The late Steve Jobs once said, “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” Many people who become successful entrepreneurs start out working for someone else. Transitioning from an employee to an entrepreneur is no small feat and will undoubtedly result in increased levels of anxiety. Thankfully, there are a number of things you can do to make the shift easier.

Set boundaries between your personal life and work

When you work for a boss, you have someone who helps set the boundaries between your work and personal life. When you are the boss, however, these lines often become blurred, and you may find yourself spending longer hours at the office and bringing a heap of work home to complete. For the sake of your health (and your sanity), it’s important to somewhat separate work from home. This can typically be achieved in one of two ways: integrating or separating. As an integrator, you will have both work and personal time during the course of the day. This is ideal for home-based entrepreneurs, who can spend time with the family in between popping out for business meetings and completing other work in the home office. Separators, on the other hand, follow a more-traditional work regiment that will have specific hours set aside for work and the same for personal life.

Don’t fear increased responsibility

When making the transition from employee to entrepreneur, you will come face to face with a lot of new responsibilities that previously fell on the shoulders of your employer. Apart from registering your business, one of the most important considerations you will be faced with as an entrepreneur involves business insurance. Not only will you need to protect your physical business assets, but you’ll need to yourself and your employees with regards to various liabilities as well. Although you can delegate some responsibility to your employees, you will ultimately be in charge of everything from stock acquisition to service delivery. While the sudden increased responsibility may seem overwhelming, it is something to embrace rather than fear.

Draw up a productive schedule

Of all the changes you will have to adjust to, creating your own schedule once you become an entrepreneur remains one of the most challenging. While it may seem like a simple endeavour, creating a schedule that is conducive of productivity requires a lot of forethought. As an entrepreneur, you will have to have to possess enough self-discipline to schedule enough work time for yourself and employees to get everything done. As tempting as procrastination may be, remember that it could ultimately lead to the downfall of your business. You can ensure that you remain productive by planning your day in advance, scheduling your time in blocks, and taking regular, scheduled breaks.

Making the transition from employee to entrepreneur is a big deal. By following a number of basic guidelines, however, the transition does not need to be a stressful one.