Introducing Setting Boundaries At Work Setting boundaries at work when you are in corporate land is hard. When you are an entrepreneur building your own business from scratch it is almost impossible. The reason being is mainly everything that comes your way could be the big opportunity that can take your ventures to the next level. The simple request to connect on Zoom from a complete stranger, might be the golden ticket to all your dreams coming true. But as you will hear in todays podcast setting boundaries at work is one of the most, if not the most important things that you can do to get success. Don't ever think that you are missing out if you say "No" to something. This is simply your mind being 100% set on a scarcity mode. Setting boundaries at work as an entrepreneur will give you the time you need to be proactive, instead of being reactive which makes all the difference. So if you are ready let's start breaking down the Join Up Dots Top Five Tips to Setting Boundaries At Work Tip One - Understand What The Business Needs To Give You We all want a business that delivers so much money that we don't ever have to worry again. However, most businesses take time to get to this stage of amazing freedom and financial success. That is why it is so important to understand what the business needs to give you at all stages of its growth. At the very beginning if its simply a side hustle, then it may not have to give you much income support so things are easy. Moving onwards, you may need staff, property, office space as other expenses start creeping into you. This is where setting boundaries at work starts to become an issue and people say "Yes" to everything to pay for these increasing expenses. Dont say "Yes" to everything, instead give yourself breathing space to really think and understand your own business and it's current requirements. Set free time to look at your path to this point, and of course your future trajectory. You will have started making the right decisions that leads to the business that you want, instead of creating a monster. Tip Two - Setting Boundaries At Work Means Delay Are you constantly chasing to respond to all those messages and emails that come into your inboxes everyday. Communication with customers and potential customers is one of the pains (but necessary pains) of most businesses. Set boundaries and start telling your customers not to expect a response back instantly. Can you respond within 3 days instead of as soon as the message comes to you? At Join Up Dots we spend a day responding to all emails and messages every two weeks, and it has never caused us any issue at all. Can you do the same, and advise your customers that they will get a response "On Friday this week"? You will be surprised at how easily customers will buy into the way that you are setting boundaries at work, and actually respect you for it too. Delay is the key to being in control, and you advise the other party of how you are going to respond and you will never look back. Tip Three Focus In On Parkinsons Law There is an amazing law that has been a big part of the Join Up Dots success story over the last few years. This is the discovery of Parkinsons Law, which simply states "The work you do will always expand to the amount of time you allow it" A perfect example of this would be looking back at school days and the homework that you were set. It didn't matter if you had six weeks to do the homework, you would leave it till the very last minute and have it hanging over you for the full time. Everyday you would be thinking "I must get that piece of homework done or I am in big trouble" The same applies in your own work life, and especially as an entrepreneur due to the amount of tasks you need to juggle each day. Setting boundaries at work means that you have to decide to only take a fixed amount of time to get that bit of work done, and no matter what get the work done in that time. You will of course say "But what if i dont deliver the quality that I want?" You will, that focus on the task and the time focus too gets you into the zone like nothing else you will experience. Parkinsons Law is the key to having a business that you love and one that is never ending. Don't make the mistake of being in the job all the time. Tip Four - Just Say No And Stick To It It doesn't make you a bad person to say No, to people when they are asking for something. Yes, i know we are all programmed basically to try not to upset people or let them down, but you are now a business owner. No matter what you do you will let people down if you don't make one of your key elements to setting boundaries at work saying No. And worst of all, the people you let down the most will be your family and loved ones. So when someone connects with you out of the blue, think to yourself "Would I have made this happen myself ?" If the answer is No, then guess what you do, come on it's really really easy, you just say No. It's up to you direct your ship where it's heading or you wont get anywhere, if you never leave the shore because you are just reacting to things you are stuck. Say No as much as possible, unless its something that you would have sought out, and then jump all over it. Tip Five - Pushing Back Is The Easiest Way Of Setting Boundaries At Work Everyday you will be asked to do things by people across the world, and more often than not its because its part of their plan not yours. We learnt this early in the game at Join Up Dots, where just because someone asks you to meet up, connect virtually or anything else you should always ask for a Why? Why do you think that this will benefit me like you are suggesting in your message? Could you provide more information about your request? Fine, we can meet up but it has to be at the time that is convenient for me? Once again, as you will have heard throughout this episode of Join Up Dots, its not being rude, or stand offish. Its simply making sure that you are in control of your time, your energies and the direction of your business in the time you have available each day. If you lose track of the control element, you will find that the work grows and grows until you are in the job 24 7. Make sure you start setting boundaries at work as the most important thing that you can do, and we promise you you will never look back.