When I first began my professional working life, I got a kick out of getting into work early and staying late. But it wasn’t just me. Many of the people around me were the same. We didn’t think too much about work-life balance but took pride in how hard we worked and based this on how long we were at the office.
But back in those days (yes, those ‘ye olde days’ of about 10 years ago) it was much easier to leave work at work.
These days? While technology is a many splendored thing, it’s completely erased the line that used to exist between work and life. Internet, laptops and smartphones make it possible to work anytime, anywhere. So, we do.
My problem these days is this:
Being a solo operator who manages other business’s websites and online assets, it’s not feasible for me to be disconnected for long periods of time. When I added a baby (now toddler!) to the mix – this complicated things further.
I bumbled through the first year of my son’s life trying to make everything fit. I got through it, and loved the time I had with him, but the work situation wasn’t great.
When he started spending a few days a week in child care, I thought it would solve all of my problems and allow me Work Days and Mum Days.
What I was quickly reminded of though is that kids get sick. Oh, and there are also public holidays. Basically, life happens, and my perfect split of Work and Mum never seemed to work.
I percolated on this for a while, and like most good concepts, something valuable eventually rose to the surface. I accepted I’d never have complete and separate ‘Mum’ days and ‘Work’ days. What I do have, however, is mostly Mum days and mostly Work days.
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I’ve mentioned this to a few people since and they’ve agreed. Regardless of whether you run your own business or not, we all have different facets of our lives that need attention on the same day, and it’s impossible to perfectly segment thing.
So let’s accept that the whole day may have an over arching bent in one direction, but leave some space for the expected or unexpected other items that are going to need attention.
Being prepared for it makes it much easier to embrace when it happens.
So, what else works for me?
I decided very early on that I did not want my son seeing me on the computer or phone working too much.
Initially I tried ‘not at all’ but quickly found that wasn’t possible, so I try as much as possible to do my work when he’s not around.
If something does need my attention, I tell him what I need to do and about how long I think it will take. He might not be able to talk yet, but I don’t see that as a reason to not talk to him. It’s also useful for me to verbalise what it is that I’m doing and how long I plan to take so that I don’t allow myself to get distracted by other things. It keeps me very task oriented, and I feel a sense of accomplishment when it’s complete.
This also allows me to be present with, and appreciate whatever it is that I’m doing at the time. I love my work. I love being a mum. I find that if I try to do both of those at EXACTLY the same time, I tend to do both very poorly and not enjoy them. Not fun.
I know some people find email on their phone very invasive, but I could not survive without it. It allows me to make the most of little pockets of time that are available to keep on top of communications. Not every email can be answered on my phone, but I feel more relaxed knowing what is going on, and it helps me plan ahead.
I use a cloud-based document management system that is synced across all of my devices. This means I can access my files anywhere, anytime. It’s awesome.
Similar to using the cloud for my files, having my email/contacts/calendar etc synced across all devices keeps me up to date as well. It takes a little while to set it up, but is worth it in the long run.
Bonus tip: Take the time to add client and supplier contact details into your address book or whatever CRM tool you use. It’s invaluable when you need to contact someone unexpectedly.
I manage social media accounts for clients as well as myself; so I make use of notifications to alert me to when activity occurs on their channels that I need to respond to, rather than having to check them constantly.
Some of my clients know I’m a mum. Some don’t.
While it’s an important part of who I am, it’s not an essential part of my work-life, so I do pick and choose if and when it needs to be mentioned.
I also don’t try to hide it though, as it is part of who I am, and shouldn’t be embarrassed about. I was quite proud that a client asked me recently during a phone call whether I was at the playground (I wasn’t. I was at Big Digital Adelaide. Similar, but different).
As much as we think we can do many things at once, we usually end up doing them poorly. I’ll admit I still get stuck on this one and often jump between tasks, but I KNOW that I’m more effective and efficient when I focus on one task at a time.
Whether you use an app or a pen and paper, WRITE IT DOWN! But as well as documenting my list of tasks, I also:
Again, whether you write it down on a piece of paper or use a time-tracking tool (I use WorkflowMax) track how you’re spending your time.
WorkflowMax also allows me to mark whether tasks are billable or non-billable, and then generates a productivity report. It has been insanely useful at keeping me focused on what is important, and what is fun, but doesn’t pay the rent. (*I’m talking about your personal social media use!*)
As mentioned above, a downside of technology is that it now makes our work life available 24/7 so it is important to impose some guidelines around when you are online.
While I do have email on my phone (and tablet) I don’t check it after about 8pm. I find that if I do, an email about a situation I can’t do anything about until the following day tends to ruin my night (and sleep) and sleep is pretty awesome.
This one is a little more difficult, but simply accepting the ‘Mostly Mum’ / ‘Mostly Work’ mindset approach that I mentioned above has helped incredibly with being able to just go with the flow. Accept that things will happen, and deal with, or make the most of them when they do.
Well, that is some of what works for me. I would love to hear what tips you have for helping to balance – or accept – your own life.
Please share them in the comments!
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