Worklife Balance

Maintaining a work life balance is a true art.

Balance is not better time management, but better boundary management. Balance means making choices and enjoying those choices. – Betsy Jacobson

Maintaing the work-life balance means having the will power and determination to work during work hours and stop when work hours are over. It means learning to say no because it is not time to work, even if you know you need to finish a project. It means scheduling the extra hours to get the project done, but also putting the same importance on family life and/or recreation time. However, keeping a balance gets more challenging when you are an entrepreneur, especially one working out of the home.

Example: Self Employed at Home

Working at home for yourself provides more challenges than working in an office with hours and expectations set by someone else.

Set Work Hours:

“You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must make it.” – Charles Buxton

To work at home, it requires a very determined personality type that can set and keep work hours (such as 8 to 5 Monday through Friday, or Tuesday through Friday 9 to 3, etc). There is no one saying you need to work other than you. Therefore, if you find yourself being easily sidetracked by home projects or the call of playing outdoors, working at home may not be your cup of tea.

Set Work Space:

Second, you need a space set aside for work during work time. It doesn’t have to be a fancy office- it can even be a table in a corner. But it needs to be set aside for work as well as have a means to closing it off from work. An agreement about this space needs to be made between you and housemates or family members: when you are in your work space, you are not to be disturbed. The same goes, when you are out of your workspace, you are not to be working. A door or even a curtain that can be pulled closed can help make this boundary more visible. If you don’t have that, then even having a blanket that covers your worktable after work hours will keep it hid from you so you can’t sneak in a few minutes between dinner and dishes.

Set Digital Work Boundaries:

In this day of technology where emails can demand your attention at any given moment, it is important to extend your work hours to your mobile devices. Yes, you may want to sneak a peak at your phone after work hours are over just to see if your big account has been accepted. However, the more you can train yourself to turn off after work and NOT check your emails, the more your family members and housemates will respect the time you set aside for work hours (and the more you will get out of your own work hours). If you are always working, then it will be harder to get uninterrupted work hours during the day. Furthermore, if you never stop working, then you never have time to revive and to be the other roles you have as parent, child, sibling, friend, etc.

More resources about Maintaining a Work-life Balance

Videos about Work Life Balance

Nigel Marsh: How to make work-life balance work

The Work Life Balance

Work Life Balance by Jen Dohner

What is Work-Life Balance?