Have you ever felt bored with your business? Maybe you’re finding yourself distracted and tempted to throw it all in and start something new.

Instead of going to the next level, you’re feeling like “Ugh,” and you can’t find the energy to do anything about it.

I’ve been there and maybe you’re there right now!

Don’t worry, and most importantly, don’t do anything drastic about it today! It’s probably just a simple and very common sabotage pattern.

You might just need a few tweaks to get right back in love with your business again.

First up, this is a really common sabotaging behavior I see in the entrepreneurial world… convincing yourself that you’re “bored” with your business.

This is when I see women throw out what’s working in order to do something “new and exciting”.

Remember, just because you’re feeling bored, it doesn’t mean your audience is – and it’s only natural that your role in the business shifts over time.

I know exactly the feeling of being bored with my business. You might be doing things like:

• Buying new domain names for random business ideas
• Tempted to start a business to solve a problem in your life, despite having NO prior experience in it
• Wanting to delete your entire newsletter list and start over

Sound familiar?

Here are my tips to get through this time, and get back into focus with your business.

Plan for natural down times

It’s only natural that you’ll have ups and downs with your business. Sometimes you love it, sometimes you hate it. But it would be a mistake to chuck it all in when you’re feeling “meh” about it.

One of the things I do in my business is plan for those down times by batching a lot of content in advance.

It’s usually when I’ve got makeup on or nice hair. I jump on camera and film several videos to get ahead of my weekly blog content. I also batch a lot of my social media content.

Why do I do that?

I want to be consistent in my business

Imagine if you just didn’t hear from me for a couple of weeks (or even months), or I skipped a newsletter because I couldn’t be bothered.

You’d lose interest pretty quick.

I see this happen a lot. Entrepreneurs are going through a period of feeling like they’ve said everything or they feel a temporary boredom with their topic so they just disappear and their audience does too.

I think part of my success in business is because regular content comes out all the time. You know that every week you can get a dose of inspiration from one of my videos or articles. Like clockwork.

There is new inspirational content on my blog every single week, and on my social media accounts every single day.

It doesn’t just happen by accident

I put everything in place using simple systems so that when I’m a bit bored, tired, or just not feeling like it, my business doesn’t die. Yes it needs me to survive but not on a daily basis.

But what if your absence has gone on for a few months? What do you do then?

Ask yourself this tough question

Is this a normal hump in my business or is it time to quit and do something else?

This question comes up a lot in my money bootcamp group. Someone will ask, “Hey, guys. I’ve got this business that makes money, but I really don’t want to do it anymore. Should I double down on the effort, or should I do something else?”

I ask, “Well, how long do you want to feel like that? How long are you going to throw money at it?”

It’s like the quote says:

“You can polish a turd, but it’s still a turd.”

The other version of that quote is:

“You can’t polish a turd, but you can roll it in glitter.”

I find that a lot of women try and do this with their businesses.

It’s a turd, but they’re rolling it in glitter to try and make it look more attractive to themselves and their clients. A new website will fix it! (roll roll). Or maybe this shiny business coach will have the answers! Maybe there’s a magic bullet solution!

But it really isn’t the right business for them anymore.

It’s a hard question that only you can answer.

“How much longer do I want to be doing this?”

If you’re still a bit unsure whether you’re just bored or DONE, here are some other things to consider.

What can you outsource, delegate, or eliminate?

First of all, are there parts of your business that bore you to tears?

OF COURSE THERE ARE!

Like in any business, you really need to evolve your role, otherwise you’re going to get bored with repetition.

I used to get so frustrated doing the tech stuff with my newsletter every week. It would shit me to tears. Video editing would drive me bonkers – I’d do it so badly and the result was never great.

I was bored

Honestly, doing a lot of my own tech stuff made me so bored in my business that I thought, “I want to give up. This is just too hard.”

So I outsourced all of that and it made my life a million times better. Suddenly I was excited in my business again because I had time and mental energy to do other things.

Then I outsourced my email to my assistant and it made my life a million times better.

Outsourcing these tasks turned my business time from boring, frustrating, and annoying, into something that wasn’t a problem anymore.

CEO doesn’t mean Chief Everything Officer

What can you outsource to make sure you’re working in your zone of genius and ONLY doing things in your business that excite you and that are enjoyable?

(Omg, am I allowed to do that?)

YES YOU CAN.

What can you outsource to help you buy back some creative freedom and energy, so you can create new, exciting things?

What would excite you right now?

What new projects would make you feel excited again to be in your business?

Maybe it’s just a slight change of direction or it could be a completely new business.

I totally give you permission to only work on the things that make you feel like getting up in the morning… and get rid of everything else.

Seriously.

Write a list of everything in your business – the things you hate, and the things you love. Start outsourcing the thing you hate the most, and work your way down.

Then you’ve got to be brave and either outsource or eliminate, so you have the energy to do the things you love on the second list.

For example – when I eliminated being involved in customer service, I had more energy to do things like being interviewed on podcasts, and I started doing at least 5 per week. Suddenly I had a lot more enjoyment and satisfaction in my business, and I stopped looking for ways to sabotage it.

What projects excite and which fill you with dread?

Be honest with yourself about everything in your business – your products and services, your clients, your systems, your team.

Write down everything, and separate them into “staying” and “going”.

Then be brutal.

Make a big, juicy money goal

Another thing that really helps me when I’m feeling a bit bored or stagnated is to have a big money goal connected to my business success.

Sometimes you can get bored if you think, “I don’t really ‘need’ the money right now. Things are going well.” or you’re not motivated to take massive action in your business because the fear is bigger than your goal.

In that case, make sure you know WHY you’re in business, and what you’re playing for.

• Maybe you want to go on a big amazing holiday, like taking your whole family to Disneyland.
• Maybe you want to buy something cool, like a new house (like me) or your dream car.
• Maybe you want to make a big donation to a charity – like when me and my mastermind buddies built a school in an impoverished community.

Having a BIG money goal will motivate you to get back on track.

Take time out and enjoy what you’ve built

My last point is that it’s okay to take some time off and coast on your success, or simply relax once in awhile.

Whenever I travel anywhere, I’m so tempted to layer in as much experience as possible. For example, I always think “oh, I should run an event while I’m there” or “I should take my camera and film videos for my blog” or even that it’s a great chance to “catch up” on work.

Last weekend I had to force myself to get through my to-do list so I didn’t have to do anything on holidays this week. Super hard for me to leave my laptop at home too.

This kind of attitude can burn you out, and when you’re tired, it’s tempting to think everything in your business SUCKS.

When you take a break, you can get some perspective back, but also come back refreshed and renewed, with some new ideas and energy to get back to business.

Don’t throw the baby out with the bore bathwater just because you’re a little bit bored or frustrated right now.

It’s normal to get bored with what you’re up to from time to time, but maybe there’s no need to chuck out your entire business. Take a little bit of time out to reflect, and things might be back on track really soon.

Remember, you have permission to quit if something’s not working, but you also have permission to find ways that your business can be more enjoyable for you.

It’s always your choice.

We’d love to hear from YOU…

Are you bored with your business, or are you excited and enthusiastic? If you’re in a funk, which of these tips could you try first? Leave your answer in the comments below!

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business owner, entrepreneur, make money online, money blocks, October 2016 Issue, online business, running a business, women in business