The obvious perks of being your own boss are many, the challenges, too, are equally baffling. Instead of one boss, you now have multiple clients to report to, schedules to adhere with and responsibilities to handle.

Here are a few tips to make it better for you:

1. Set your goals and read them every day – Find out what inspires you, moves you, makes you passionate enough to give it your all. Once you are clear about your goals break them into yearly, six monthly, monthly and weekly sub-goals. They are the stepping stones to your success. Read these goals everyday and tweak whenever necessary. These goals will help you to remain inspired, energized and on track, enhancing your daily progress in a significant manner.

2. Planning – Planning time cuts down execution time and avoids duplication of effort as well as gets the most important work done first. Plan your day the night before, prioritizing the tasks in order of importance and then stick to it. Begin your day with your three most important tasks, not stopping until you have completed them to the best of your ability.

3. Keep your skills updated –

Keep an eye on what’s happening in your industry by subscribing to relevant sites, networking with similar professionals and analyzing changing customer requirements. Find out what new skills are most relevant and aligned with your work portfolio and upgrade whenever required.

4. Get out of your comfort zone

– Allocate a certain amount of your time to trying out new and challenging projects. Set harder deadlines, try out new combinations, take on something you have never done before, improvise existing activities.

5. Stay healthy and active –

Exercise not only helps you to remain healthy but also aids the release of hormones, which help the growth of new blood vessels in the brain, improve mood and sleep, and reduce stress and anxiety. Exercise is vital to maintaining a healthy and active mind and in effect a purposeful stance in the way you approach life and work.

6. Be open to feedback –

Your work might require changes to align itself with client expectations. Hence, don’t take rejection or criticism personally. View it as information and insight, using it objectively to work on your shortcomings and hone your skills.