The Balancing Act of Entrepreneurship
For most fellow young entrepreneurs, one of the most common challenges faced is finding a way to manage work for our business with work from school. At times it can get overwhelming. From papers and exams to study for to sales calls and marketing campaigns to run, it can all get very hectic and stressful.
Yet managing both is definitely possible and I have found that my success in doing so is highly contingent on one and only one factor: time management. To be a successful student entrepreneur, you must be able to manage your time wisely so that you can balance school work and business work without losing your sanity and giving up every second of spare time you have.
This may sound obvious and it is, but time management is easier said then done. I have struggled and failed countless times with it over the past five years. However, recently I have found that through the effective use of detailed charts and schedules, I have been able to make a plan and stick to it.
Before I had a list of things I had to get done in my head and “managed my time” without actually writing it down. This was a mistake. In order to properly manage my time I had to write down everything so it was spelled out in front of me allowing me to make a “plan of action” and sticking to it. This may be because I am more of a visual learner, but making a physical list held me accountable for completing all tasks on my “plan of action” in a timely fashion.
I recently wrote a post for ProBlogger on the subject of balancing school work and entrepreneurial activity where I showed exactly how I do it. I think it is definitely worth a read. An excerpt from the post is below.
“The key to managing my business work and my school work is time management and planning ahead. It is absolutely vital that you do not procrastinate, because all procrastination does is lead to a great increase in personal stress and a great decrease in work output quality.
Throughout the course of my high school education and now in college, I maintain two separate calendars, one for school work and one for business. In my school work calendar I plot out all assignments that have been assigned and when they are due. Typically, I have as much as three weeks lead time for major papers and projects and know of testing dates at the beginning of the semester. Once I have established my calendar, I plan out my time so that I have a final product completed, whether it is an edited version of my essay or completely developed and analyzed study guide for a midterm, one week in advance.”
