Note from Kate: Please enjoy this guest post from Abayomi! Then check out his blog.

As an entrepreneur living with a chronic illness, I sometimes find myself wanting to give my all to my business and trying to take things slow because of my health.

You would agree with me that being an entrepreneur is hard work but being an entrepreneur living with a chronic illness, you have to work harder. There are days you would not feel like your best self and you need rest, days like these mean you would not work.

However, on days when you can work, you want to get the most out of it. You want to get more done and I am going to share with you some tips to help you get more done without feeling tired in this post. These tips will help you stay productive.

Let’s dig in.

Ten productivity tips for entrepreneurs with chronic illness

 1. Start by prioritizing your task

Each day with a chronic illness comes with its own uncertainty. You don’t know how your day is going to go when pain or fatigue is going to show up so you need to set priorities.

What tasks are more important for your business? The tasks you know once completed you can do nothing for the rest of the day yet sleep without worry.

2. Have a to-do list

Creating a to-do list is crucial for your business and health. A to-do list helps you get organized and productive. Make sure to place the most important tasks for your business at the top of your list so that you can carry them out first.

3. Always break down large tasks into smaller chunks

Some tasks take more time in carrying out so instead of sitting or working for hours, break them down. For example, instead of trying to create five pages for your blog at once, you can create two at once and do others later.

That way, you have time to catch a break and that brings me to tip four.

4. Take breaks and avoid long work hours

It is easy to get so involved in work that you forget to take a rest which is unhealthy for you. You need to take intentional breaks. I work most times with my to-do list so instead of having tasks for long hours, I put fifteen minutes break in between.

You should try it too. Add breaks into your to-do list, it will help you stay refreshed.

5. Use automation

Let’s face it, there will be days your chronic illness will act up. There will be days you won’t be able to even move maybe from fatigue or pain. Days like these are the reason automation is important.

Your business does not have to stop running on days you are not there. Automating things can keep your business going especially if you have an online business.

However, if your business is totally offline, try the next tip.

6. Build/hire a team

You might need to build a team that would keep your business going when you are not there. Have a team that understands the business as much as you do and can move it forward so that you can rest assured that they are doing a good job.

7. Outsource tasks

I understand that you might not have the capacity to build or hire a team but I got you. You can outsource instead of having a team.

Look out for tasks that might be stressful for you or tasks you don’t feel like doing and outsource them. You can find people around to help you do them or get professional freelance help.

8. Get rid of distractions

Distractions are of no help, it only slows you down. Whenever you are working, it is important to remove every form of distraction.

My phone is one of the distractions that I have so I put it on airplane mode when it is time to work. Figure out possible distractions and get rid of them.

It is also important to keep boundaries between your personal life and business. Work is work, avoid picking personal calls and responding to emails that can wait.

9. Try to always manage your energy

It is easy to get lost in work especially when you are trying to finish up a task but you should avoid too much work. Learn how to work healthily, so that you have enough energy to cover other areas of your life. 

Taking breaks in between work, drinking enough water, using your medications can help you stay energetic after hours of work.

10. Honour your limitations

As someone living with chronic illness, we sometimes lie to ourselves that we can do everything. No, we cannot and that is absolutely fine.

There is nothing bad in knowing that you cannot do everything. Know your limitations and honor them, it is very important.

Also, your limitation can be seen as your weakness, you don’t have to worry about that. You should focus on your strength, that is, the tasks you can carry out effortlessly. Keep working on your strength and always strive to improve your strength. 

Conclusion

Many people living with chronic illness struggle to find or keep a job because of their health because of this, some turn to being an entrepreneur or business owner.

Running a business alongside managing your chronic illness is really tough and to manage both effectively, you need to learn how to be productive.

Productivity is about learning how to manage your time. 

As a business owner with chronic illness, you need to keep in mind that you are in it for the long term. This will save you a lot of stress and worry.

You would not need to worry about not working to achieve your business goals. Instead, it helps you do the little things now. 

I have learned that little daily actions are what lead to huge progress. So, each day tries to do the little actions that would move your business forward. 

Always think long term, it will save you so much stress and worry. When you know that you will still in business for the next five years, then you don’t need to worry about some things.

Consistency is the key to growth and success in business. It is not how much you work but how often you work.

Abayomi is a chronic illness, business, and lifestyle blogger passionate about a lot of topics including online business, Instagram, chronic illness, and growth. He shares his knowledge on some of these topics on his blog, Ambitious Warrior. 

Follow him on his blog, Instagram, and Facebook.