Bad Business Habits I Want to Break This Year

Running your own business can sometimes feel like a constant state of fixing things. You get one thing done, then you’re pulled somewhere else in a never-ending cycle. It can mean that certain habits become status-quo, never getting any attention because they aren’t front-of-mind while you’re putting out a dozen other fires. 

Last week, as I was frantically trying to catch up on work I wasn’t expecting to do, my bad habits really slapped me in the face and got my attention. I realized how much extra time these habits were costing me, and I finally decided to face them.

Before I tell you what mine are, I want you to remember that each of us will have different bad habits that drain us. Spend some time noticing what these could be for you so you aren’t just trying to correct habits that aren’t really a problem for you. To do this you might notice where you’re wasting time in a day, but also notice the times in the day when you’re feeling frustrated about something. Both could be good indicators there’s room for something to shift.

Here are the 3 bad habits I’d like to break:

Organizing Finances and Reconciling Expenses Monthly

Every year I know it would be useful to be more on top of expenses, but it never really had consequences until last week. I use an accounting software that pulls my credit card expenses, so the only thing I really have to do is categorize them, which wasn’t that big of a deal to do at the end of the year come tax time. Unfortunately, some point back in February 2023 the link to my bank account broke, and since I never checked it never got fixed so none of my expenses were imported for almost the entire year. I had to manually enter every expense that was missing. Darn.

If I had taken five minutes every month to cross-check my expenses, that could have been avoided. (I also would have caught a few extra expenses I didn’t need to be paying.)

Another ah ha I had was that if I switched to yearly billing for many of my subscriptions, I could save a ton of money AND I would only have to reconcile one expense each year instead of 12 for each service. I switched a few over already since February is a month I usually have an influx of cash, but I put reminders in my calendar for the next few months to switch over the other subscriptions so I can spread out the larger payments. 

Why is this important?

I can’t tell you how excited it makes me to do something like this once and have it save me time and money moving forward. Staying on top of your finances is a super important way to improve your profit and cashflow, but it’s often overlooked when we’re so busy focus on client-facing work. Also, based on working with hundreds of business owners, I know finances are a main point of frustration and angst for most of them. Anything to make that easier is a win!

Staying Connected to Colleagues and Kindred Spirits

For years I have been trying to figure out how to make staying in touch with people easier. I have little ways, like putting reminders to follow up with particular people in my calendar, and I use Asana to keep track of who’s who, but on a weekly basis I don’t have a consistent practice. For someone who loves systems, this is frustrating!

Last week I noticed one of the problems; one of my methods is to subscribe to mailing lists, so I can read what the person is up to and meaningfully reply once in awhile. It also gives me a way to share about what they’re doing with others because I don’t miss anything. I find I enjoy this much more than being on social media, so in some ways it’s a system that works for me.

However, I found I was getting resentful of my inbox because it was all mixed up with stuff that was more relevant to my day-to-day, and stuff that was for connection and outreach. What that meant was I wasn’t responding to any messages and just ignoring my inbox.

Instead, what I decided to do was to use a completely separate email address to subscribe to mailing lists of people I want to connect with. Those emails don’t sync with my phone, so they don’t clog up that inbox. And now I have a time in my calendar to read those emails, so they don’t get backlogged. I went through the ones I was subscribed to and either changed my email address myself, or emailed the person to change my email address. I also used this as a new opportunity to reach out to them.

Why is this important?

Inbox overwhelm is a huge problem, and it was also unfortunate I wasn’t keeping in touch with people as much as I would have liked. Outreach and connection are a huge part of my business strategy since I don’t use social media very much, so it was essential I figured out a better way. Just like the finances, hopefully I can do this upfront work and have a much less overwhelming inbox moving forward. It already feels lighter, and it will feel even better once I clear the backlog.

Keeping My Desk Clean

This is one I need help with. My desk is in my bedroom, which means it’s a dumping ground for all the things I don’t know what to do with. Monday mornings are annoying because instead of getting straight to work, I have to spend 10 minutes cleaning off my desk to get to my computer. Then the pile of stuff I clear off just goes somewhere else in the way. It’s bleak.

I’m still working on my ideas for solving this. Partly it’s an infrastructure problem, so I’d like to put up shelves next to my desk to help with that (but I want to paint the room first, so it’s a big job). My other idea is to put an “inbox” somewhere near the desk for all the things I need to deal with, but I worry that they’ll just get forgotten about. My family has gotten somewhat better about not dumping their things on my desk, which is a start. I could move the desk to the other side of the room, but then I don’t have as nice of a view out the window and I would probably need a smaller desk. I’ve also thought about maybe putting a scarf over my desk when I’m done work for the day to remind me not to leave stuff on the desk after work hours.

I’m going to keep using trial and error with this, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out if I really put my mind to it. (I’m doing my very best right now to not get up and rearrange the room instead of finishing this article!)

Why is this important?

When I worked in an office, I wouldn’t dream of having my desk be a mess. It feels like a level of professionalism I’d like to have again. Nice spaces feel inspiring, and it feels like I have to escape my office to get that feeling. This is the year I finally want my workspace to reflect the respect I have for myself and the work itself.

A Few Final Reflections

Before I end, since we focused so much on what needs to be improved, let’s take a minute to reflect on what we actually have done or gotten better at recently. Celebrating what works can be a great way to boost your mood and be inspired to take further action.

I’m proud of spending less time scrolling social media, and I haven’t used my phone to mindlessly scroll in at least 6 months. I’ve been using my standing desk most days, even if it’s just a short time, which is up from my previous use of zero. I started working with a large new client, and I’ve built habits in that role which will hopefully contribute to my success with them. All good things!

And just a reminder, your habits are your own, and you don’t need to adopt mine to be successful. Each of us has different priorities, ways of working, and life circumstances. Your job, or our job together, is to find what works for YOU.

Finally, it might be worth thinking about the habits you have no intention of improving. Not everything needs to be fixed! For example, I’m not focused on replying more quickly to emails or being more consistent on social media. These aren’t important to me right now, even though I’m sure a case could be made for them. And that’s totally okay. We’re not machines and we’re not perfect. We are amazing already, and sometimes we could make life a little easier on ourselves by shifting a few things.

Key Takeaways and Next Steps

1. What parts of your day take too much time or frustrate you? Is there a change you could make that would give you some relief?
2. WHY are those habits important for you to change?
3. What little habits would be easy? What could you do once that would improve the future?
4. How can you support yourself to succeed?
5. What habits do you already have that you’re proud of?
6. What do you not care about improving?