As the saying goes “entrepreneurs are willing to work 80 hours a week to avoid working 40 hours a week.” 

IT’S TRUE!

For many of us business owners, we love what we do SO much that we are willing to put in so many more hours than a traditional 9-5 and we wouldn’t have it any other way. 

I can relate to this soooo much, but even when you love what you do, it’s inevitable that overwhelm is going to creep in. 

After all, the work truly never ends when you’re your own boss. Between client work, your daily or weekly commitments that you currently have, and then of course all of the new ideas that you want to implement, it’s like the to-do list is 1,000 pages long at any given time. 

No matter how many things you check off one day, you know that there’s still a million other things you can do.  Not to mention, the LIFE that you have to live!

Like yes, I’m out here making sure business owners have the tools they need to run their business legally AND run a whole law office simultaneously, but also I have a husband to hang out with, babies to feed, dogs to entertain, a house to clean…

(Spoiler: the house is never clean even if I spend the entire day cleaning said house.)

How would one NOT feel overwhelmed by all of this?!

If you let it, the overwhelm can start to overshadow all of the GREAT things about being a business owner, which is why I’ve figured out 5 key things that help me overcome the overwhelm in my business so that a typical 9-5 corporate job neverrrrr looks tempting. 

In this blog post, I’m breaking it all down so you can snag a few (or all!) of the ideas for yourself so you too can overcome overwhelm as a busy entrepreneur!

5 Ways To Overcome Overwhelm As A Small Business Owner

Implement a CEO Day, Week, or Month

Last December, the overwhelm was hitting HARD. The to-do’s I had piled up did not match the time that I had, so I decided to do something I had never done before…

I took an ENTIRE month off of client work and claimed a CEO Month!

Now, you’ve probably heard of a CEO Day, so this concept isn’t new or created by me, but considering my inner perfectionist, I knew that a day (or two) wasn’t enough. 

I wanted a whole month to dedicate to The Boutique Lawyer! And let me just say… it was glorious. So much so, that I continue to find myself searching for ways to make this happen more often! Obviously, it’s not always feasible to do, but intentionally planning for it can be a major game changer. 

During a CEO Day / Week / Month, the goal is for you to work ON your business, not IN your business. And yes, there’s a major difference!

Working on the business = activities that involve strategic planning, setting goals, developing systems and processes, and overall steering the direction of the company.

When you’re working ON your business, you’re typically taking a high-level view of your company and focusing on its long-term success and growth.

Working in the business = day-to-day operational activities necessary to deliver products or services to customers and keep the business running smoothly.

When you’re working IN your business, you’re typically focused on executing tasks, managing daily operations, delivering client work, etc. 

As a business owner, it’s super easy to get caught up IN the business that you neglect the work ON the business.

While you of course have to tend to daily operations, it’s important to carve out time where you’re thinking at a high level and implementing new strategies in order to keep growth alive and your business moving in the direction you want it to go.

Hire Help (and don’t think twice about it!)

Hiring help is often the obvious thing to do when you become overwhelmed in your business, but it’s also often the HARDEST thing to do as a business owner!

The reason for this is because your business often feels like your baby. It’s something that’s soooooo close to your heart and you want to protect it at all costs and that is TOTALLY valid. 

However, NOT hiring help when you really need it can be so detrimental and do you more harm than good. 

I learned early on in business that even if I *can* do something, it doesn’t mean that I SHOULD be the one doing it. And I’m sure the same is true for you! 

There are so many professionals out there that can do some things way better than you can and honestly, you should let them. You never know how their work is going to impact your business.

When it comes to hiring help, the most important thing to consider is what’s taking up the majority of your time that could truly be delegated? 

Sure, there will be some things that need your attention and that you may not be willing to hand off, but I’m willing to bet there are LOTS of other areas where if someone else is doing it, it really won’t affect the ultimate outcome.

For example, I know that my time is not best spent editing reels or coming up with Instagram content ideas from scratch – hence why I’m obsessed with Your Social Team and The Reels Report Membership!

If you aren’t sure where to start with hiring help in your business, I suggest starting with one or a few independent contractors to help you in specific areas. Here’s a list to get you thinking in the right direction!

Plan Ahead Strategically 

Sure, planning ahead sounds superrrr basic, but it’s truly such a game changer. 

A surefire way to KEEP yourself overwhelmed is if you continue to make decisions in the moment.

What am I going to post on Instagram today? What’s my blog or email topic this week? What offer do I want to promote on stories? 

Decisions like this should be STRATEGIC! Planning ahead for various things in your business, such as offer launches, content topics, etc. can help you avoid the overwhelm feeling, ditch decision fatigue, and allocate your time wisely so you can work efficiently.

Have Optimized Systems

As a business owner, I’m sure you’re no stranger to the idea of systems. You hear people preach having them all the time and I’m right there with them. Implementing systems can be one of the best things you do for yourself and can truly save your sanity in times of chaos!

For me, I heavily rely on systems that can automate certain things.

When you’re first starting out as a business owner, you’re most likely going to be doing a LOT of things manually – sending client contracts, scheduling discovery calls, posting content, etc. 

But as time goes on, you’ll learn that doing everything manually isn’t sustainable and quite honestly just isn’t efficient! There are tons of tools out there to help you automate various parts of your business to reduce the mental load that you carry.

For me, I’m a big fan of Kajabi for my courses, Shopify for my contract shop, and ActiveCampaign for my emails! 

Some other business tools to consider to implement automatons include:

• A customer relationship manager (CRM), such as Dubsado or Honeybook
• Project management system, such as Notion, Asana, or ClickUp
• Calendar scheduler, such as Calendly or Acuity 

Remain Flexible and Adaptable (as cliche as it might sound!)

Lastly, and probably most importantly, I make it a point to remain flexible and adaptable. Yes I know it’s cliche and yes I know it’s easier said than done. 

Almost nothing in business (or life!) will go according to plan and although that can certainly be overwhelming, what’s even MORE overwhelming is when you try to force something that’s not meant to be. 

I believe that a good business owner is one who can roll with the punches and make lemonade out of lemons. 🍋

Sure, it takes patience to really practice this, but the reality is that LOTS of things are unpredictable and learning how to be flexible and adapt when needed is so key. 🔑

Overall, entrepreneurship is probably one of the hardest endeavors that someone can do and there’s no doubt that it can be overwhelming at times. So much so that you may even question if it’s worth continuing at times.

But when you can get a true handle on the overwhelm and find ways to manage it that work for YOU, that is when the whole thing becomes a heck of a lot easier. 

My hope is that this list gives you a few tangible ways to overcome overwhelm for yourself or at least gives you a few of your own ideas to implement. 

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If we haven’t had the chance to *virtually* meet yet, hey I’m Amber – not a regular lawyer, but a cool lawyer that helps online business owners sell without getting sued. 

If you like what you just read and want more cool lawyer things in your life, here’s a few ways to stay connected:

Let’s be pen pals! Subscribe to my email list to receive all of my best biz tips and behind the scenes goodies to keep your business bringing in sales (legally of course).

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Come hang with me on the ‘gram! I often do AMA’s on stories, so you can submit your specific questions when they come up.

And if you’re in need of legal resources that you can ACTUALLY understand? Here’s a few ways I can help:

Step into TBL’s free library of legal resources for creative entrepreneurs where we throw open the doors and spill the tea on what works and what doesn’t when it comes to legal protection, systems and sales.  

Browse the contract template shop to find what’s missing in your biz and easily implement it with a plug and play template!
Need something else? Send me a DM! Always happy to lend a legal hand when I can.