How to make the line between work and home a little clearer
There are fantastic benefits to working for yourself, from choosing who you work with, to deciding your hours of business, to picking your work location, but there is no doubt that there are cons that come along with the pros! And drawing the line between work and home life is one of them.
In the past I have struggled with ending my working day. It’s all too tempting to just bash out one more email or write up that last report. It’s so easy to blur home life with work when the laptop is in the same room as you and you literally just have to lift the lid!
There are always exceptions to the rule, but to help you draw a clearer line between work and play, let me share my 5 Top Tips for setting work/home boundaries:
1. Allocate a dedicated workspace
Not everyone has the luxury of a home office but whether it’s the kitchen table, study or desk in the spare room, find a space that you can call your office - where the family know not to touch anything and a place that you can walk away from at the end of the day. It may be comfy on the sofa but you might find yourself working there well into the evening!
2. Buy A Watch
I had gone for years without a watch, I thought I was being smart! Why would I need a watch if the time was on my phone? Well the thing is that by checking the time I would also see the email notifications or a slack message from a client. Too many distractions, and before I knew it, I was writing a quick email or responding to DMs on a client's social media account and I’d forgotten why I even wanted to know the time!
3. Turn all your notifications off
It sounds brave/dangerous/crazy - but it's not! By turning off your notifications it means that you engage with your admin/email/social at a time that suits you; your phone is not calling you for attention. Don't fall into the trap thinking you need to reply to messages immediately - and don't expect others to respond to your messages immediately either!
Turn ALL phone notifications off!
4. Put Your Phone Apps In Folders
There are a number of tactics I use on my phone to keep me from being distracted. I frequently have a cull of Apps on my device. We are often persuade to download an App that we’ve seen someone recommend on Social only to use it two or three times before forgetting all about it - and then not even remembering why we downloaded it in the first place. Sort your Apps into Folders - I have all my social media Apps in one folder, all my shopping Apps in another. I also have folders for photography, productivity, business, finance, travel and entertainment.
5. Switch Off Your Laptop (Putting it to sleep doesn’t count).
At the end of your work day put aside 15 minutes to prep for the next day. Make a To Do List and check what calls you have booked in. Ensure you are clear about how you are going to start the next day. Close all your tabs down, and switch off your laptop. You are done for the day - now go and connect with your family and be present.
Turn your computer off at the end of the day
If you are struggling to find enough hours in the day to work in your business and on your business you may benefit from some additional support. I offer a virtual business support service where I can take on some of your responsibilities and tasks, enabling you to focus on the growth of your business. Please drop me an email to arrange a chat, I would love to have a conversation with you about being part of your growth plan.