Six Tips For Creating a Home and Work Balance

When you work from home, running a business can be quite challenging. There are many tasks that you need to be able to do to keep your business running, as well as taking care of your home and family. You might be switching loads of laundry in between phone calls! When your children are home, they may keep interrupting you even when you are trying to work.

Just because it is difficult doesn't mean that it has to be. Here are some tips to help you balance your home and business life.

Have a designated space for your business. You are more likely to leave your business in the office when you actually have one! So, try to find some room in your home where you can close the door when you are done working for the day.

If that isn't possible, at least have a closet where you can put your work away when it is time to focus on your family. Pack your work supplies up and put them away. Out of sight, out of mind.

When you are done for the day, be done! It is important that you create a boundary once you are done for the day. Do not take phone calls or check work emails when you are at home with your family.

There is nothing wrong with checking them quickly after you put your children to bed, however, you don't want to look at one email and spend another three hours working (when you should be hanging out with your children).

Stop doing business tasks that you don't enjoy. If you hate paperwork, find someone else to do it for you. Have a lot of research that needs to be completed for the next project? You should think about hiring a freelancer to help get it done quickly.

Is marketing not your thing? It might make a lot more sense to hire someone who can do it quickly and much more efficiently than you. This will allow you to spend your valuable working time doing the things that you do enjoy (and will help you grow your business).

Same with things in your life that you don't enjoy. Your downtime is your own time, and you should be able to do whatever you enjoy doing. If you want to watch movies on the weekends with your family, go for it.

If you get invited to a fancy dinner and couldn't think of anything worse, give your excuse and forget about it! Instead, grab your family and do something that you all will enjoy.

Put important things on your calendar. If you want to go to the movies or have a date night, put it on the calendar. You are less likely to skip these important dates if they are already on the calendar.

There is nothing wrong with saying no. The sooner that you learn to say no, the better off you will be. There are going to be certain things that you just can't do. Even if you mentally can't put another task on your to-do list, you can say no to it. In fact, it can be really freeing to decline when you can’t (or don’t want to waste your precious time) to do something.

Finding a balance between home and work can be impossible, especially when you work from home. It helps when you can put your work away for the day, whether you shut the door to your office or you just put your papers away in the closet.

It also helps if you stop doing things that you don't like to do, both in your business and at home. Hire help or a freelancer to help you with tedious tasks, so you can focus on the important things. Spend your weekends and evenings with your family, instead of going to every get together that you are invited to. It helps to say no. You will be much happier!

Previously published on Medium.