The Solopreneur Specialist
Monthly Newsletter
As a solopreneur you may have quit your corporate job and created your business to find more “balance” in your life, only to find that this same question is nagging at you again. The truth is, work and personal life are rarely balanced in the sense that you can give equal attention to each, even when you are calling the shots. In fact, you may find that you are putting in more working hours than before because you have more passion for what you do now. Still, it’s important to have a sense of progress and health in all areas of your life, so instead of chasing “work/life balance,” perhaps you could focus on creating “work/life satisfaction.”
So what are some strategies for achieving work/life satisfaction?
When it comes to ensuring each area of your life receives adequate attention, there’s no better place to look than how you spend your time. Is it being wisely spent? When you are at your desk, are you actually working? Same question when you are spending time with your loved ones: are you in the moment and present with them? Or are you thinking about what you have to do when you get back to your computer? Technology has made us more available than ever, and if we’re not careful, we can be constantly multi-tasking, short-changing whatever we’re supposed to be focusing on at any given moment. With our attention divided, our work tasks may actually take longer than if we were to truly focus. Our loved ones also feel our stretched attention when we are with them, and this might create resentment towards the time you spend working.
Time management, then, becomes essential in creating work/life satisfaction, and it all begins with a planner and scheduled time blocks. By creating a schedule every day (including weekends!) you are ensuring that you are attending to all the different areas of your life. Make sure you set, and honor, your “working” hours, and minimize distractions as much as possible. The same holds true for hours designated as “family” or “personal” time. Life dissatisfaction happens when we are constantly deviating from our plan– working, for example, a few extra hours when we had planned to go to a yoga class we’ve missed for a few weeks. Of course, there will be times when an area in our life requires more dedicated time–such as a large work project or the birth of a new child–and we need to have the flexibility to make adjustments to our schedule. Starting the week with a careful analysis of what we have planned will ensure we are prioritizing what needs to be prioritized for that particular week.
Here are some additional tips to help with optimizing your scheduled time blocks:
- Align Family Expectations – consult with your family about the best ways to ensure your work can be accomplished and all members feel like they are important in your schedule. Once a week, a family schedule, including working and family time blocks, can be created together and proudly displayed. If you work from home, your children can brainstorm activities they can do during your working times, so when you go to work, they get to “go to work” too! You may even consider involving them in your business tasks if they are eager to help. Make sure you honor this schedule and reflect weekly with your family about any adjustments that need to be made.
- Eliminate Distractions – this is one of the hardest things for us to do in this day and age, and yet it is so important to making sure we are optimizing our time. If you are at your desk, you need to ensure you are giving 100% of your focus to your work. This might mean you need to hire a babysitter during this time so your children have the attention they need, or plan to work in another location that’s quiet and free of distractions. When you are with your family, it’s a good practice to “unplug” from technology so you can be fully present and enjoy spending time with them. When you return to your designated working hours, you’ll feel refreshed and ready for work, and conversely, your loved ones’ “cups” will feel full and they can focus on other tasks without you.
- Schedule Reflection Time – so often we are simply carrying out the given tasks of the day, but we don’t spend enough time reflecting on how we are spending our time, and if these tasks we often mindlessly carry-out, serve our mission in life. What tasks/activities need to be dropped? Postponed? Delegated? Where can we find “breathing room” in our lives for when the unexpected arises? Are we feeling a great sense of work/life satisfaction? If not, why not? By scheduling a weekly reflection time we can return to our goals and priorities and make sure that our time, which is so precious and nonrenewable, is being spent in the best way possible.
In your weekly reflections, you may find that you are still unsure about your life goals and priorities, and it may be helpful to consult with someone who can help you identify areas where you may feel stuck– especially with work. I love helping solopreneurs (or future solopreneurs!) think through their next steps in their professions and I offer a free 30-minute consult. Call me today and we can get you on a path to better work/life satisfaction!
