A Day in the Life

So as a small business owner, especially in this fast-paced gig economy, you don’t know what your day is going to hold.

I wake, make my coffee, then catch my first round of the daily news. Forewarned is forearmed, right? Alexa is one of my tools and my briefings include the latest bits from Wired, the LinkedIn Daily Rundown, Reuters, and the local weather. I emerge about 20-minutes later sorta ready to start the day. Anyway. .. Here we go!

Checking email is next, and working with so many companies, each wants you on their own mail system; this is a pain.. I scan each mailbox and apply some subliminal heuristic, weighing project, initiative, person, and impact. From there, I begin responding to items as the day takes hold.

Usually around mid-day, I have my bearings and things are in-motion. I take a break to meditate, shower, and go have some lunch; often heading Downtown afterwards because sometimes sitting at home can be too distracting in it’s isolation. I have a few favorite haunts in Greenville, generally coffee shops with consistent WiFi. I’m well-known (a well-known security principal) at several.. Sorry, Active Directory humor.

While I’m here, I use the white noise of the background to focus on the work tasks at hand. Hours go by – conference calls, emails, instant messages, water cooler conversations, strategy, tech sessions, and a sharing of stresses and successes turning colleagues into friends as you lean on each other. Just the way Enterprise projects run.. Never simple, but teamwork makes the difference.

When you don’t have that, it’s awful. When you do, you stand a chance.. As Consultants, we’re here to guide; as SMEs (Subject Matter Experts), we’re here to be deep experts (inch-wide, mile deep) with certain bits as well as help put all of the pieces together. We rely heavily on the client, however, because no one knows their organization (people, processes) like they do.

Working together, we get things done. .. And, sometime in the afternoon/evening, I get a chance to take my foot off the pedal and let the engine slow. I know there are things needing to be done, there’ll always be more to do. You run hard. You rest. You play.

As an Entrepreneur, I believe that we have to seek balance. I’ve went years wide-open. I’ve had, and will continue to have, technical employees to assist with project deliveries; but right now, I am finding the most benefit in having an Admin Assistant. I can’t cover it all so having the extra person helps me immensely. Especially this year, since I’m more focused on achieving a balance.

That’s one of the cool things about being an Entrepreneur, you have more of an opportunity to influence what you want your life to look like; it becomes more choice and intentional design. For me, this speaks to Freedom and I’m grateful to be here.