THE PRACTICE Whenever you agree to a demanding deadline, block the day after it as a light day at the same moment, before anything else can claim it. Big deadlines have a familiar pattern. The week before is long days and late nights. You hit the deadline, send the...
THE PRACTICE Give your own workspace the same check an employer would: chair, screen height, lighting and how often you get up. Fix the worst problem first. At many larger companies, someone thinks about how you sit. There’s an adjustable chair, a monitor at the...
THE PRACTICE Set your phone so business apps and notifications go quiet at a fixed time each evening and come back at a fixed time each morning, automatically. When you had a job, the office had a front door. You walked out, and the work mostly stayed behind. Even the...
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” —Benjamin Franklin When I was growing up, I always wanted to be a teacher. I loved the organization, continuous learning, and helping others. To me, teachers are the epitome of lifetime learners....
THE PRACTICE Set aside fifteen minutes at the same time each day to think through business worries on paper, and when they show up at other times, write them down for that slot. Every business owner worries. Cash flow, a slow pipeline, a client who’s gone quiet,...
THE PRACTICE Use a separate phone number for your business, and decide when it’s on, so your personal phone stops being a direct line to your work. Early on, most solo operators give clients their personal cell number. It’s easy and it feels personal, and...
Entrepreneurs are celebrated for how much responsibility they can handle. But as businesses grow, carrying everything can become the very thing holding them back.
Entrepreneur Magazine