Avoiding Burnout in your Online Business

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

I love being my own boss and setting my own schedule.  Sometimes though, I find myself working more  than I did when I worked a 9-5 job.

There are days that , I work from 9AM-1AM teaching piano lessons and managing my eBay store. Yes, you read that right.  Some days, I work from the time I wake up until the time I go to bed.  It doesn’t bother me, because I love what I do, so it doesn’t  feel like work.

Then there are other days that I don’t want to do anything. I don’t want to go to a thrift store. I don’t want to take pictures. I don’t want to list. I certainly don’t want to ship.  Sometimes, I don’t even want to log in to see what’s going on.

On those days (they are few and far between, but they do happen), I  make myself log in to see what’s going on, and I make myself ship items.

Then, I allow myself to take a break.

It’s OK to take a day off once in awhile.  You are your own boss, right?  So it’s OK.

Give yourself permission to take a little break, go to lunch, take a nap, go for a swim, read a book, whatever it is that you want to do, go do it.  You’ll find yourself refreshed and ready to go again.

Even during your regular work day, it’s good to take breaks.  On days when I work from 9AM-1AM, I allow myself to sleep in and lounge around in comfy sweats. Some days, I  put my hair in a pony tail and forget the makeup.

I work for  an hour or two and stop to fix lunch. I make myself eat away from my desk.  I stop and load the dishwasher or stop to  take a Facebook break   I stop and play the piano or violin, stop and take a walk, etc.

You don’t want to burn yourself out. You don’t want to start hating what you do.

Of course you do need to shop, list, ship,  and answer questions, but you don’t have to be glued to it.

Don’t become a work-a-holic.

Enjoy your life,  and your family. Enjoy the privilege of being self-employed.  You won’t regret it.