Welcome to Business and Balance, your go-to newsletter for online business owners ready to reclaim their time and sanity. Each week, you’ll get practical tips, time-saving tools, and strategies to streamline your services, grow your business, and create space for what truly matters. It’s all about working smarter, not harder, so you can build success and savor life.
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Heyy Reader,
I took last week off. I did not intend to, it just sort of happened. I haven't taken a full day off in a LOOONNNGGGG time. Frankly, I needed it.
The thing is, when we are working hard, it's difficult to tell when we're pushing ourselves too far when we're in the groove. We get so used to "hustle culture" and feeling like we need to be go, go, go all the damn time. Then, if you're like me, you work until you really need a break.
And why do we do this to ourselves?
Going into 2025, one of my goals is to take better care of myself. I'm tired of working 6am-8pm. I am setting strict boundaries and spending more time with my family. And guess what, my business is still going to grow. Because I'm going to be well-rested and my best self.
What about you? What are your goals for 2025? Hit reply and let me know.
Another thing I wanted to talk about is this thing I keep seeing all over the internet, picking your word of the year. WTF is up with that.
Sorry if you are a word of the year person, but I do not get it. How can you have 1 word for 365 days? I can't even pick 1 shirt for TODAY, let alone 1 word to represent my entire year.
I'm sure it just helps people focus and set goals and stuff, but it's not for me. I'm just wondering why I'm seeing more about it this year than I have ever seen about it before? Weird.
PRINTABLES & PROFITS
EXPERT ADVICE FROM THE BEST IN THE BIZ
Speaking of goal setting, I was featured in Printables & Profits talking about exactly that topic. Printables & Profits is for printable shop owners and KDP sellers looking to excel in the world of coloring books and activity pages.
This issue talks all about how to streamline your operations over the holidays, setting goals for your business, and how to stay consistent throughout the year. There are some seriously great ideas and success stories to read about in this issue. I highly recommend you get a free copy!
5 ESSENTIAL SYSTEMS EVERY BUSINESS OWNER NEEDS TO GROW
WHAT'S UP WITH SYSTEMS?
All business owners need systems. And not just systems, but solid systems. Systems make the [business] world go 'round. Without systems, you're business will be one giant hot mess.
The great thing is that systems look different for everyone and they can be developed to make your business run more smoothly the way you need them to work for you. They don't have to be the same as mine or your business bestie's. That's the beauty of them. We all may need the same kind of systems, but they don't have to actually look the same.
In this blog post, I take a deep dive into 5 systems you need to have to grow your business and give you quick tips for putting them into place.
I talk a lot about how solid systems are the gears that keep your business running. If one little piece is off, it's gonna cause a hitch in the gears and throw off the flow of everything. When that happens, you've got to work to figure out what the heck happened, where the hitch is, and how you're gonna fix it. It's not always a quick and easy fix.
So, what are your options when there's a hitch in the gears?
You could spend hours trying to figure it out yourself: determining what when wrong and how to fix it, deciding what all was affected and to what extent.
Or, you could hire a mechanic to do that for you. Who is a mechanic for your systems? An OBM.
As your OBM, I'll diagnose problems with your systems and be the cog in the machine you need to treat any problems that arise. Plus, I'll be constantly keeping an eye on the gears to make sure they are running smoothly and as efficiently as possible.
Thinking you might need a mechanic for your business? Book a discovery call today and we can chat about what that will look like with your particular business.
I read this book a few years ago and it's on my list to revisit. It's less than 150 pages, spaced generously, with decently large font. That is to say, it's a quick read. But, it's packed full of good shit.
Elevate is all about inspiring change in yourself and your team to develop capacities which will "elevate" your life by helping you establish strong positive habits, overcoming limiting beliefs, and finding out why you're doing what you're doing.
If you're looking to "elevate" (I don't love this word because of it's overuse recently, but the book is good) your life in both personal and business manners, I highly recommend this book. And it's super easy to read. I will be re-reading it this month.
You are freaking amazing. You're out here doing the damn thing each and every day. You wear all the hats and you're getting shit done. But it's not sustainable.
Yes, you can do anything, but you can't do everything. It's just not possible.
You need to reframe your priorities to focus on the essential.
In trying to do everything, you are doing everything half-assed.
Focus on what you're good at and what you enjoy and delegate the rest to someone else. Save that precious energy and make what you do well even better.
You've got this, bestie. I believe in you!
THE ONE HOUR WIN
POST-HOLIDAY CHAOS?
I don't know about you, but my family sees my desk as a great place to put stuff. Partially because I stupidly tell them to and partially because they know if it's on my desk I will look at it. What that means for me is that my desk quickly gets cluttered. Especially if I take a few days off.
So, after Christmas, my desk is a MESS.
Anyway, a quick and easy win for you this week is to set aside 30-minutes to 1-hour and get your desk cleaned up. Most (not all!) of us work better when our workspace is neat and tidy. So, take some time this week to clean up your space before coming back to a full work week next week.
Trust me, you'll thank yourself.
BOHANNON VIRTUAL SOLUTIONS RECOMMENDS
COOL TECH THAT'S GOOD FOR THE EARTH
I've always been interested in reusable notebooks. I like the idea of being able to upload my notes to my computer for safe keeping because I don't like keeping numerous notebooks. So when I found RocketBook on Amazon a few months ago, I was super excited!
I have a bad habit of keeping papers and notebooks around and piling them up and never using them again or losing them. This RocketBook has allowed me to keep everything I need in one place and if my notes turn out to be something I want to keep longer than just a few days, I can upload them very quickly to my computer instead of having to type them out. It's honestly been game changer for me.
The only thing is that these notebooks can only be used with Frixion pens so that you can easily wipe the ink away. Luckily, the pens come in many different colors and work on plain paper as well as the RocketBook notebook.
Because the pens on the RocketBook paper are wet erase, I even bought a little spray bottle to keep at my desk to make it easier on me when I'm writing or planning.
I hope you have a great start to the new year and you take time for rest and to be with family.
Business & Balance, by Sammy Bohannon, is your go-to newsletter for online business owners ready to reclaim their time and sanity. Each week, you’ll get practical tips, time-saving tools, and strategies to streamline your services, grow your business, and create space for what truly matters. It’s all about working smarter, not harder, so you can build success and savor life. Plus, after you sign up, you have the chance to see Sammy's adorable dogs, Penelope and Willow. No, seriously. She made a whole page on her website for it.
