You have no idea how excited I am about today’s video because it is about something I am obsessed with. Daily routines. Now, it’s weird that I’m obsessed with these because I’m actually quite a rebel and I struggle to stick to any kind of strict daily routine or ritual, which is why I think I’m kind of obsessed with them. But from what I understand, you feel the exact same way as I do.
As creatives and entrepreneurs, we’re the kind of people who like to change things up. We have a million ideas and we don’t tend to like to stick to doing one specific thing all day. And that’s why this video is gonna be a little bit different from other daily routine and habit videos you’ve seen before. Because what I’m gonna be talking about the common threads I’ve seen in the daily routines of successful entrepreneurs and solopreneurs. Let’s talk about what happens every single day for the people behind the screens of your favorite online businesses.
#1 -They All Have Stress
Number one, everyone has stress. I think sometimes we all think that there’s some magically point out on the horizon where we’re gonna arrive in our businesses and everything’s gonna flow amazingly and we won’t have any stress, and, actually, the opposite is the case. The more your business grows, the more things you’re going to be asked to do and the more responsibilities you’re going to have that you are completely unfamiliar with.
This daily stress exists for all entrepreneurs and that’s why it’s part of an entrepreneur’s daily routine – how to manage that stress. The key is noticing when something is triggering you or stressing you out and having a tool for managing it. For me, this means going back to my project management tool, Asana, and breaking down tasks because, usually, when I’m stressed and overwhelmed, it’s because I’ve lost control of whatever my to do list is for that day.
#2 – They All Have an Evening Routine
The second element I know is crucial for all successful entrepreneurs is an evening routine. If your morning routine isn’t going as well as you want, I bet that your evening routine is a big reason why. Now, I’m the first one to admit that I don’t love any kind of strict routines. I’ve never been able to stick to them, but there are a couple of things that I need to do every day in order to stay on top of things and to be a good CEO of my company. One thing I do every single day is I review my calendar for the next day and make sure that I have my three to five top priorities for the next day jotted down in my planner.
Doing this exercise before I go to bed allows me to sleep soundly because I know what I can expect the coming day.
#3 – They All Measure Key Actions
The third thing that successful entrepreneurs do every day is they measure key actions, not minuscule tasks, and they’re not so focused on results that they don’t take action because they’re unmotivated. As an entrepreneur, you’re going to have a kajillion things on your plate at all times and, like I said earlier, it’s only going to get worse as your business grows and you are responsible for delegating and managing those tasks to your team. You’re not gonna be able to handle all of the tasks on your to do list, even when you do have a good team. I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but it’s never going to happen. You’re never gonna finish your to do list.
How do you work around that? What a successful entrepreneurs knows is that it’s not about an endless list of to dos. It’s about identifying the key indicators. The key actions you need to take in order to keep the ball rolling forward and reach your goals. I recommend having a 90 day plan, a quarterly plan, of what you wanna accomplish over the next 3 months. And then make sure that you know what those key actions you need to take to achieve those goals are going to be. Rather than getting bombarded with email and reacting to that, what you wanna do is make sure you are starting your day and managing your day around making sure that you take the key actions to move forward.
#4 – They All Batch Like Tasks
The fourth thing that successful entrepreneurs do every day is they batch their tasks in categories. The worst thing you can do, from a time management perspective, is have a list of tasks and then just do them one by one by one. Like, “I have to check my budget and now I need to read an Instagram post and I know I need to reach out to a client and now I need to get on a call.” This is a recipe for inefficiency and haemorrhaging time and resources. Instead of doing all this context switching, what you wanna do is put your tasks into categories and then make sure that you’re batching those tasks. For example, when I film these videos, I’m filming like four or five videos today and I batch the days that I do videos because I takes a lot for me to set up the camera and the lights and have my scripts ready. I make sure that I do them all on one day because that helps me to be more efficient.
#5 – They All Have Time Boundaries
The fifth thing that entrepreneurs do every day is they have time boundaries. You will never be a successful entrepreneur if you don’t learn to say no more than you say yes. Having time boundaries means that you know when to be working, when you need to stop working, you know what needs to happen in your life for your relationship, you know when you need to turn off the computer and go to bed. You have boundaries on these things because you know that if you don’t adhere to those boundaries, you’ll probably go insane. For me, having time boundaries means that I only take client calls on certain days of the week. It means that I don’t answer pick my brain emails. It means that I only go to a certain number of events every single month before I know I don’t have time to do other things. But what it also means is I know when I need to turn off my computer for the day so that I don’t fry out my brain.
#6 – They All Take Regular Breaks
And then, finally, the sixth thing that I believe that successful entrepreneurs, especially those of us who work from home, know how to do is take regular breaks. It’s so easy when you work at home to lounge on the couch and be on your laptop all day and kind of be watching Netflix and then get up and eat a snack and just be staring at the screen all day. It’s super easy. It might even feel fun in the beginning but it’s going to burn you out. Make sure that you’re taking regular breaks at least a couple of times a day. Get outside. Leave your house. Get in the fresh air. It’s the best thing you can do. It will reinvigorate your creativity. It will give you more energy and you’ll actually be more efficient and get more done.
Those are the six things that I believe successful entrepreneurs do every single day and what I would love to know in the comments is what is one thing you do in your daily routine? It doesn’t have to be every day, but what’s one thing you do that you absolutely love. I wanna hear what you guys are doing because I wanna know what kind of things I could be adding to my day and I believe this way, we can share and support each other. I can’t wait to see what you have to say.
