The success of your creative business can hinge on daily routines that optimise productivity, foster innovation, and maintain work/life balance. Are you cultivating the right habits—or the wrong ones?
Some habits, like planning ahead and focusing on high-value tasks, can get your business moving forward. Others, such as perfectionism and lack of delegation, can hinder the progress you’re trying to make, draining your time and energy and stopping your business from thriving.
What are some new and helpful habits to adopt to keep you on the right track to success? And which ones should you start dropping immediately? Read on to find out.
Helpful habits to adopt
1. Wake up early
Many successful entrepreneurs and CEOs agree that the early bird catches the worm. Waking up early will give you a head start on your day—whether you want to check emails before the onslaught of phone calls and meetings in your schedule or have some alone time to meditate or work out. You don’t necessarily need to get up at the same ungodly time as Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook (3.45am), but even an hour earlier could make a massive difference to your productivity. Of course, getting enough sleep is also crucial, so it’s best to go to bed a bit earlier too.
2. Read more
Learning is the key to getting ahead in business (and life). Some of the most successful leaders and businesspeople make reading a daily habit to keep up to date with industry trends and glean new ideas and strategies. On the topic of getting smarter, Warren Buffet once held up a stack of papers and said, “Read 500 pages like this every day. That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest.”
3. Plan ahead
The more prepared you are for the day ahead, the more productive and effective you’ll be. But don’t just start your day with an hour of planning—make it a nightly habit to review tomorrow’s to-do list and your schedule and goals. Even consider tomorrow’s outfit, meals, and any personal activities you’ll be doing. It’s one less thing to do in the morning and will ensure your day pans out as expected, leaving you free to focus on what matters: growing your creative business.
4. Focus on high-value tasks
High-value activities contribute to your business’s strategic objectives, i.e., they get you to where you want to be. These might include product or service development, marketing, customer management or professional development. They won’t include scheduling meetings, colour-coding a spreadsheet or engaging in low-level interruptions like responding instantly to emails. Consider outsourcing any business administration tasks that need to be done, e.g., bookkeeping and diary management, to a trusted virtual assistant. That way, you can focus on tasks that move the needle.
5. Exercise your body and mind
As a creative entrepreneur, you’ll wear many hats, work many hours, and, at times, become stressed and tired. With a hectic schedule, it’s easy to overlook your health and fitness. Yet, you must prioritise your physical and mental health to boost cognitive function, creativity, happiness and confidence—and decrease your stress levels. There are several ways to build up the habit of daily exercise, like going out for a ten-minute walk during a non-urgent phone call or doing yoga before you start the working day.
Unhelpful habits to leave behind
1. Chasing perfection
While having high standards is admirable, perfectionism in business can be paralysing, stopping you in your tracks and trapping you in a continual cycle of ‘tweaking’—leading to missed opportunities and delays. Steve Jobs was well known for being a perfectionist, and while this resulted in Apple’s products being synonymous with excellent design, it also caused problems. For example, Job’s insistence on flawless product design contributed to the original Macintosh release being delayed (allowing competitors to gain market share).
2. Procrastinating
Overwhelm, the fear of failure, and lack of inspiration can all lead to thoughts like, “I’ll start this project later”, or “I’ll make that decision tomorrow.” But, when you put off till tomorrow what should be done today, tasks start to pile up, productivity reduces, and you may even make poor decisions on a whim. Escape the procrastination trap by breaking large tasks into smaller ones, removing distractions and putting extra effort into finishing the thing you’re working on.
“Procrastination is the thief of time.” Edward Young
3. Saying ‘yes’ to everything
It’s understandable to want to say ‘yes’ to every opportunity that comes your way, such as a new strategic partnership, PR exercise or customer request. However, chasing too many opportunities can dilute your focus, spread resources too thinly, and lead to burnout. Learning the art of saying ‘no’ can protect your focus and time and eliminate activities that don’t align with your strategic goals.
4. Not delegating
You may find it challenging to delegate crucial tasks and responsibilities to others, even if they have greater expertise in a particular field. However, believing that only you alone can execute your vision or being scared of losing control over your groundbreaking idea can hinder business growth. Howard Schultz, the visionary behind Starbucks’ success, has long advocated the importance of building a team of strong, creative minds. Because while a founder will have that spark of genius to come up with a groundbreaking idea, they may not encompass all the skills required to transform it into a thriving business.
5. Reading emails before bed
While it’s tempting to use ‘quiet’ time to catch up on emails, doing this last thing at night isn’t a good idea. First, it’ll set you up for a sleepless night (not ideal if you’re trying to wake up early). Second, you may find yourself replying to emails without properly thinking through your responses. And third, without some boundaries between work and personal time, you’ll feel ‘always on’. This can quickly lead to burnout and play havoc with your productivity levels.
If you want your creative business to thrive, forming good habits like waking up early, continually learning through reading, and focusing on high-value tasks can keep you headed in the right direction. Physical and mental well-being is equally important, and incorporating regular exercise into your day can boost creativity and help reduce stress.
Conversely, unhelpful habits like chasing perfection, procrastination, or saying ‘yes’ to everything can hinder your progress, as can not delegating and working late into the night.
Ready to build sustainable entrepreneurial success? Start with a daily reading habit. Check out seven invaluable business books to guide your journey.