3 steps to building a life-friendly business
In this guest blog post Erin Thomas Wong, Business Mentor and Host of The Life-Friendly Business Podcast will share what you need to do in order to achieve a better work/life balance.
You started your own business for a reason. Perhaps it was to be your own boss? Perhaps it was to get more flexibility? Perhaps it was because your original career was no longer sustainable after you had kids? Perhaps it was to follow your passion?
But I bet you didn’t start your own business with the intention of working crazy hours, never being able to switch off, feeling constant guilt and ending up with burnout...
But it’s so easy for this to happen, even more so when we are driven, ambitious and passionate about making a difference.
The holy grail for many is a ‘life-friendly business’.
What this means will be different for each of us. But I can share what it means to me:
It means that I set my own hours (normally 9-2 to work around school, and of course sometimes I work in the evenings if I choose to) Fridays are a day for a catch-up, coffee with a friend, a long walk. I try not to schedule calls unless absolutely necessary, so this day can be a buffer day, for anything which hasn’t been completed OR to give myself some self-care time before the madness of a family weekend.
It means I can move things around to attend school plays, hospital appointments, parent/teacher meetings, without the need to feel guilty about telling my boss or letting my clients down.
It means that I can work around my energy. I’m definitely a morning person, I’m at my best before lunch, but after lunch… pah… that’s another story! (I’m a huge fan of mini cat naps when I can!)
I look at the year ahead and plan my promotions/launches accordingly, so I’m not over-committed during the summer or Christmas holidays.
If an opportunity arises to have a cheeky lunch break at the local cafe with my husband, I will embrace it.
It’s taken me 13 years to get to this place though. 13 years of being a small business owner, trying to do everything myself, beating myself up when things go wrong, feeling like a failure, feeling guilty for wanting to work when I 'should’ be enjoying time with the kids, feeling like the business ‘should’ be growing faster, feeling like I ‘should’ be earning more money.
And believe me, that is a whole lot of pressure to carry.
(Can you relate?)
I wish I had understood what a life-friendly business could be like back then, and that it’s OK to do things at my own pace, rather than be all-consumed by other people’s measures of success.
Your 3 Steps To A Life-Friendly Business
In order to get to this place of having a ‘life-friendly’ business, here are 3 steps that you need to take:
1. Define your vision of a life-friendly business
What do you want your life to look like on a daily basis? What does the ratio of work/life/family/wellbeing look like? What’s important to you? What do you need to happen to make sure you’re not overwhelmed or exhausted? How will you measure your success?
2. Set your boundaries
Boundaries refer to limits that you put in place to protect your well-being. As a business owner, it is absolutely crucial that you decide what is OK and what is not OK, in terms of your family, your relationships, your business relationships, and also what you need in order to thrive (i.e. self-care).
This could be about communicating with your clients when you will respond to them. It could be communicating to your partner what you would like help with when it comes to the home/family. This could be deciding to prioritise that exercise class you’d love to do, or a walk by yourself, or a bath in the middle of the day whilst the house is quiet. What feels good for you? What brings you joy?
3. Stop wasting time & focus on your 5% activities
Did you know that probably only about 5% of the activities you do in your business will actually be moving the needle? James Wedmore talks about how we spend so much time being ‘busy busy’ with the 95%, making us feel like we are constantly peddling but never really gaining traction. But in fact, we would experience much faster growth if we focus on the 5%, and let’s be honest, if we want a ‘life-friendly’ business, we don’t have time to be faffing! [If you’re not sure what your 5% activities are, get some support from a Mentor or Coach]
Make sure you are realistic with your scheduling. There’s nothing worse than setting yourself up for a fall by piling so much on your plate that you’ll never get it done.
And my final tip for you, which absolutely has to be implemented in order to achieve a ‘life-friendly business’ is to…..
Be kind to yourself. Give yourself grace.
This means no more beating yourself up about what you ‘should’ be achieving, what you ‘should’ be earning, what you ‘should’ be doing with your kids.
You are enough.
Whatever you manage to do on a daily basis is enough.
As soon as you take the pressure off yourself, you will be happier, more creative and therefore a whole lot more successful in your business.
Give yourself grace.
Good luck, and if you’d like support in achieving your own life-friendly business, do reach out, I’d love to help you.
