessing!

I'm actually disliking the fact that Facebook owns Instagram and WhatsApp now. They pretty much know everything about us. 

The balancing act of working IN or ON your business is one that the self-employed or SMEs manage every day.

Working in your business is doing the tasks required for your client, which is the service you provide or product you sell. For example, cleaning homes or proofreading (like me). This creates your income, so it needs to be a priority.

However, as we all know, running a business also requires pesky tasks such as admin, whether that is accounting or data inputting or even replying to emails from prospective customers. This is all working IN your business and it is so easy to get bogged down! Before you know it, the month is done, and you barely know what day it is. Maybe you need to take a step back and work ON your business, but how?

I have always prioritised working in the business because if your clients aren’t happy then you won’t have a business before too long! However, January was a slow start to the year (although strangely my books don’t reflect this), so I ended up with more thinking time and I was able to really reflect on where I want to go with my business. I got my accounts up-to-date and this gave me a chance to reflect on how far I have come. I have grown slowly as planned and I have hit my income target for the tax year, so I am pleased! But things are changing this year and it is now time to set new targets and have a new plan.

Working ON your business takes time and effort though, so here are FIVE tips to help:

• Delegate – It isn’t always possible, but can you look at bringing someone in to help with tasks such as accounting or data input, things you either spend a long time doing ( I  a m  a  s l o w  t y p e r..) or that you are not an expert in. The cost is a factor, but with VAs (Virtual Assistants) being more popular and bookkeepers and accountants offering deals you may not need to commit heavily to reap a benefit.
• Dream – Dare to dream about what you really want. Take time out of your day, perhaps stop scrolling on Facebook, and think about where you want your business to go. This is the first big hurdle, working out how to get there is the next one, but if you have no goal the path is irrelevant.
• Dialogue – Talk to someone else about it. I have a best friend I meet up with most months for a spa day to relax. We sit in a hot tub and come up with ideas for my business or solutions to problems we may have. It definitely helps to get another perspective, and in the right environment you can really come up with some great ideas (I can recommend a hot tub!).
• Downtime – Give your mind a chance to rest – if you are overworked you won’t have the brain space to think about your business in a helpful way as you will feel overwhelmed. So, give yourself permission for a day off occasionally. It can be easy to get drawn into answering emails at stupid o’clock, but you don’t have to. This whole article is basically me telling you to have spa day, as I love them, but whatever you like to do to relax, do it. Exercise can really help too; my best ideas usually turn up when I am running or after yoga.
• Don’t be afraid – We all think if we don’t reply straight away the client will be lost or letting someone else help with writing our blog or editing work may compromise quality, but don’t be scared to let someone trustworthy and qualified help. You can spend time planning and creating new ideas and bringing in new work and it will end up having a far more powerful effect on your business in the end.

 So, in essence, find some time to make plans, set goals and rethink through what you are doing and why. We all know we should be doing it but as the business gets a hold of us, we can all be guilty of letting things get out of hand. And book yourself that spa day! 

Hi there! I'm good thanks. Busy with planning and marketing and trying to get all my ducks in line for the new tax year. Also had a few new clients, so it hasn't felt busy workwise but January has actually been a really decent month! Generally fit and healthy and enjoying life! Glad to hear youryo doing so well .

I was at a speed awareness course yesterday and they were talking about driverless cars as the trainer had been out in one on the Coventry ring road, as they test them round here. He said it was terrifying but amazing at the same time!

That's got me thinking as I do yoga, pole fitness and I've just started contemporary dance. I need to set some goals for the year!! I'm not sure if the splits is achievable as I will have to work on the stretches at home and I know that I'm not good at maintaining habits like that. My children and business tend to distract me! 

I am determined to do a shoulder mount this year, it's a tricky pole move. 

Thanks for the thought provoking post. 

I totally agree, the fact I can be so flexible is why I love working for myself so much. I always hated 9-5 jobs. 

It's so strange thinking there will be all these new jobs we've never heard of yet. We will be sat in our armchairs ranting about the good old days! 

When are you most productive? We are all different and I have found that by recognising our own daily patterns we can become far more effective at running a business or even just in general everyday life.  

Your natural sleep/wake cycle is determined by your circadian rhythm, the internal 24-hour clock that governs when you are alert and when you are drowsy. A part of the brain called the hypothalamus controls this rhythm. Light also affects it because when it is dark around you, your hypothalamus signals the release of melatonin from your pineal gland, the hormone that helps us sleep. But beware, it also stops this release if it encounters light, so it is best to avoid putting lights on if you have to get up to pee in the night or you won't get back to sleep!

 When we are sleep deprived (waves to fellow parents and insomniacs) we feel these peaks and troughs of energy more strongly, so take note! The average person is least active/most sleepy between 2 and 4am and between 1 and 3pm, siesta anyone? The night-time dip in energy is when your body is in hopefully a deep sleep, and remember sleep is not only good for general rest, but it is when your immune system works, and various hormone levels regulate different body functions. Without good sleep you will find you get ill more often, and more stressed. Long term night-shift workers have higher incidences of heart disease and cancer and this is all linked to them going against their body’s natural circadian rhythm. Just think about how you feel with jet lag or with a newborn baby even, regular sleep matters, the circadian rhythm is easily disrupted. 

 If you are well rested, you may not notice the dip in energy in the afternoon but if you are tired (like I always am thanks to my children preferring my bed to their own) then it can hit you like a ten-ton truck. It varies a little for me, but my worst time is usually between 3 and 6pm. I am virtually useless then. Since having children, I can barely string a sentence together in the late afternoon. Then later in the evening I usually have a spring in my step again and often go to a pole fitness or yoga class and benefit from the energy surge. Work wise, mornings are very productive but if I try and proofread or write in the afternoon it takes hours to do one measly paragraph, so I avoid it when I can or focus on simple admin tasks that need doing or sometimes I take a nap!

 So, work out when you are most/least productive and tailor your working time accordingly. If you are brilliant in the mornings, then perhaps get up early and brainstorm or get started on a project and if you find late nights work for you then use them, but don’t do both… Make sure you schedule meetings for when you are most alert and try to avoid long drives if you know you will feel drowsy.  Tune into your body and create a far more productive day!

I am very glad I don't really deal with anyone outside the UK as I think it could cause all sorts of issues for those that do. I am still hoping they will come to their senses somehow and call it off!