This could be the number one reason why we can’t grow our business, we don’t have time to grow our businesses. We are often caught up in working in our businesses as opposed to working on our businesses.

What is working IN your business? 

You are working in your business if you are:

• Client facing, in other words dealing with your clients daily.
• The one fire fighting.
• Afraid of delegating because you believe a job done by you is a job well done. In other words, you do not trust anyone else to do the job.
• Consistently telling yourself that you do not have time to grow your business because you are busy with work.

What is working ON your business? 

You are working on your business if you:

1. Have headspace to grow your business. We will look at what headspace is later on in this discussion.
2. Delegate effectively.
3. Are not always fire fighting.

What is headspace and what is stopping you from having daily headspace? 

Headspace is about having time to think or meditate.  It is about turning off all the noise around you and giving your mind time to pause, think, and reflect on important matters about running your business or giving your mind the freedom to go where it wants to go. This essentially means taking your brain away from the day to day distractions (emails, telephone calls, WhatsApp messages, Youtube Music, unproductive conservations, gossip, family issues, home chores, shopping, cooking, bills, the list is endless.

How to find time for headspace? 

First, it should start by a commitment to say, “I will give myself time to think.” The next step is finding that time in your busy day. You probably know which times work for you or when are you in the best frame of mind to do this.

For me, I have good headspace when I take a long walk without music in my ears. Sometimes it is when I take a long shower. Sometimes, it is those few minutes in bed before my system shuts down. Sometimes it is when I get my hands on a thought-provoking book or article.

So, for me, these are the places where I get my “aha” moments. Sometimes I can be struggling with something in my head and I give myself a ten or 15 min walk, and before long, I have figured out a way to handle the situation. I record my “aha” moments on my phone. You can record them in a small book or using whatever system that works for you.

Make sure you have this system next to your bed when you go to sleep too because you may have forgotten that thought by the time you wake up the next morning.

Practical steps to getting headspace: 

1. Be realistic with yourself. Headspace will not come to you after getting through a busy day or period. You have to make time for it.
2. Clear and organise your calendar to make sure it includes a headspace slot. For me, I do not work on Friday. I dedicate my Friday entirely to thinking about my business. I also try to give myself 30 mins of walking daily. Each end of the day, I am trying to learn something new.
3. Do not be tempted to cut down your thinking time. Decide on the times that work for you and stick to this routine.
4. Start small and grow naturally into this habit. Start with 15 mins a day, until you can get at least 8 hours a week of thinking about your business. Book this time on your calendar and stick to it.
5. Find ways of telling your staff not to bother you during this time. For example, you can say to them “if you see me wearing headphones, I do not want to be disturbed.” Choose a method of letting your staff (or people you stay with) know that you must not be disrupted.
6. Switch off your phone and computer.
7. Go out of your office if you can, take a walk. Do whatever makes you think, even if it is reading a book about growing your business or solving a problem you currently have.
8. As you walk around or read that book, play around the idea of solving the problem you are currently facing or the ideas on how to grow your business. Think about what is stopping you from growing your business.
   1. Is it because you do not have the right skills within your staff?
   2. Is it because you are doing everything and not delegating enough?
   3. Is it to do with the culture you set for your organisation?
   4. Do you even have that culture set?
   5. Do you have the right staff members doing the right things?
   6. Is there a system of accountability and responsibility within your business?
   7. Are your systems and processes working as intended?
   8. Have you automated what can be automated?
   9. Are there any productivity issues and how can these be fixed?
   10. Are your employees’ heart in your business? Do they feel like partners and not employees?
   11. Is it because you have some unprofitable clients and can you get rid of them? Is there some of your work that you can outsource so that you can focus on what matters for you and your clients?
   12. Do you need to hire more staff?

We have developed a tool that can help you think through some things/issues you may be having personally or in business. This tool can be accessed here.

Let us know what you think.