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6 Ways To Stop Yourself Overworking

Being an entrepreneur and managing your business is often more
than a full time job. Often, small business owners' lives become
unbalanced, work takes over everything - it becomes all
consuming. In his book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,
Stephen Covey says, "The urgent takes over the important."

If you find yourself stressed out, burned out, or worn out, take a
moment to assess your total health picture - physical, spiritual,
social and psychological. There is a cost associated with overwork.
The trouble is, we usually don't realize how much it will cost until
it's too late. Here are a few ways to deal with the strain of
overwork.

1) Decide What's Important to You - is meeting your sales quotas each month really more important than spending

time with your family? If it is then you may choose to spend an inordinate amount of time on it. But, if you are like
most people, the honest answer would be that your family and your health is more important than the bottom line.
So, make the necessary changes in your schedule to incorporate more time with the things that are important to you and manage your time more effectively on those things that are urgent.

2) Learn to Say No - people who are successful usually say yes a lot, but people who are both successful and wise,

learn when to say no. Adding additional activities to your life may get you ahead faster, but in the big picture of what's
important to you, does it matter if it takes a little longer to get there when it means spending more time on what you
truly value?

3) Ask for Help - why do we feel we need to do it all? Probably because most entrepreneurs and small business

owners have type A personalities. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness, but rather a sign of wisdom and strength.
Realize when you've reached your limit and then delegate! Letting others help means you can choose to focus on
what's important to you.

4) Simplify Your Life - the more you have, the more you have to worry about. Routinely get rid of things you don't use
and/or don't need. Reduce clutter both at home and at work. Reduce the clutter of commitments. Do you really need
to be involved in all those things? Take a deep breath and enjoy the peace of a simplified life and free up time for
what's important to you.

5) Remember People - relationships are more important than any activity.

Spend time with the people who mean the most to you. No one at the end of
their life has ever said they wished they'd spent more time at the office.

by Mike Wicks
President, Blue Beetle Creative Media

6) Make a Spiritual Connection - it is proven that spirituality enhances a

person's peace of mind, and quality of life. Whatever that means for you, find
a way to make a spiritual connection and incorporate those beliefs into your
daily life.

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