Running A Business With A Chronic Illness
- Jan 29, 2022
- 5 min read
Written by: Claire Maynard, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
We all know that running a business can be hard work, especially in the first few years whilst its being built up and getting established. It can be stressful, exhausting (mentally and physically) and target orientated. This does not sound ideal for people, like me, who have a chronic illness. However, being self-employed and being your own boss, can often be the best thing for someone with a chronic illness. You can schedule your own time, work when you feel well and rest when you don’t. You don’t get worried about nonpaid sick leave, being late or letting anyone else down and you can work on your own terms. But there are still commitments, expectations and a never ending to-do list. And the pressure and stress can lead to flare-ups of health conditions, as well as reduced working hours due to medical appointments or reduced energy levels.
When you start a business, especially an online business, you meet other people in business, follow industry experts, read ‘how to’ books, join business and networking groups, and learn all about strategy, goal setting, scheduling, planning and targets. When you have a chronic illness, this can cause added pressure, overwhelm, frustration and feelings of failure. When you miss your own targets and get behind in your goals because you’ve been unwell, or miss trainings because you’ve been too tired, you feel like a failure, like you’ll never get to where you want to be. And there’s the constant worry that people won’t work with you or buy from you because they may think you’re unreliable.
However, people with a chronic illness can absolutely run a successful business, we just need to do it a bit differently to the way that’s taught to others. It’s still important to have goals, to know where you’re going, where you want to be and how to get there. But it’s ok to have a longer timeframe in place, it’s not a race or competition, take all the time you need. Set realistic goals, allowing for other commitments, and knowing the speed that you can comfortably work at. Allow plenty of rest time during your working day, even schedule it in, breaking things down into bite sized chunks to reduce overwhelm and preserve energy. Prioritise and organise so you feel in control and know exactly where you are, allowing a catch-up day or catch up time, so that if you fall behind in a week, you have time to catch up at the end. This will remove the pressure and reduce any feelings of guilt if you’re unable to complete tasks on a certain day. If there are times of the day that you work better, work then, whether that’s early morning, lunchtime, late evening, or the middle of the night! The joy of working for yourself is that you pick your work hours! Set boundaries for your working time, don’t book calls, trainings, or work-related tasks at times that you know you won’t be at your peak. For example, if you need your evenings to rest, recharge, unwind, or your brain simply doesn’t function as well, done work evenings. Also set boundaries to protect your energy, whether that be certain people you choose not to work with or tasks you know will drain or frustrate you too much. And set boundaries with your time, decide how many hours a day you feel able to put in and stick to it, if you know you can’t manage any more time that day, then day no to people wanting more from you that day. Saying no is important all round, learning to day no can be hard, especially in business, but it’s so important if you don’t want to burn out and overpush yourself. You can say no to orders, no to clients, no to team members and no to loved ones, your business will not collapse if you do. After all, if you don’t take care of yourself and protect your energy, there will no business at all.
I would also highly recommend using scheduling tools, automation, batch creating and outsourcing where possible. Writing and puting together content in advance not only makes you feel organised, but it can be done on a day that you are feeling well and be ready to go on the days that you’re not feeling your best, meaning it automatically goes out, keeping your consistency without you having to worry about it if you’re not feeling up to it. I use scheduling tools on social media so posts go out every other day no matter what. Automating parts of your business also means that things will automatically happen if you’re physically not doing them, which not only helps on the days you don’t feel well, but reduces your workload and saves your energy. You can automate lots of different parts of your business, depending on the type of business you have, for example, emails, funnels, ads, competitions, etc. Not everyone can afford to outsource, especially in the early stages of business, but if you can it can make a big difference. If you’re limited on what you can outsource, I would choose the activity that either takes you the most time or uses the most energy i.e., marketing, admin, advertising, social media management, etc.
Arguably one of the best things that you can do is to find people in a similar situation who can support you. Look for communities on social media, support groups, etc, with people who understand how you’re feeling and any struggles you may have. Sometimes they can give tips and advice on what worked for or helped them. But most importantly, having support or a listening ear from someone who has been through, or is going through, the same as you will encourage you to keep going, even on the days you feel like giving up.
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Claire Maynard, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Claire is a qualified and accredited life coach & confidence coach, specialising in mindset & visibility coaching for women in business. Claire is a featured guest expert, live trainer, guest author, guest blogger, magazine contributor and Amazon best selling author. Claire is passionate about helping and empowering women to believe in themselves and achieve their goals. To develop their confidence & mindset, to become visible with their business and live the life they desire.
