How to balance work and family life as a business owner
There are times when life can become pretty hectic, and you might find it challenging to balance everything. Such a struggle can cause exhaustion and, if you are a parent with a full-time job, the anxiety that comes with handling everything can affect your professional and family life. Between being a parent and owning a business, many responsibilities can take up your entire day. For this reason, you might feel like you don’t have enough energy to properly do everything you were planning to do at work and spend quality time with your loved ones.
However, there are things which you can do to separate work and family life when needed and also work towards balancing the two. It is essential to realize that sometimes it might be difficult to give equal attention to both. To avoid this happening for too long, we have compiled a guide with tips on how to handle everything.
Create a routine
It might seem like a straightforward thing to do, especially if you are a business owner and are aware of the importance of creating a structure. However, there are times when you can easily overlook how beneficial it is to stick to a routine. So, when you make a daily schedule, the secret is not to neglect it as much as possible.
When you have a family, your children will need a great deal of attention, while you also have to handle a business. Start by writing down in a notebook planner a list of priorities and things you need to do. It might be helpful to allocate an approximate time to each of them. For instance, divide your day by morning, lunchtime and evening, so you have a clear vision of what needs your attention.
If you need to get your child to school, plan your morning accordingly before going to work. You could use your lunch break for business meetings, or you could plan a short visit to the park with your child. This way you get to spend time with your family more than just in the evenings when you get home. Structuring your day by the hour while allowing for a bit of flexibility will help you create a routine. What’s more, you will make a habit of this, and it will become a lifestyle.
Work priorities
When you own a business, you have the advantage of flexibility every once in a while. Your presence is essential in overseeing the business practices and lead your team to keep them motivated and increase overall productivity. However, there are times when you can guide your most trusted employee to oversee the business in your absence.
By setting your work priorities at the beginning of each week, you will be able to notice whether you can be flexible with other aspects of your life without neglecting your work responsibilities. If it sometimes seems complicated to decide what is urgent, a good tip that can help you is to ask yourself two questions:
— What is non-negotiable? – by answering this question, you will be able to tell the tasks that need your undivided attention and, therefore, is a work priority.
— What is most urgent? – based on this, you can create a timeline of deadlines, rather than trying to work on everything that seems urgent and becoming overwhelmed.
In case of an urgent and critical task at work, when you need to work closely with your team for long hours, you can still stay connected to your family. Make a few brief phone calls or video calls to check in with your loved ones during the day. This way, you show your child or partner you are present, even though at that moment work is more of a priority.
Family rituals
Similar to your work priorities, it is vital you give equal attention to your family. When you have a busy life, it is necessary to allocate time for your family and plan it in advance. For instance, whenever your business doesn’t require you to be present at all times, you can arrange for a weekend family getaway. You could go to an adventure or theme park – it is fun for both adults and children, and you gather incredible memories together.
Quality time with your children is of the utmost importance for their development. Spending time with them, being involved in their education, and playing together is needed to build a healthy and trusting relationship between parent and child.
However, as a business owner, your work responsibilities might interfere with your family time. In case it is an urgent matter, happening last minute, you might quickly become stressed and worried. Thankfully, there are day camps in Queens where you can register your child right away. This way, you can take care of your work emergency while knowing that your child is well-supervised. What’s more, such camps offer a multitude of activities highly beneficial for them.
To have balance, accept imbalance
To balance your work and family life, you have to accept that sometimes things can happen that bring imbalance. While creating a routine, prioritizing, and scheduling family time helps achieve a balance, it is impossible to plan everything.
Unpredictable things can happen both at work and at home that forces you to adapt. You must accept this possibility to avoid getting stuck and unable to find a solution when the situation requires you. In this case, the secret is not to allow this imbalance to create a hectic life and forget the routine. Depending on the disrupting situation, give enough time until things get back to normal. When this happens, go back to the well-established routine that works best for you.
Mix work with family
You might have heard you should separate work and family life. In some cases, it is essential to divide them. For instance, if you try to focus at work while being present at home, you might lose focus and not give your best to either.
However, there are times when it can be healthy to combine them. Bringing your children to work can be mutually beneficial. You get to spend time with them, and they have the opportunity to see what you do every day and get to know you better. This is a chance to bond and strengthen your relationship.
