Is it normal to be obsessed by a new business?

A new business owner recently asked this question in our business forum:

“Is it natural to be completely tired out and isolated? Three months in and other than a few networking events and family days, every day has been work. I’m pretty sure my balance is all wrong and I should be having the weekends off. Does anyone else feels like they need to escape from themselves and knows they are working too many hours and if so what is the best strategy to bring some balance back?”

To which our wonderful bunch of business owners replied ….

• I’m committing myself to at least one whole day a week not working at all. I need to choose something I have to concentrate on or I just drift back to thinking about the business.
• I can go through phases of working really hard if I need to, but if I keep it up for too long I feel awful – not just tired and prone to headaches, colds etc, but my motivation and productivity drops dramatically.  So I force myself to do other things that are totally unrelated to work, and that gets me back to ‘normality’!
• I make a point of doing things that are totally the opposite of work. I make a point of socialising with people who don’t understand what I do at work. I think it’s about getting the right balance to keep you productive, happy, healthy and sane, which takes a bit of experimentation.

Schedule time off

• I agree with all of the above. Here’s my personal experience. Just this morning I was telling my (super-understanding) fiancé how from the moment I wake up, I feel 7/10 anxious and irritated.

  I have taken steps in my business to protect my private time  and keep things separate, such as Wednesday is an ‘admin’ day for me- to catch up and I rarely do any work at the weekend.

  I also set my diary to work a 40-hour week. I know that occasionally I go over that, but if I know I’ve done those hours I can ‘let myself off’ if I’m tired/ stressed, knowing that I’ve done just as much as anyone out there who’s employed. It’s really helped.

• It’s not really about TIME. When things are going great, it’s a joy to work, I don’t want to stop, but getting in your personal needs BEFORE it becomes an isolating thing, putting yourself at the top of the list BEFORE your energies are used up is really important.
• Try splitting your day into 3 sections – morning, afternoon and evening. Work 2 out of 3. That’s the same as anyone else (and therefore in my mind ‘enough’) and you can justify an afternoon cinema trip, snooze, chat with a friend, shopping, knowing you can continue working that evening.
• First thing to do is take a day off and completely change your situation – go somewhere you’ve either never been before or somewhere where you know you’ll be calm and undistracted.  Working every minute of every day is a short-term strategy: you’ll get a lot done for a short while, but you will burn-out quickly and become ineffective.

Obsession does not lead to success

• It’s absolutely necessary to have peer group support but its equally important to have an interest that isn’t about business. This isn’t just good for your health and sanity, it makes you a more interesting person and that makes it easier for people to connect with you and so is ultimately good for business too!

Obsession can make you dull and hard to do business with

• It is so important to call an end to the workday and switch off on an evening. Weekends are also sacred. I recommend also having a completely different interest and making time for it.
• Being strict about how many hours you work is something all self employed fail at to begin with, but it’s essential to get it right, and is the first step in getting the balance.  A sociable hobby is another great idea.
• It’s good to go out, take a walk, do something that’s expressly *not* work, to help re-establish some perspective.

This is what our members do. What strategies do you have to cope with getting obsessed by business? 

If you’re working too hard for not enough reward, contact me now to get some simple strategies to work smart, not hard!