What is work-life balance about?
It means setting clear boundaries between the time spent working on your business and the time set aside for your family and loved ones.
Chances are you’ve started your Etsy business precisely to be closer to your family and to have a working schedule that allows for spontaneous breaks. However, sometimes work takes over and you end up frustrated that you can’t completely focus on either.
Sounds familiar? :)
Well, blame it on the hustle.
Freedom is great, but it does come at a cost. It can be sooo easy to lose focus and allow the two to overlap – not good.
Achieving the right balance when working for and by yourself is not rocket science. But it does involve more discipline than a regular 9-to-5.
The result will be worth it, though: more peace of mind, better focus while working and a neat pathway to long-term success and happiness.
See how you too can achieve the ideal work-life balance in 5 easy steps:
Small Business Work Life Balance Tips
Step #1: Precise Planning
It’s true: work-life balance mostly relies on… proper planning.
Ugh. But really: most creators or business owners often skip this step and keep aiming for upper echelons all day, every day. However, that’s precisely the thing that will make you feel exhausted, over-worked and unhappy, always chasing that higher goal but never reaching it.
Time to switch it up! Set up quarterly goals for your business and imagine the little steps that’ll help you get there. And make them quantifiable! For example: having X number of orders or Y numbers of Instagram followers (if you plan on driving shop traffic through there) in a specific time frame.
Step #2: Time Management
To overcome your time management hiccups, do this: take the little steps you decided upon in the breakdown above and match them to their corresponding time frames. Think in terms of days, weeks or a month, at the very most.
And you know what? A general time frame already exists! It is defined by the important annual events that your business has to prepare for (Christmas, Easter, summer or autumn sale periods, fair attendance etc.). Alongside your business calendar, prepare one for your personal life and factor in birthdays, family vacations, spa days, wedding weekends.
This way, it’ll be easier to decide what and needs to get done and when it needs to be ready.
Step #3: Set Boundaries
After figuring out the big time frame, fill in the rest of the blanks. Now you know when you have to create extra items, when they should ship out, when it’s time to work on some special sale graphics, when to order season-appropriate packaging etc.
Everything in your schedule should be pretty much predictable now, taking out the stress and the guesswork out of your day-to-day.
Step #4: Prioritize And Compensate
No matter how precise the planning, life can get in the way. And it’s reassuring to know that you can take time off when you need to, even if you had reserved that particular slot for, say, packing orders. But do discipline yourself to get back on track once the emergency has passed. Ignoring and putting off a business task will only make the sore more nagging.
Step #5: Relax And Enjoy The Ride
Your work-life balance will never be 100% perfect and that’s OK – you are human after all. There will be bumps here and there in the road, but, as long as you walk straight ahead and keep the masterplan in mind, you’ll be just fine. :) Good luck!
Check out these articles to get inspired and to learn how to best organize your day-to-day,
-> Why Having A Zen Workspace Is Good For Your Business
-> Find Your Best Daily Routine As An Artist
-> Working From Home? 8 Actionable Tips To Jumpstart Your Productivity