Take Time for Yourself...
When I got into this business, I worked long hours. Nearly every waking moment was spent in front of a computer screen. With little time to cook, I was fortunate there was a local restaurant that delivered. They got to know me well.
So well, in fact, that I'd make up menu items for them to make me for dinner. Let's just say they knew me by voice, and if they hadn't heard from me for a few days, they'd call and ask if everything was alright.
Ahh, the days of my younger years. Where I would start work at noon and work well into daylight. It was a time that my clients loved the fact they could call at just about any hour and get an answer. It was a time where business was my only responsibility, and burning the midnight oil was the norm. I even had a key client in Asia who was thrilled to find me working on "his" schedule.
I don't miss those days. While I loved my work, I was often void of outside interaction and was very akin to sleep deprivation.
I still get clients who feel the need to call late at night, and even on holidays, because they think I'm the old me. But I've learned my lesson. All those non-stop hours weren't good for me, and they weren't good for the sites I on which I was working.
Today I'm finding more competition with folks of the like - ones who are at their clients' beck and call, day or night, even on weekends. They spend endless hours on the phone and eat takeout on the regular basis. And some day I'll hear their stories about way back when...
Most small businesses are either one-man shops or ones where the owner and a single employee wear so many hats it's difficult to tell which tasks take precedence and which ones will get full, due attention. While my phone doesn't ring as much, I see plenty of emails coming in late, late hours, and again in the mid-morning, followed by more in the afternoon. It's apparent these guys aren't getting a great deal of sleep, much less personal time to unwind. And it's dangerous.
Forget about health and the stress overworking can have on our personal lives. I've analyzed enough businesses to realize that overworking puts a strain on the business itself, including finances and sell-through ratios. While the power of numbers may be enticing (serving more customers at a lower level), real profits tend to come in by serving less customers at higher numbers. By giving full, due attention to those in need you'll build better relationships and better word-of-mouth future relationships. I know - my businesses has bounced up and down at times and in recent months especially while we've ripped through various replacement developers who aren't self starters.
Those used to my rants also know I love to cook. Hosting a dinner party is my "wind down" time, but I've seen my cooking suffer when I try to prepare all the dishes at once. It took time, but I've learned to prepare in stages, prepping appetizers and side dishes hours, if not a day, before. The result is a party in which I can even participate and enjoy, and food that just tastes better.
And while some folks may get frustrated they can't just call me at 8 p.m. (how can I be cooking when there's work to do), I know that if I don't take time to just shut off the computer and call it a day the work itself will suffer. There's nothing like coding a page (or in your case, preparing sales graphics and product lines) when you're just burned out.
