Is the work/life balance a myth?

A friend of mine wrote a post recently that said “something always takes a priority”. In the last several years I have been working hard to maintain a work/life balance but is the balance that I’m working towards just an illusion?

I don’t think that a work/life balance necessarily needs to be 50/50 on a daily basis. There are seasons where one of the other will take priority. I work towards a more general balance throughout the year. Let me explain.

Take regular vacations

I think one of the best ways to balance my work, family, and personal self-care is to plan out my vacations at the beginning of the year. During my vacation my balance shifts to a 90/10, I rarely check my emails, I stay off of social media allowing my pre-planned posts to auto-post, and have my projects in a place that won’t require my attention while I’m away.

Set clear office hours

I think this is the hardest one when you have kids especially; however I really try to not let work bleed into my family time, and vice versa. I have caught myself at times answering emails during my kid’s lacrosse practice or booking baseball coaching during work times. The problem is that I don’t find myself particularly productive when I do things like this. Setting clear office hours where I can focus on work allows me to have set hours for uninterrupted family time as well.

Setup systems in your business

Setting up systems in your business allows you to close the door to your office and know that your clients are still taken care of. Whether it’s for the night or for the weekend. For example, I use 17Hats to create a contact form on my website. When clients inquire from my website, their contact information gets fed into 17Hats. 17Hats then sends them an autoresponder email I have already set up allowing clients to get an immediate response and an invitation to book a discovery call even before i have had a chance to read their email. They can book a call into my calendar, all while I’m having dinner with my family or enjoying family movie night. 

Just be ok with it

I think at some point you just have to be ok with the balance you have created in your business. Knowing that there will be some times when your business will take priority, like during a launch or sale and other times when your family will take priority. And that’s ok!

To help me stay on top of my work/life balance, I have been using a planner that I am in the process of making digital and available for GoodNotes. The digital planner will be available on my Etsy Shop.  This digital planner helps me stay on top of my daily/weekly and quarterly goals.