- Fire Your Clients
- Cut Your Products
- Go and Be a Balanced Workaholic
Am I off my rocker, you ask now? Technically, no. Practically, well, maybe a little bit, but here is why I make those bold statements:
Firing your clients
I don’t mean, fire them all. But think about the ones that you absolutely dread talking to. Because they suck the lifeblood out of you. The ones that want everything and bring nothing. You have tried everything you know to turn them into a good client, but to no avail.
The relief you will feel and the energy it will free up when you refer them out to someone else, will easily be worth the temporary loss of income. Temporary, because you will have learned a lot about who the clients are you love, and now you have more space for those. Because you should love every single one of your clients. So you can’t wait to talk to them and you can’t believe that you actually get paid for being of service to them!
Cut your products
Can you think of something you do that generates a good amount of income but it bores you to tears? It takes up your valuable time and energy when you could be using your precious resources to create something new and exciting.
Jason Fried compares this idea to pruning an apple tree: take up those shears and make it prettier, direct the growth, cut away disease and generate more fruit.
Maybe when you first take those shears to your business it will look small and meek to you when you first finish pruning. But give it some time and you’ll see new ideas sprouting and the structure of your business will now be stronger with limbs growing into the right direction.
Be a balanced workaholic
Know when to walk away and do something else. When you are stuck and you can’t come up with what you need, take a walk. Your dog will appreciate this new insight. Doing less can actually yield more, because chances are you’ll come back to your desk with a new perspective.
Know your overall vision. How long will this burst of activity last and when is there a break coming up? Working long hours and expending a lot of energy feels a lot less daunting when you know when will be over.