A classy man or woman, dressed in a high priced business suit, an overflowing briefcase sitting on corner of desk, dictating memos and delegating tasks to a very overworked secretary?

How about a home-based business owner, sitting in their basement office, kids pulling at their pant legs while they are spending far too much time dealing with their correspondence and other administrative tasks?

Either of these sound familiar?

Well, these may be true but, with our ever-changing business environments and with ease of using Internet, more and more business professionals, especially small business owners, are altering how they conduct their daily activities.

Sure, they still have their offices, sometimes in their homes, but they also have more time to spend on generating revenue or to be with kids than ever before.

How, you ask? Well….they outsource some or most of their non-core tasks to professional, reliable fellow small business owners who take pride in helping other businesses succeed by providing them with a helping hand.

These days, almost any normal (or even not so normal) task that a small business owner usually does, can be accomplished by an outside source.

Let’s take a look at typical daily (or so) tasks that are usually needed to be done:

1.Read and respond to incoming mail and email 2.Enter account payables and receivables into accounting software program 3.Prepare a quotation for a potential new client 4.Order flowers for spouse’s birthday 5.Reserve a spot in local industry trade show 6.Update pages on company website 7.Clean office 8.Update your contact database 9.Book airline tickets and make hotel reservations for an upcoming seminar 10.Attend a networking breakfast

This list gives you some idea of many tasks that need to be done each day by most small business owners. And, this is only a portion of what is usually required to be done.

Some of these small business owners run their businesses from their homes, which means there is added activities of dealing with “around house” things (that everyone seems to think you have all time in world to do), running errands (ditto), tending to family, and accepting those calls from telephone solicitors who somehow know you are at home to answer phone.

It’s all kind of like a math equation… tasks ADD up, which SUBTRACTS from running your business smoothly, which EQUALS a less successful business and a more stressed out business owner.

Being under so much stress is not good for anyone and it can definitely have an effect on our businesses.

So we need to alleviate some of our stress and find solutions for reasons that we are so overworked.

1.Take a step back from everything and decide which tasks are ‘needs’ and which tasks are ‘wants’. Which tasks are more important than others? We consider everything that we do in our lives, especially when running our businesses, as important. However, which tasks can you postpone long enough without producing a negative effect on ourselves and our success. Which tasks can wait?

2.Learn that you cannot say ‘yes’ to everything. For most people and for most businesses, saying no to anyone can be like pulling teeth. It can be very painful and have a lasting effect. But again, you need to think of yourself, your success, and your well-being. Decide which tasks you have been asked to do that can be better accomplished by someone else or that will have a negative effect on yourself and make a point to politely decline to assist.

3.Prioritize your life. In step #1 above, we learned to decide between ‘important’ and ‘can wait’ tasks. But, even important tasks can add up. So, you need to break down that list of important tasks even farther and prioritize them. In business, ensure that those tasks that will enhance your business and your reputation with your clients are first tasks on your list.