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7 Things To Avoid When Starting a Business in 2021

What I learned from starting a business during a pandemic

By Antonia RoosPublished 3 years ago 6 min read
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7 Things To Avoid When Starting a Business in 2021
Photo by Domenico Loia on Unsplash

With all the spare time that was available to me in 2020, I pursued my dreams of launching my own business. This was an extremely rough journey, as I had to learn how to separate work and personal life while working from home and turning my passion into income. Which was a hell of a lot harder than expected.

I worked on my business every spare minute I had. Starting at 6 am until 9 pm. Needless to say I took some breaks in between. But my mind was constantly running in circles of what had to be done, when I wanted to finish which task and also tons of ideas on how to make money in 30 different ways. And of course I wanted to pursue all of them.

So with everything I learned this past year while starting a business during a pandemic, I’m looking forward to 2021 to set everything I learned into practice.

1. Not Having a Plan

Not writing to-do lists was a terrible mistake I made in 2020. When I initially started to work on my business, I thought there weren’t so many things to do, so I could simply store them in my brain. Wrong. On so many levels.

First up, starting a business involves a LOT of tasks. And second of all, how do you expect to be productive when you constantly have to think about all the things you still need to work on? The number of things I forgot to do after not writing any of them down is humungous.

Also prioritizing your tasks is vital. I always started with the things that were the most easy and fun to do because I absolutely didn’t want to do anything else. But that way there is no chance of getting everything done. What I learned is, that starting with tasks that are the least fun or tasks that take a long time is the best way to make sure everything gets done. In addition, it does feel absolutely brilliant to tick those things off and go over to the fun stuff while not having to worry about the not so fun things anymore.

By Emma Matthews Digital Content Production on Unsplash

Another thing I always did when a task I had to do entered my brain, was to stop doing everything I did at that moment and work on the other thing I just remembered. But that really messed with my productivity and I didn’t get anything done. I would suggest you constantly keep a notebook on hand. So every time you come up with a task that needs to be done, you can write it down. That way you can keep focusing on what you are actually trying to accomplish at that moment. Which leads me to my next point.

2. Jumping Between Tasks

As there are many things to do when starting a new business, it’s easy to fall into a cycle of wanting to do everything at once. But constantly shifting your focus from one thing to another isn’t helping productivity wise. Constantly trying to shift your focus from one task to another prevents you from getting into a flow state, and the flow state is where you want to be.

Rather try and batch your work. So find categories for all of your tasks and try sticking to one to max two categories a day. This helps you stay more productive and getting more things done in a shorter period of time.

So for example, instead of answering emails when they come in, take 30 minutes every afternoon before finishing off work to answer your mails. Or if you are, for example, a Social Media manager, try and take one or two whole days for generating content, instead of producing content for 2 hours every single day.

3. Not Taking Time to Relax

By Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Even if you are like me, and you turn your passion into a business, it is vital to take time off of those things. I know you love doing what you do, but you still need to shift your focus from time to time and do things purely because they allow you to relax.

Find things or hobbies to do that you are not attempting to turn into a business. Take some time away from the screen and only focus on yourself. If you like reading, read an excellent book, but one that doesn’t require for you to think to hard. Go outside, go for a walk. Take a bath or dance around your apartment. Do something that only requires you to be yourself and exist.

4. Neglecting Mental health

You should never ever neglect your mental health. Your mental health is one of the most important things in life, especially when you try starting a business. Your mind and your body are the only places you ever have to live in, so take good care of them.

Get rid of everything in your life that doesn’t make you happy or brings you value in some kind of way. Decluttering your life and your mind from unnecessary things and thoughts is honestly one of the most important things, not only in terms of business but life in general.

5. Not Taking Time For Family and Friends

By Tyler Nix on Unsplash

I know this one is kind of hard at the moment as most of us aren’t allowed to meet many people at once. But now more than ever, taking time for family and friends is extremely important. This virus and everything else that’s going on in the world right now just shows how limited our time on this planet is and how important it is to make time for the people that mean the most to us.

While working all the time in 2020, I rarely spent time with my family, and I really want to change that in 2021. I love my family and with everyone getting older I absolutely don’t want to miss a chance on spending time with them. Even if that means being unable to work for a couple of hours on occasion. The work that could be done in that time is not worth the memories that might be missed.

6. Neglecting Physical Health and Nutrition

By Juan José Valencia Antía on Unsplash

I know this one sounds kind of odd when talking about starting a business, but taking care of your body is just as important as everything else on this list.

When I work out first thing in the morning followed by a wholesome and nutritious breakfast, my day is off to a fantastic start. That’s because moving my body before starting to work wakes up my body as well as my mind. This makes me feel fresh, feel energetic, feel like everything is possible. In addition it gives me the feeling of having accomplished something already, and I feel good about myself for having done something good for my body.

I don’t know about you, but eating unhealthy always makes me feel sluggish and tired. And that’s not what I want to feel like with a whole day of work ahead of myself. Therefore giving your body all the nutrients it needs, is the best way to kick-start your success.

7. Not Believing in Yourself

When I first started my business, I was extremely motivated and thought I could do anything. After not seeing results immediately (Sidenote: I’m very impatient.) I felt devastated and wanted to give up. I in fact wanted to give up a couple of times because I thought I could never make this happen.

But this is exactly the mindset that stands in the way of success. If you want to be successful, you need to believe in yourself. Especially in those moments when you feel like giving up or someone else tells you that you are wasting your time. This is also what sets you apart from everyone else. Believing in yourself, fighting through the doubts and keeping it going is what will ultimately lead you to success.

Conclusion

So if you want to start a business in 2021, or you already started but want to take it to the next level, learn from my mistakes and avoid these 7 things. You can make this happen! I believe in you, and so should you!

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