Staying motivated as a solopreneur is harder than it seems, especially in the long run. In the beginning, you feel energized and ready to take on the world. But slowly, whether it’s months into your journey or years, you start to feel sluggish and burnt out. The monotony of days, the lack of colleagues, and working from home can call take a toll on our energy.
Today I want to talk about how to beat blogger burnout and stay motivated as a solopreneur.
Write Down Your Goals
Did you know that people who write down their goals are 42% more likely to achieve them? You may know in your mind why you decided to go solo, but writing down your goals for visualizing them using a moodboard is a great way to remind yourself each morning why you started.
Set Working Hours
Another way to beat burnout is to work less. I used to spend 12 hours a day for weeks straight on my blog and I thought this was just the price you pay for being an entrepreneur. As the Dave Ramsey saying goes, “Live like no one else now, so you can live like no one else later.” But working too much for too long can cloud your brain and render it useless. A better saying to work by is: Work smarter, not harder. For this reason, it’s better to set normal working hours – like the dreaded 9 to 5 and give yourself some time off to relax at the end of the day.
Adjust Your Output
This one was my least favorite, but I knew it had to be done when I started feeling burnout. If you are feeling overwhelmed at work, you may need to adjust your output and lower your goals. Killing yourself just to hit a certain number of posts isn’t sustainable. You may be able to do it for a few weeks, but eventually you will hit a wall. Lower your output goals a little bit to a more comfortable level. It will increase your productivity in the long run!
Take Breaks
I take many breaks throughout the day to give my brain a rest. Making tea or taking a short walk outside can help clear my head and prepare me for another work session. I’m constantly adjusting my work day routine but lately I’ve found that loosely following this schedule seems to keep me focused:
- Morning Work Session (while sipping my coffee and eating breakfast)
- Shower Break / Get Dressed
- Second Morning Work Session
- Lunch Break
- Afternoon Work Session
- Afternoon Break / Walk
- Late Afternoon Work Session
After that, my day is over and I relax for the evening. Obviously it’s not realistic for all of my days to be like this, but I’ve found it works well and keeps me on a general schedule.
Look at Your Progress
When I’m feeling down, I like to look at how far I’ve come by reviewing my financial statements from years past. Seeing the financial success I’ve achieved puts me in a good mood and reminds me to keep pushing forward. I don’t recommend doing this every day as you can become obsessed with looking at page views and statistics which prevents you from getting work done, but doing it once a week is fine. I’ve gotten to the point where I only look at my progress about once a month – because I already know that the progress is there!
Read Others’ Success Stories
Similarly, I like to read other bloggers’ income reports and learn about their success to remind myself that I too am capable of achieving greatness. Of course, you don’t want to get stuck in the cycle of reading too much (I did this in the beginning) to the point where you don’t take action on your own work, but reading others stories occasionally is a good thing to do.
Take a Vacation
Lastly, it’s so important to take regular vacations and really reset your mind for at least a few days, but preferably a week or two! I recently learned that Bill Gates takes solo “think weeks” where he spends one week alone in a cabin house. He reads books and relaxes during these retreats and he goes back to work feeling refreshed. We should all do something like this!
I hope this post helped you learn more about how to stay motivated as a solo business owner, freelancer, or entrepreneur. It’s tough to go it alone but there are ways to stay on track!