Growing a Small Business Starts With Growing the CEO
The daily planner lists for this week. Of course I HAVE to have my mid day Alani
After years of pouring into my small business, I was still stuck in the ups and downs of burnout. We’ve all heard a million times, “have systems in place to [fill in whatever you’re trying to accomplish here].” I went round and round thinking it was a social media problem, thinking I wasn’t talented enough, thinking I didn’t have the right CRM. One day it just clicked. Nothing big happened, but my brain finally told me, “Treat yourself like an employee.”
As a CEO whose office is tucked inside the same walls that hold our family memories, it can be difficult to draw a line between personal development and professional development. Taking care of my three kiddos has always been a top priority, on top of running a household, making holidays unforgettable, meal planning, handling meltdowns, and taking time to play. My heavy load didn’t leave much room for anything personal. I wanted to take care of my health. I wanted to grow in my design skills. I wanted to create the foundation for growing a small business, but I didn’t know how on earth I could fit those things into an already hectic schedule.
How Being Stuck In A Bad Business Routine Pushed Me To Change
I started to notice that my sleep had been awful, and that’s putting it nicely. I was overeating as a way to cope with a lack of fulfillment. I stopped running, mostly due to a change in climate. I needed change, and I needed it yesterday. So on a trip to Office Depot, I came across a leather-bound planner that was everything I needed. It broke down the monthly calendar as well as daily schedules. What felt like a frivolous purchase ended up changing everything.
I’ve always been a list girl. I needed a daily list, a weekly list, a save-this-for-later list, basically any list you could think of. How had I not realized that plotting out my daily business to-do list as if I were a manager assigning tasks to an employee would change so much? That Sunday, I wrote out everything I wanted to accomplish in business with a realistic 9–5 attitude for each day that week. What I didn’t expect was that at the end of the week, I took a breath and told my husband, “This has been the most productive business week I’ve had in a long time. I don’t even feel guilty about not working Saturday and Sunday.”
Consuming Better Content Without More Screen Time
I found myself more present with my kids and my husband. The overwhelming list of things to accomplish finally stopped giving me late-night headaches. But I realized I wasn’t done making positive changes. I started listening more intentionally to podcasts like Profitable Web Designer and Web Design Business. Before I knew it, I was consuming loads of knowledge from designers with many more years of experience than me, without ever looking at a screens.
A few days into this my new podcast habit, another realization hit. Before bed, I tend to binge content on my phone to “prepare” for the next day. Without realizing it, I was overstimulating myself and raising my stress levels right before sleep. Suddenly, the lack of quality rest made a lot more sense. So I swapped my phone for a book. I’ve been reading Branding in 5 ½ Steps, and within the first 150 pages, I learned enough to already feel excited about what’s next. As a bonus, my sleep has improved drastically.
When Personal Development Meets Professional Growth
All of this to say, I planned better, which allowed me to execute more. My template shop is launched. I’ve returned to working out at the gym. Our family time feels full again now that I’m able to disconnect from screens. Becoming more efficient has made me more effective. I even went to my first in-person networking event in town.
A More Sustainable Way of Growing a Small Business
Growth doesn’t always mean working more. Sometimes it means finding an organized process that helps you accomplish what you need to do, so you can fully enjoy what you want to do.
Growing my business has meant pushing myself in ways I never have before. And if you’re looking for honest, real-life insight into growing a small business without pulling your hair out, you can find a glimpse into my day-to-day work life on Instagram.
