Taking consistent and purposeful action towards your main goal is a constant mantra for any soloist, but it’s easy to run off course. Here are some simple tips on how to stay on task – the right tasks – in your business.

When first starting out in business I remember just how hungry I was for information on how to set up and manage a business. Apart from the dogged enthusiasm to serve out my passion and be really good at the thing I was in business for, I was also set on doing a good job when it came to things like business systems, measuring outcomes, marketing and performance indicators (some of my favourite words). After all, I needed to know where I stood in order to get where I was headed, right?

As I delved into this world I soon realised that 95 per cent of my role as a business owner was anything but doing the thing I loved itself.

When faced with this realisation, what can soloists do?

It’s very easy to get caught up in dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s, to the point we spend most of our time working in the business and not on it, as Michael Gerber (author of The E-Myth) pointed out. We get so caught up in the minute details and day-to-day tasks that we forget to stop, take stock and stay steely on our strategy and doing the thing we actually love.

Getting bogged down in this detail also results in worry. Futile, futile worry.

Can anyone relate?

When we focus solely on the ‘doing’, we become inactive in fostering any real change. Our constant and incessant movement actually creates inertia.

Here are some practical tips to stay above the ‘worry’ and pull yourself back to the bigger picture.

Want more articles like this? Check out the productivity section.

Allocate at least two hours a week to strategy

This might be in the form of a ‘Forward-thinking Friday’ or ‘Mindful Monday’. Whatever it is, ensure there is time devoted to contemplating the direction, goals and strategies for your business. Some of this may just be to reinforce that your current strategy is working – check in with yourself if that case. Is it? Or do you need to challenge yourself on this front? Can you expand on your current goals or perhaps refine them?

Get some help

There are myriad options out there now that can help your business with the ‘small stuff’. Virtual assistants, outsourcing sites, freelance suppliers. They’re all there and available at a cost that might surprise you. If you’re concerned about outsourcing offshore, imagine what you can bring back to us once you have grown your business out of sight!

Get some more help

If you’re having trouble letting go of the reins, grab a business coach or someone to support you in maintaining big-picture focus rather than small-detail crunch. They may also help with that little thing called ‘control’, which you might be finding hard to swallow… Or even admit. *Wink*.

Got any ideas on how to stop doing ‘stuff’ in your business? Please share your suggestions with us below.