Trying to juggle your life while running an online business can really be a roller coaster ride. This is the case whether you are just starting or at a point where your online business is profitable. Being productive is important when you have an online business, but that productivity can become toxic productivity when you no longer can balance your personal life and your business.
It’s very easy to let your online business take over your whole life.
And what’s ironic about this is that most of us start an online business so that we can have MORE freedom and more balance.
Whenever someone asks you about your thriving online business, do you outwardly beam with pride, yet internally feel a bit of regret and remorse?
This is common with people who have sacrificed proper work-life balance in favor of success.
To everyone else, you seem to have it all… a growing income, a self-sufficient lifestyle…what more could anyone ask for?
But you know the answer to that.
You could ask for more free time to nurture your own needs.
More free time and a flexible schedule was supposed to be the big perk of having your own online business.
Being your own boss means that you don’t have to ask a boss permission to have free time to tend to your personal life.
You call the shots, so if you balance your work and life in a more manageable way, aka better time management…then you can have it all for real.
You could have time to spend taking your spouse on a vacation, enjoy family dinners or playing golf with a good friend.
But instead, you’re chained to a life of toxic productivity, which, by the way, isn’t always work-related.
For some, that toxic productivity extends to their personal life instead.
They’re the kind of people who have to make sure every square inch of their home is perfectly spotless 24/7, that their kids and themselves are over-scheduled to the point of exhaustion, and more.
It’s easy to get drawn to this type of lifestyle because for a while, it makes you feel good to accomplish things.
You’re not only doing something…you’re doing it well.
You’re doing it better than most!
However, there comes a tipping point when the overachiever’s productivity turns into something toxic and unmanageable unless you’re willing to sacrifice other areas of your life.
In fact, you will probably end up sacrificing it all, your personal life, your online business and end up getting nowhere with both due to burnout.
Little by little, you allow it to steal you away from other things you love until one day you wake up and realize you’re trapped.
What you once took pride in doing, you now dread.
But because it’s labeled as something productive and useful, you find it difficult to ease up on and give up.
If it were something everyone viewed as toxic, you wouldn’t have any trouble abandoning it.
In order to remedy the situation without making a drastic change that everyone notices, do it in baby steps.
Incremental changes where you reclaim your time and energy and devote them to something else that needs your attention are better than one big change all at once.
Living a life filled with regrets that are based on the pretense of productivity is a sham that no one really wants to endure.
It’s not worth burning your candle at both ends and overwhelming yourself.
Obsessing about being productive in your personal life or your online business will get you nowhere and will often backfire.
It’s okay to evaluate your needs and do some course corrections whenever you see fit.
That’s the sign of a healthy individual, not someone who is pretending to have it all together.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day 🙂
To Your Success,
P.S.- Grab your free gifts below as a “Thank You” for visiting my website 🙂
About
Nicole Lynn
from
Resources for Online Success
My Online Journey
You don’t know me.
I’m not some flashy internet marketing “guru” with my name and face all over the internet.
I’m just an ordinary person that had to figure out a way to make money online when I lost my job in 2008, due to health issues.
In the offline world, I gained several years experience in Customer Service, Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable and various other clerical type positions.
Much of it was drudgery, especially working in call centers.
I was good at my various jobs, but I did not enjoy being hostage to a cubicle and headset..lol 🙂
But, you do what soul sucking jobs you have to do, in order to make money to pay the bills.
As a free spirit, I always had the deep desire to break free from the cubicle-zombie-robot rat race world and have full control over my time, income and life, without having to have permission from a boss.
I was tired of being just another “number” that was expendable, no matter how dependable I was or how hard I worked (just to help build someone else’s wealth and make their dreams come true).
I wanted to create MY freedom…not just build it for someone else.
Unexpectedly in 2008, severe neck issues forced me out of the 9 to 5 corporate world rat race (before I was actually ready financially, which really sucked a lot and was pretty scary).
My neck issues got worse after years of being trapped at a computer, with little to no permission to get up and move around and stretch.
This is not good when you are suffering from old car accident injuries.
This was especially the case in call center jobs with low cubicle walls. They didn’t want you standing up, due to the noise while on calls.
And although losing my job and the paycheck was a less than pleasant experience, my goal was to be an online entrepreneur anyway.
But, I was forced to make it happen at that point…which was not ideal.
Wasted Time Dabbling
It’s better to have a 2nd income already coming in regularly before losing your main source of income, but I had no control over what happened.
I had already been “dabbling” in internet marketing, on the side, since 2004…basically wasting time.
I treated it as a hobby, instead of an online business.
I actually made a little bit of money with affiliate commissions and some advertising revenue, but it was nothing to write home about because I did not build it up.
If I had realized that my health was going to go sideways so badly in 2008, then I would’ve taken my online business “side gig” much more seriously.
I would’ve hustled, even while still working a full-time job, because 4 years would’ve been more than enough time to have built that online business into a full-time income.
Just an extra 1 hour per day consistently over that 4 year period…would have made all the difference.
So, after I lost my job in 2008, I was in a real bind for more than one reason.
I needed to get serious and stop dabbling and start hustling to make money online, but it takes time to build an online business that brings in consistent income.
I was out of time. My household went from two incomes to one and I needed to get moving.
The problem was my severe neck issues and the accompanying dizziness from nerve damage in my C1 Vertebrae, the Atlas.
So, this meant that I couldn’t exactly hustle like I needed to because being on a computer for hours each day at home is no different than doing it at a job.
I was no longer able to do this, if I wanted to not end up completely disabled or bed-ridden.
The years 2008-2011 were extremely tough in trying to heal, but with proper therapy, the worst of it got better, but it’s not 100%.
Even now in 2022, I still can only be on a computer so much each day, without causing flare-ups.
So again, if I had taken it all more seriously, then I wouldn’t have ended up with so many financial worries, when I lost my job.
I would’ve had something more substantial to fall back on during times that were difficult money-wise and health-wise.
Then, add in beating my head against the wall, jumping from one “program” to another and basically flushing more time and money down the toilet.
Losing my job made me act in desperation because I wanted to make something happen right now.
So, I ended up doing what a lot of people do, which is looking for a shortcut and something “quick” or “push button”…which is not realistic because it doesn’t really exist.
Then in 2012, I joined Wealthy Affiliate because it had the tools and resources I needed all in one place, to help me build an online business.
Fast forward to 2020, I joined The Home Business Academy to add even more great tools and resources to my online business arsenal.
I now use both of these resources to build my online business.
I talk more about this over on my Recommended Resources page listed under Resources #1 and #2.
I enjoy making money online because I can work from anywhere and on my own schedule, while still being able to take care of my health.
You Can Do It Too
So, why do I tell you all of this?
I share all of this with you, so you’ll know it’s possible to make money online and have total freedom from the 9-5 grind.
It takes time to build an online business, but it’s worth it to build either a side-income to supplement your full-time job or replace your job.
If you have found yourself in a similar situation to me or you simply want to get ahead of things and plan for the future, your goal going forward should be to not waste any more time.
Whether you love your job or hate your job, it’s always a good idea to have a Plan B to supplement your income or replace your income.
You never know what can happen with your job or even with your health.
Don’t waste time, like I did.
Just get started and keep going.
Do not dabble.
Take action now.
And most importantly, believe in yourself.
You can do it!
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