Task Management Skills You Can Apply in Business and in Life
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Sometimes, the allure of owning a business gets smothered by the stress and sheer exhaustion of the process. The multitude of tasks seems to blur between days as you wonder how you’ll get them all done. And as you work not just at your business, but in attempting to create a balance between you, the entrepreneur, and you, the individual with personal relationships, you may simply be left with one glaring thought: Entrepreneurship is hard.
And you’re right. But as Tom Hanks’ character in A League of Their Own said, “It’s supposed to be hard. If it were easy, everyone would do it.”
The lessons learned in business can actually transfer well to your personal life. For one example, you know that a neglected business won’t survive — and neither will you. Take care of yourself with some healthy food and snacks from Performance Food Centers. Doing what you love feels better when you feel better.
How your personal traits affect your business
It can be difficult to examine our personal selves, or even understand why we should. However, when you are running a business, it exposes a lot of personal traits that affect your business either positively or negatively. Having them exposed like that can actually have a positive application on your personal life.
- You’ll never have it all figured out. That’s why in business you network, you find mentors, and you do research – but please don’t be constrained by a Google search; read a book. You’ll experience the depth of the author’s experience more from a book than from a few internet articles. Plus, reading is relaxing, which is good for you physically and mentally.
- Sell yourself, even if you don’t believe it (at first). You have to be a salesperson as a business owner, so sell yourself like you sell your products and services. You’ll eventually start to believe it, and that translates into a confidence that others notice. That confidence helps you develop and sharpen your instincts – and those are worth paying attention to.
- Being a control freak is counter-productive. If you have employees, empower them to make decisions without the need to consult you. It’s okay to set parameters; for example, if the decision will cost the company over $X, then consult you. But learn to let go of making every decision.
- Outsource and automate. Closely related to #3, stop trying to do everything yourself. Outsource tasks that take you away from the critical things. As an example, if one of your “to-dos'' is to organize your business structure to a limited liability company (LLC), don’t waste your time and energy doing all of the legwork yourself. Engage a company formation service to do it for you efficiently, legally, and inexpensively. And avail yourself of the several task management apps that zap your strength as you attempt to micro-manage every business project, so you can …
- Invest in what matters. If you need to hire help, do it. If you need a break or vacation to come back with renewed energy and motivation – take it. Stress smothers passion.
Relationships and rejections
Other lessons outside of personal traits also apply to other aspects of your life. For one, never lose anyone’s contact information. You may go your separate ways, but somewhere down the road, something will come up that makes you think of them, and to re-connect in ways that could be beneficial. You may be surprised when you send that email or make that phone call and start with, “I’m not sure if you remember me but …” and many of them will say, “Sure I do! Good to hear from you!”
Because of that, try not to burn bridges – but learn when to let go. Sometimes toxicity just needs to dissipate without you present. And if a rejection stings, remind yourself that this is often a clever disguise for opportunity.
“Lessons are not given, they are taken.”
Those are the words of Italian novelist and poet Cesare Pavese. Being a small business owner puts you in the distinctive position of taking those lessons, and applying them to the important things in your life. Your health is one of those important things, so visit us at Performance Food Centers and refuel!
Photo by Jeffery Erhunse on Unsplash