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Are you a “yes” man or woman? When you’re an entrepreneur it’s easy to say “yes” to every opportunity, especially when you’re just starting out. If you’re an over-committed entrepreneur, you need to find a way out so you can begin working smarter, not harder and so you can focus and deliver the highest quality to your clients and prospects.

Are You An Over-Committed Entrepreneur?

How can you get out of your over-commitment? Here are a few ways.

  1. Don’t shun the responsibility of having “brought it on yourself.” You need to look at what you’re saying yes to, why you’re saying it and how you can have better processes in place to know when to say yes, when to say no and how to complete the tasks you’ve committed to. No one can force you to do more than you have time for — it’s your over-commitment. Own it.
  2. Do you have a fear of missing out? Generally called FOMO, it is something that faces everyone — entrepreneurs are not the only ones who want to be involved in everything and worry if they say no they will miss out. The fear of missing out is a powerful “motivator” for many entrepreneurs to become over-committed.
  3. You don’t look closely enough at your calendar. In order to not be over-committed, you need to know what time you have available in your schedule. Block out time for necessary tasks, block out time for personal and family time, block out time for new opportunities.
  4.  Know what your goals are and what the most important tasks to complete first. Complete them. Move onto the next task. If you don’t know what the important things are you may let items fall through the cracks. For many, the important, may be the most time-consuming and require the most effort, but you need to complete them to move forward. Block time in your calendar to complete these items.
  5. Practice self care. Even though you may be thinking, “I’ve over-committed. I don’t have time to take time off or get a good night’s sleep.” I am here to tell you, you don’t have the luxury of not practicing self care. If you get ill, who will run the show? If you’re a solopreneur, all tasks fall to you. You need to be healthy enough to perform them.

What do you find yourself over-committing to? Do those items fall into the same categories? Are you clear enough on your goals and business vision to know what you should be saying no to? Take a step back. Regain your perspective. Start anew.