Est Read Time: 8 Minutes
When I first got started working from home I had the hardest time with my work life balance. At first I was too liberal with my days off, then I did a 180 and took almost no days off! Now that I have better work-life balance, I just find that I am working through feelings of guilt when I take days off…
To give myself some grace though, at the same time as starting my business I had also just had a baby –like I literally launched Razzle Marketing two weeks after!
Am I crazy? Just maybe, because we also got a puppy the same month the pandemic started, which was only three months after I had my daughter.
For almost two years, I had no real perception of time. I was either always working or not working at all. There was no balance, there was no routine, and there definitely was no schedule.
It was chaos, to say the least! And it’s not a way of working from home that I recommend at all because it didn’t just affect my business, it also affected my relationships and mental health. I was not taking care of myself and I was not taking care of my relationships with my loved ones.
After experiencing such turmoil, I buckled down and got serious about figuring out how to balance my work and my life.
So, I started to create a schedule and routines that would support the life I wanted –One that has a balance of work and life.
(Remember, that ‘life balance’ includes time with your loved ones and time with yourself.)
I’ll be the first to admit that it took me too long to recognize how bad I was doing at the whole balancing act, so long that it almost spoiled several relationships with people I love and care about.
I was burning out, depressed, and in a constant state of stress. It was not a great way of living and I am genuinely scared for what would have happened to my life if I didn’t get serious about setting up boundaries and striving for better balance.
Almost one full year of persistent work, and I can tell you that I am in a much better place than I was this time last year. And you can bet that I am going to continue to put in the work because this battle my friend, for your time and focus, is a constant one.
Do you feel like you have a hard time balancing work and life?
Do you work too much? Or do you spend too much time not working?
Do you spend time with your family but find yourself off and thinking about all the things you need to do for work?
Or do you feel stressed constantly and always feel like you’re behind on everything?
When you take a day off do you enjoy it? Or do you spend the entire time feeling guilty, telling yourself you should be getting things done?
I have a few suggestions that I found helped me find work life balance, allowing me to be more consistent and more present both in my business and with my family!
Now, before I tell you about the ways that I help find balance in my life, you need to remember that what works for me may not work for you.
These are just suggestions that you may find useful for your own situation, or you can you it as a place to start when trying to figure your own work life balance. Right now, I have a full house and limited resources in terms of childcare and office spaces living in a rural town. I am trying to balance spending time with my family, friends, being active and working out, reading, self development, business development, and maintaining a clean(ish) home.
If you can resonate at least with trying to juggle all these balls at once, like myself, then you may be able to apply one or two of my suggestions to your own situation! Even if my chaos doesn’t quite sound like yours, I still would like you to hear me out to at least help inspire you.
SET A WEEKLY/MONTHLY SCHEDULE
The first thing I did when trying to find work life balance was create a schedule. Now, life happens and I am not always able to stick to my schedule, but I tell ya, having it has been tremendous in me finding a flow and becoming more consistent.
Now, with my outlined work schedule, I am able to set boundaries better. If I am not done by my set time that day, then I leave it where it’s at, because my family is also a high priority for me and I want to make sure that I am present during the time we spend together.
I have not yet perfected my own work schedule, but thanks to having a few set days and staying committed to showing up during my scheduled work time, I am seeing a vast improvement in my productivity and overall happiness.
I actually feel like I have more time now that I am setting up more clearly defined boundaries around my time and attention.
CREATE WORKDAY RITUALS
When you’re preparing to work and when you’re wrapping up the day, you should have rituals.
You want to have a ritual (or routine) that you go through when you go to sit down for work and when you go to call it quits for the day to help your brain ‘flip a switch’ so to speak.
Routines are things that you do on auto-pilot without really thinking about it, and having a routine to get you started will help you with the hardest part of doing anything, getting started.
Mine is still a work in progress, but so far I found that I have been the most productive when I wake up and start my day with reading my business or self-development book, then going for a workout, take the dogs out, and then sit down with a cup of tea listening to jazz or some sort of instrumental music. Then, I get started by reviewing my task list for the day and commit to them in the accountability chat my teammate Madisen and I have.
By the end of all of this, I am usually feeling excited and amped up to get sh** done! So currently, I am working on becoming consistent with this routine on my work days and that’s what I want to encourage you to find for yourself.
A routine that gets you into work mode –heck, beast mode really! So think about the things you can try out when you want to get started on your work. Remember, it takes time and plenty of trial and error before you really figure out what works for you.
GET REALISTIC WITH YOUR TASKS
The best thing I ever started doing was writing out my day the night before and then going through the tasks I was expecting of myself and writing down how much time I thought the task would take me.
Not only did I very quickly learn that I was expecting too much from myself, but I was also not being realistic about how long it took me to do things. I really thought that I could do it all, but the truth is, I can’t. And you can’t. No one can!
That’s why you need to write out your day and plan out what is a priority for you. What one to three tasks do you need to complete that day that are vital to either your work or your life? Don’t overload yourself and definitely be realistic with how long you think it will take to accomplish each task.
By being realistic with my daily tasks, I am now not only better about prioritizing and accomplishing my tasks, I am also better at figuring out what can wait and what can be eliminated from my task list completely!
SET ALARMS AND TIMERS
I want to leave you with one final suggestion to help you find better work life balance so you can take the day off without any guilt!
Set yourself alarms to remind you of important deadlines and meetings. I know that this seems like such a small thing to do, but you completely free your mind of the stress of trying to remember things.
I even have alarms set for parts of my routine to help ‘trigger’ me into that part of the day.
I also think it’s ideal to set work timers! Some people work in 30 minute increments, but I like to work in 90 minute increments. Mostly because I know it takes me a little bit to get into work mode and I really hate stopping or being interrupted when I’m in my creative flow, so 90 works best for me. You decide what works best for you, but I’d recommend keeping your work sessions between 30 to 90 minutes and taking a mandatory break in between.
When I succeed at doing my work sessions and taking my breaks, I end the day feeling much more accomplished! And I find having a visual timer helps me keep my focus better, because I can see that I only have so much more time to keep working on my project and I want to accomplish so much before that timer goes off.
Working from home is a challenge in itself, let alone doing the actual work we’re supposed to. Making it hard to truly enjoy a day off, free from commitments and guilt.
That’s why I started to take the reins and really put focused efforts into creating my work-life balance.
Of course, work-life balance looks different for everyone, but there are things that you can be doing to achieve that. Which is why I thought I’d share a few of my suggestions!
- Set a schedule (and stick to it!)
- Create rituals (so you can stop struggling to get started)
- Get realistic with your tasks (then you know what you really have time for)
- Set alarms and timers (free up some of your brain clutter!)
I know that not all of these suggestions are going to work for you, but they’re a place to start! Test them out or try other things. Just find things that help you feel motivated, passionate even, to serve your clients the best you can!
So that you can call it quits at the end of the work day feeling accomplished and good. And so you can show up for your loved ones, giving them your full attention. But also so you can take the time you need to care for yourself and do things you love outside of your commitments.
If you want to start taking days off without feeling guilty, you need to create work-life balance. Do do that, you need to decide what work-life balance looks like to you.
For me, it’s getting to have first-thing in the morning to myself before starting the day. It’s getting to spend the whole morning (after my ‘me time’) creating and working so that I can be done shortly after lunch time and spend the warmest parts of the day with my family and friends being fully present and truly enjoying my time. And then ending my day with a bit of tidying, cooking, and relaxing activities.
I have not fully achieved this, but I am definitely working towards it!
Now you decide: What does your work-life balance look like?
After you figure that out, you’ll probably have a better idea of what you can do to bring yourself closer to accomplishing your work-life balanced life.
I hope you find this blog post helpful and you’re feeling more inspired about finding balance in your life so that you can enjoy what you’re doing for your clients, be present and really love the time you spend with loved ones, and of course, have guilt-free time to yourself!
Of course, take the day off. Take care of yourself! But don’t start to go too easy on yourself and slack off.
I know you’ll figure out what works for you! Give yourself time and give yourself grace and you will get there.
I wish you all the best with your week!
-Jordan
PS- If social media is something that burdens you and eats up too much of your time send me an email because I would love to help! We only have room for two more social media management clients, so if social media is something you want taken care of so you can stress less and have more free time contact me by CLICKING HERE
