Building and maintaining a small empire is big work and it often requires a lot of long days and odd hours. The most productive entrepreneurs take time to nurture their personal lives and inner selves. That’s all well and good to SAY, but what does that look like in practice?

As an entrepreneur, you’re the boss. The big cheese. The buck stops here, but even if you don’t have employees and you're the ringleader of a one-person circus, you still need a team of support to keep everything running smoothly.

Checking in with your team is so important to the overall health and success of your business. Not only does it eliminate confusion and reduce the incidence of missed deadlines, it makes your team feel heard and valued. This is especially important when your team is partially or fully remote, or if you just don’t spend a ton of time in the same physical location.

At the heart of any successful business, there are systems in place to make sure everything keeps running smoothly.

I'm a creature of habit. I’ll eat the same lunch 5 days in a row. I re-wear the same 10 pieces of clothing. I’ve used the same brand of shampoo for a decade. Change is okay, but I'm much more productive when I stick to a plan.

I love me a good app. Do you have a tool that promises to take the work out of menial tasks and make more time to do the fun work? Sign me up! But as my business has grown and my professional journey has progressed, I have learned that no app can remedy all of the issues created by my bad habits. But, if I can trade those bad habits for better ones, it can make a huge difference in my day and my workflow.