The life of a solopreneur is the most versatile on the planet — you can work while traveling to exotic locales or stay comfy in a coffee shop where the barista has your order memorized. Finessing every aspect of solopreneur life is thrilling, especially if moving from a traditional nine-to-five — but there is a lot to unpack. There are physical and mental changes you can implement to improve your quality of life as a solopreneur.
How to Improve Your Quality of Life as a Solopreneur
Develop the Ideal Mindset
Mindset is one of the most potent buzzwords in the entrepreneurial space, so you may already know your work mindset. Regardless, it has a powerful impact on our work, especially as self-motivated masters of our schedule and success. There are a few ways to adjust your mindset to create a better solopreneur headspace.
Embrace Continued Education
A great deal of intricacy and customization is involved in creating your perfect solopreneur routine. This is a benefit and a drawback because you can achieve the ideal work-life balance — but it may take time to experiment.
Read some top tips from entrepreneurial greats to see what strategies countless have adapted and change them if necessary to fit your routines. You can also try webinars and in-person courses about entrepreneurship for advice on the hard skills of running a business. Or, you can seek out members of your community in the solopreneur space and perhaps find a mentor.
As a solopreneur, it is important to embrace continuing education. You can also try webinars and in-person courses about entrepreneurship for advice on the hard skills of running a business. Click To TweetRemember Financial Mindsets
Inconsistent revenue is a frequent side effect of solopreneurship. Discussing your goals with a professional is the best way to prevent this. They can advise on maintaining strict financial mindsets with proper budgeting and savings strategies. Starting on the right financial foot will instill accurate expectations. You’ll find yourself asking what the investment costs versus the opportunity cost are.
Another way to solidify your financial foundation is through building multiple revenue streams. Depending on your industry, this could look like selling digital products like courses or creating a backlog of YouTube content to generate passive income through advertisements.
Create Tangible Goals with a Business Plan
The main objective behind creating a plan is to be specific but be willing to be flexible. When drafting, you may discover you aren’t sure what your goals are for your business. Honing in on this will guide every action you take, including what calls to schedule to what products to order.
Once you discover the intention behind your solopreneur journey, consider critical metrics you have control over, such as the number of products available or your hourly consultation rates. Avoid setting goals outside your control, such as social media followers or profit margins. You may have some influence on these metrics, but the actual agency is within your customers’ interests. This will decrease stress and provide excitement for each day.
Tend to the Environment
One of the reasons solopreneurs can unintentionally affect their success is by neglecting how much their environment impacts their work. You can incorporate every facet of success into your space, from comfort to inspiration.
The first is to minimize distractions. Numerous strategies exist to curb this, such as Pomodoro timers allotting sufficient break time and leaving your phone in another room. You can also clean your area, primarily if you work at a desk. Make it clean and tidy, free of personal papers like bills or advertisements.
The next step is creating an ergonomic environment that promotes wellness. If you’re primarily working from a desk, a chair with back support to encourage proper posture can contribute to your focus. The blue light from screens can disrupt sleep and cause eye strain. Prevent prolonged adverse side effects by resting your eyes periodically or obtaining blue light glasses. Other environmental improvements can include:
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- Strengthening internet connectivity with ethernet or having backup Wi-Fi
- Decorating your office with calming or inspirational artwork
- Adding greenery to reduce stress further
- Allowing natural light into the office by opening blinds
- Shutting doors to create a tangible boundary between personal and work life
Build Soft Skills
Though your expertise in social media management or artisan goods solidified your place in the solopreneur world, you must learn various soft skills. Traditional offices often have benchmarks like employee reviews to keep tabs on performance, but here are some you may need to consider perfecting:
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- Time management: Are you waking up at different times every day, causing late nights or long breaks? Try time-blocking, an accountability partner or a curated to-do list to keep you on track.
- Organizational skills: This can look like a mismanaged filing cabinet or outdated expense spreadsheets. Create systems to maintain physical and digital work materials current and clutter-free.
- Prioritization and task management: Administrative tasks like scheduling appointments or checking emails could slow you down from valuable deep work. Your sector needs your full attention and shouldn’t be divided among low-value microtasks. Consider delegating smaller tasks to freelancers, using automation services like schedulers or batching similar small tasks together — with a time limit.
- Boundary setting: You may have a family, pets or a constantly buzzing phone. Regardless, you must set firm boundaries for what you permit during work hours. This is to ensure a proper after-work shutdown routine can remain in place. It can prevent late nights caused by constant DMs, asserting healthy relationships with clients and loved ones.
- Communication skills: Your communications will be primarily digital, on the phone or in video meetings. Honing your professional speaking skills could create lifelong business relationships or convince investors to believe in you. It can also raise confidence in negotiations, such as affirming your hourly rates for a haggling client.
Living the Best Solopreneur Life
Finding little — or big — ways to improve your quality of life during your career can sometimes take as much time as finding solid financial foundations. If you can exercise patience and have an open mind to experiment, there are plenty of ways to gradually improve your solopreneur life to help your health and success.
Ciao,
Miss Kemya