Scrolling and searching like mad has not helped me find the original person I learned this tip from, but I will clarify that I didn’t come up with it on my own. Watching soapmaking videos to relax one day, I came across a soap maker running her own small business with her craft, and she was explaining how she made her business successful. One of her tips was that she pretended to still be working for someone else. Her reasoning was that there are expectations when we work for a business, company, or institution, and if she challenged herself as if a boss would have to approve her work, then she got more done during the day. This was an idea that made sense to me after more than twenty-five years of working for someone else.
I would rather not return to a regular work environment simply because it would limit my caregiving abilities and my creative spectrum, but I completely understand her reasoning. When I worked for someone else, I always knew there were expectations about the quality and purpose of my work duties. I was evaluated on those duties, and whether my supervisors approved of my work depended on whether I met the expectations. This is just a normal part of working for someone else. Having fair expectations for employees is how businesses operate and succeed.
This becomes difficult when you work for yourself. I should know because I had to learn to think like a businesswoman when I set out to become a writer. I no longer report to an office or a supervisor. Even when I do work for someone else, it is mostly done from my own home, and I only need their final approval or minor interactions. I set a schedule to accomplish tasks each day. I plan my monthly calendars to get everything done. I am now my own boss, and I determine my duties, business goals, and expectations. There isn’t anyone sitting in another office who does that for me anymore.
If you have spent most of your career working for someone else, it is interesting to become your own supervisor when you step out on your own. When I heard this soap maker’s suggestion, it helped me think about business differently. What would I do if I worked for someone else full-time as a writer? What would be the expected tasks each day? What kind of schedule would I need to keep to accomplish those things? Working each day as if a boss (that would be me!) needs to approve my work at the end of each shift or week makes me more aware of what I do each day. It also helps me evaluate my activities to see what I need to change or improve.
If you’re like me, working for yourself may not come naturally, especially if you have spent many years working for someone else. It requires a new way of thinking. Splitting myself between “supervisor me” and “employee me” has helped me become more accountable for my daily tasks and activities. I don’t have all the kinks worked out yet, but I’m working on getting better at this. Each Monday, I sit down and make out a list of things that must be done for the week. It’s almost like having a Monday status report meeting with a boss. At the end of each day, I look to see what I’ve accomplished, and I plan the next day much in the same way I would give updates to a supervisor. Each month, I evaluate my goals and what I hope to accomplish in a month. This way of thinking keeps me responsible.
If you are running your own show now, this tip might be helpful if you are having trouble focusing on the steps to be successful. I openly admit I’m still in the development process as a freelance writer, but this tip really helped me take things more seriously. I think more often about myself in those split terms of supervisor and employee because it helps me examine the managerial aspects of self-employment while also working on the daily duties an employee does to keep a business operational. It’s proof that my previous work experience has helped me become a better businessperson, and you might find it helpful to use as well.
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Inspirational Verses for the Day:
“Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.” Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” (John 6:27-29, NKJV)
All Things Subject to Change 