Lost That Loving Feeling How To Fall in Love With Your Business Again

Are you in the thick of running your business and starting to feel overwhelmed, too busy, and asking yourself and your friends "Now, why did I think starting a business was a good idea?" It sounds like you have lost that loving feeling that you felt when you first started off. Or, maybe you already love your business, but want to get more joy out of it. Here are 4 easy ways to get the love back (or love it even more):
1 . Automate tedious tasks
There are some tasks that we have to perform in our business that, let's face it, are not the most exciting. They may be required just to keep our business running (invoicing, handling customer service, publishing content, etc.), but
man does it drain our energy! Well, thank goodness for the interwebs and all the techy stuff available to us now that can help us put those tasks on auto-pilot. I use several web applications within my business system, and a bonus is that most of them are free or very low cost. Score! A recent article published by Mashable shows the most popular freelancer apps for work-life balance, and I use most of them on their list. Do a search there to check out the apps listed.
2. Eliminate non-value added activities
I am going to be short and sweet on this one. Are you spending time on tasks that are not bringing value (uh hum... money) to your business and your offer? A lot of us do it. Well... stop. Not sure what non-value added activities are? Ask these two questions:
Does it create income?
Is my customer willing to pay for it?
If the answer is 'no' for both of these questions, seriously consider why you are doing it.
3. Take a break
Running a business is hard work. (Duh.) And solo entrepreneurs are pretty darn dedicated to it. This intense passion and trying to keep all the balls in the air is physically and emotionally draining at times. Make sure to schedule "off-days" to step away from the business and get out of the hustle for a minute. These breaks can allow you to return to the business "on-days" with more energy and a renewed sense of what needs to be done. Not taking the time to step back for short periods of time usually results in getting bogged down in details and losing our big picture perspective of what is important.
4. Put a fresh set of eyes on your process
Stale ways of doing things may become mundane and may make you rethink why you got into business in the first place. Review how you currently tackle tasks and see how switching things up a bit may help you see your business in a fresh light. Look at your business as though it were brand new, and imagine that you are creating a business that does things like nobody else. Have you copied how somebody else does things? Can adding an unexpected element to your process spice things up a bit? Just make sure that you set up your business to run so that it matches up with your lifestyle and how you do things, and don't force yourself to do things just because that is how everyone else is doing it.
So, which one of these tips will you start using right away and which one resonated with you the most? I would love to hear how you apply them to your business, and how they helped you get the "business love" back!