In order to do this, you need to have a vision of what you want to achieve. At the same time though, you need to start making smaller, concrete changes to the way you work on a daily basis.
You need to be able to see the forest and the trees. If you are a sole trader like me who is running the show alone, then that makes you both the CEO and the workforce and that puts you in a unique and challenging situation.
The problem is that you can get so overwhelmed, confused and distracted by the amount of work and knowledge that you have to put into your business daily.
At this point in order to deal with this issue you should take a step back and think about the logical direction that your business needs to take.
That means you’re constantly treading water and trying to stay afloat and you’re never able to implement the systems that would allow you the free time in order to start working less or more efficiently.
How to accomplish more in your business in a fraction of the time is a post I published a few months ago that you might find beneficial.
Many of us including myself who work online find ourselves stuck in a vicious cycle of trying to get work done without having the time to look after ourselves or enjoy life and just be content and happy.
Ironically though, in order to give ourselves time to focus on the big picture, we first need to hone in on the smallest of details. You probably know you’re overworked and spending so many hours on your computer that you kind of loose track at was is happening to you.
I certainly know first hand how this can have an impact on your relationship with loved ones.
So we need a solution and that solution is to look at the way you are handling your current work load. Because I’m willing to take a bet that you could be more effective and more efficient.
If you’re currently starting work at 1pm or even 10am, then you are wasting hours of your day. Likewise, you may well be struggling with things like procrastination or distractions.
Perhaps you find yourself constantly interrupted by phone calls, or struggling to stop playing Doom every morning for the first few hours before you do anything useful.
Likewise, there’s a good chance that the right technology or even a change in the way you present yourself could help you to get a bit more done. And that will buy us the time we need in the short run to start implementing change.
It’s time to take a look at how you work and whether or not you’re approaching your days in the best way possible.
The Importance of Discipline
When you are the boss, it is mighty easy to let lifestyle go to pieces and to find yourself a bit ‘all over the place’ as you try to instil structure and discipline in your own routine.
But if you’re starting work at 10am and finishing it at 10pm, then you’re not being as productive as you could be. If you often find yourself finishing work at 1am, then you need to seriously reconsider your approach.
Not only is this going to prevent you from being able to enjoy time with your friends and family but it could have a profound effect on your health.
Not only that, but you will find yourself constantly tired, strung out and less effective as a result.
So the solution is to start instilling discipline. That means that you wake up at a set time in the morning and begin work by a set time too. Likewise, it means that when you’re working, you’re working. That means no playing games, watching TV or making personal calls.
How to Fix Your Sleep With Ideal Sleep Hygiene
The first thing you’re going to do then is to try and fix your sleep so that when the alarm goes off, you have the will power to spring out of bed and get straight to work (or the gym). This takes a lot of mental discipline but that’s part of the point: this will cultivate your discipline and make you a generally more effective and productive person. If you can leap out of bed at 7am when your body is screaming for you to hit snooze… well then you can do anything!
But it starts with getting enough sleep so that you have more energy and will power to begin with. This is something that is very ‘in-vogue’ right now and all manner of blogs and websites will discuss the topic of ‘sleep hygiene’ at length.
There are a number of different things you can do to make sure your sleep is deeper, more restful and more effective.
The first is to turn off your phone one hour before bed and to stop looking at it.
Same goes for computers, laptops or anything else. For starters, looking at bright screens will cause the release of the stress hormone cortisol which works against the sleep hormone melatonin.
The more cortisol you have in your system, the less melatonin you will produce. At the same time, phones and other devices are stressful in themselves.
They are stressful because we associate them with important calls, with angry clients and with work.
But they’re also inherently stressful in the biological sense. That’s because they’re filled with things designed to trigger arousal and thereby get our attention.
These include things like flashing lights, loud noises and bold writing written in red.
Turn it off and your body will start to relax more – especially if you combine this with a bit of reading to help calm the mind and simultaneously make your eyes tireder so that you start to feel ready for bed.
At this time of night there is no reason not to turn off your phone, people will simply assume you went to bed an hour earlier.
Of course you need to make sure that your bed is comfortable and supportive and you need to ensure that the room is both dark and quiet while you’re trying to doze off.
Also important is to consider the temperature.
We tend to sleep more heavily and deeply when we are slightly cool, so consider leaving a window ajar to stop yourself tossing and turning in the night.
A warm shower will also make a big difference to your ability to sleep. This helps to relax the muscles and also encourages the release of melatonin.
Better yet, it helps the body to ‘self-regulate’ its temperature during the night.
You also need to think about what you’re doing during the day. Making sure you get fresh air, exercise and sunlight will help you to sleep much better and thus wake up more refreshed.
Two Powerful Supplements for Improving Your Sleep, Energy Levels and Learning
Still struggling to doze off into a deep rest?
One powerful supplement you can use is vitamin D.
Vitamin D is produced in the body naturally when we are exposed to sunlight and this has many key roles in the body – largely revolving around the regulation and production of other hormones
. Vitamin D can help to raise levels of melatonin at pertinent times, as well as testosterone giving you more energy. Unfortunately, most of us don’t get anywhere near enough sunlight and thus we are severely deficient in vitamin D!
Because vitamin D is associated with sunlight, it can help the body to maintain its circadian rhythms – the rhythms that tell us when to feel tired, when to feel hungry, etc.
Take this supplement in the morning and you should find you sleep better and feel recharged and rejuvenated.
More recent studies also show that it is highly effective at preventing colds and flu – potentially even more effective than vaccines and medications!
This is an important bonus seeing as a nasty cold or flu can completely ruin your productivity for days.
The other powerful supplement recommend is magnesium threonate. This is a supplement that you can take just before bed if you are someone who struggles to get to sleep and you should find that it helps you to drop off very quickly.
Magnesium is a mineral we get in our diet and that once again is an important ingredient for a range of processes in the body.
In fact, magnesium plays a role in over 300 different chemical reactions throughout the body.
Magnesium is highly effective at encouraging sleep and can put us into a slightly dopey and restful state.
In fact, magnesium is the reason that many of us associate milk with sleep! It also happens to be a powerful muscle relaxant, thanks to its ability to remove calcium from the muscles cells (which is involved in the contraction of muscle).
On top of all this, magnesium is also crucial for testosterone production that happens during the night.
How to Get Out of Bed On Time, Every Time
The next thing you need to do is to make sure that you are actually waking up when the alarm goes off.
NEVER hit snooze.
The temptation is great but you will almost always feel more tired when you do rather than more refreshed.
You might find that you lack the will to simply jump out of bed though, which is why the better solution is to get up in stages.
For example, why not sit up and check your phone for messages? We are often told not to look at our phones first thing in the morning, but if this is something you can look forward to doing, then it will be enough to motivate you to sit up just slightly.
Likewise, you might find that you can motivate yourself to sit up a little and talk to your partner. Or to turn on the TV.
This takes very little effort but by taking this small step, you will start to come around. In 10 minutes, it will feel easier to get up than to go back to sleep!
A Powerful Tool for Waking Up
We can once again augment this with the right tool. In this case, we’re talking about a ‘daylight alarm’. This is an alarm attached to a powerful light that is designed to mimic the wavelength of the sun and to get gradually brighter as it becomes morning.
The idea is that this lamp will simulate the rising of the sun in the morning, gradually getting lighter and thereby stirring you out of bed.
The devices are designed to treat those who suffer with ‘SAD’ or ‘Seasonal Affective Disorder’. However, they can be useful for helping anyone who struggles with their energy levels in the morning for two reasons: first, they rouse you into a lighter stage of sleep before the alarm goes off, thereby making you feel less ‘jolted’ when you wake up (a phenomenon called ‘sleep inertia’).
What’s more, is that when you do wake up, the room feels bright and this boosts your energy in a big way compared with waking up into a pitch dark room and fumbling for an unnatural feeling lamp!
Finding Meaning in Your Work
Now you should find yourself enjoying a much better work-life balance and earning more money while doing less. Maybe you’re using this new found freedom to travel, or just to relax a little more!
But what you should also be doing, is taking a step back from your business and deciding on where you want to take it and how you want to grow it.
Instead of being an internet marketer, how about positioning yourself as a ‘fitness internet marketer’ or a ‘fashion internet marketer’.
In this way, you help yourself to stand out a bit from all the other marketers and at the same time, you’ll now be writing about things you love, dealing with other websites you love and reading about what you love!
Another tip is to develop yourself. As discussed briefly already, you can start to add new skills, and you’ll be able to expand your own services and grow yourself professionally.
This will impress your clients and you will be able to get more sense of reward for yourself from what you do. Learn to program, learn to design, learn to write — all these skills will make you more well rounded and open up new doors for you.
Similarly, look at other ways you can generate income, look at ways you want to grow your business and consider using your marketing skills to create your own brand.
This might mean having a brand for your own business. You’ll feel much more pride in what you do when you have your own business website, your own business name and a reputation that you’re proud of.
Plus, this can help to bring a lot more clients to your business without you having to get out there and find them.
Think about expanding too. Look at how you can grow your business, take on new clients and perhaps outsource more of your work — or get in-house staff!
Or alternatively, how about running your own blog?
This can work as a brilliant showcase for what you can do, or it can be used to build trust and authority if you are writing about the subject of internet marketing.
Most of all though, having a blog will give your business new direction and help you to feel as though you are making progress. You can even feel like something of an internet celebrity, which is a great bonus of working online!
Some more info can be found below.
What happens to your body when you sleep
To a successful nights sleep and a successful week in your business.
David Jones
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