Breaking the 9-5 Mindset As a Small Business Owner
You’ve been staring out of your office window for months now, dreaming of the day you hand your notice in.
You know you’re made for more. You know there must be more to life than your 9-5 job, your Pret tuna sandwich, and your Friday night trip to All Bar One.
The day comes. You’ve decided. “I’m going to quit my job and go out on my own”.
You work hard for a few months and get your first clients (woohoo!!)
But a few months in, you catch yourself staring out the window wanting more. You realise you’re basically working EXACTLY the same way you did at your 9-5, but with more responsibility, and fewer lunch breaks.
It is SO easy to find yourself reverting back to your safe way of working when you go out on your own. I know. I used to do the same.
In 2018 I quit my corp. marketing role and travelled to India to do my teacher training. I then trained as a coach and built up my own successful 6-fig online business in the years following.
I wasn’t used to working for myself, but I loved it. I loved the freedom I felt to choose what I put into my calendar and when. I loved the feeling of seeing money coming into my bank account, knowing I had only to thank me, myself, and I.
But still I found myself chained to my desk Monday to Friday.
Subconsciously arriving around 9/10am and leaving around 5/6pm…. Even though I know I am more productive in the afternoons, and that on some period weeks, I am basically useless.
Still, I carried on. As usual. 9-5 (ish) Monday - Friday.
And then I had one of those lightbulb moments, which has now formed a core part of my teachings - “I get to run my business however the fuck I want to”. Seems simple right? And yet so many of my clients have struggled with similar issues.
They leave their jobs for more freedom and abundance, and end up working more, and feeling less satisfied because they don’t switch off (ever) from their biz.
Running a biz is hard. Yep. Ignore the IG fallacy that all you have to do is writhe around on a beach in Mexico, have an orgasm, set up a £10k coaching program, and boom you’re successful.
It requires a lot. You have to juggle multiple roles and hats, but most importantly you have to be your own boss. Which involves setting boundaries and sticking to them, setting a work schedule, making tough decisions.
But the silver lining to all of this, despite it being hard work: YOU MAKE THE RULES.
Wanna work 4 hours a day? Great. You’re the boss!
Wanna work 3 weeks on, one week off? Amazing.
Wanna sleep in till 11am and start work at 3pm? Go get it.
The point here is you, and only you, can decide how, when, and where you work.
Here are some things to consider and explore to help you lose your 9-5 mindset:
CREATE YOUR DREAM SCHEDULE - Allow yourself to daydream and write out exactly how you want to spend your week. When do you want clients? When do you want to show up? What days do you want to have meetings? Is each week the same as the last? Allow yourself to dream big rather than practical and you’ll be able to quickly see the gaps between how you currently work and how you want to work.
CHANGE LOCATION - Maybe you try a co-working spot, maybe you move to Mexico. Whatever floats your boat, just don’t forget that the biz you started in your bedroom during the pandemic doesn’t have to be run from your bedroom forever. Mix up where you work and gain fresh perspectives, have fewer distractions like doing the laundry, and meet new and interesting people that spark creativity within you
REMEMBER, YOU’RE THE BOSS - Your biz, your rules. You really do get to decide how and when you work; something I like to do is give myself full permission to put that into action on a weekly basis. For example, sometimes I like to take a day off (just because I can) even when I have no reason to - this trains my brain to remember I am in full control. Do something that reminds you you’re the boss and you’ll soon find yourself ditching the 9-5 mindset for good!
DELETE, DELEGATE, AUTOMATE - Finally for you to truly step into your biz role and shed the 9-5 mindset it’s time for you to work smarter not harder and be in your zone of genius more often. DELETE any task that is unnecessary (I see you email scrollers), DELEGATE when you can (start by outsourcing recurring tasks to experts like a VA) and AUTOMATE anything you do on repeat. Save yourself time so the hours you spend in your biz are actually productive, and you’ll feel more able to take time off!
When I fully embraced these new work mantras my whole working experience changed. I finally felt the freedom I craved and sought out from starting my own biz.
These days, I do still tend to have weekends off - but I also sometimes have a random mid-week day off and work a full Saturday - I listen to my body and pay attention to when I’m creative. If creativity strikes, fuck it. I’ll go with it. And equally if my body, mind, and energy is like “NOPE” I give myself permission to cancel everything and take a ME day!
I am also working more in alignment with my hormonal cycle, taking time off over my period and I’ve even asked my VA to block out certain days when I’m bleeding as ‘no work days’ and that to me is what freedom is all about.
