Early in my life, I made a promise to myself that I would always work hard and never have any money problems.

From I was a teenager I worked jobs after school and always had money when my friends ran out. I learned to manage my money at an early age and kept the promise I made to myself of working hard – so hard in fact, that it eventually got me sick.

I clearly remember the day that my back gave out, and my body slammed to the floor – right in front of a client. That was the day I realized I had to make some serious changes and realign how I lived my life.

Working hard was not working!

I learned some important lessons. In this article I’d like to share with you some of the most important things I’ve learned when it comes to setting yourself up to working smart.

You don’t need to work hard 24/7 to have a successful business – and there’s no need to sacrifice your personal life or health in the process.

1)      Take care of your own needs first: Prioritize self care and schedule it on the calendar. Think about what would happen to your livelihood if you were out of commission and couldn’t do your work. For a month, a year, for the rest of your life? Not a good option, right?

Don’t sacrifice your health to get what you want. It’s easy to give up self-care because it may not seem urgent. But your body is the most important machine you have and it’s important to keep it in top shape.

2)      Have fun: If you feel down, unmotivated or unproductive, take a break and do something else. Go back to your office when you’re ready to get stuff done and you’ll be so much more productive.

3)      Focus on the 80-20 rule: The 80-20 rule says that 20% of the things you do, produce 80% of the results. Identify what the 20% is that makes all the difference in your business and focus on them. Don’t try to do everything, it’s not productive. This can allow you to reduce the amount of work you do by 80% while increasing your results.

4)      Let go of control and delegate: Do the things you love and do best, delegate the rest. Why waste time on things you’re not good at or things you don’t love doing. Allow yourself to receive help.

5)      Create systems and automate: Don’t spend time on things that can be done by computers. Make sure you have proper systems and processes in your business to save you time and worry. What more can you automate in your business?

6)      Set proper boundaries. Know your work hours. Be clear on how and when people can contact you. Have a policy for when you will respond to phone calls and emails. Honor your own boundaries and other people will too.

7)      Value your and other people’s time. Plan your time and stick to your schedule. Don’t forget to charge what you’re worth for your services.

8)      Schedule your vacations ahead of time, and enjoy them without worry or fear that something is going to fall apart. Unplug.

These all sound simple right? Knowing what to do is easy, but usually doing it is a whole different story.

As the quote from James Cathcart says: To know and not to do is not to know. What are some challenges you’ve had in your business when it comes to balancing time and money? I would love to hear your comments.

If you want to supercharge your vision, get out of your own way and step into living the life you came here to live unapologetically, I invite you to get a copy of my Success-soul™Living Starter Kit. You can get it here: free resources.