I have been thinking about small businesses work life balance over the last 4 days.
The last 4 days have been our 3 monthly break away from all work/small businesses and technology as much as possible and I must say that each time we do it we are getting better and others around us are getting better at complying with the rules that we are setting.
At the beginning of this year I made the decision that I wouldn’t “work” school holidays and although I have been doing some writing and marketing I haven’t had to send my kids to the babysitter or school holiday care and this is definitely my definition of not “working”.
Our Small Businesses Work Life Balance
Our quarterly break away is a part of our work life balance and we have had a great 4 day break which included 2 nights and 3 days on the Gold Coast shopping [we visited the new Robina Shopping Centre], swimming [in the beautiful Coolangatta ocean and the pool at our apartment], walking and soaking up the sun! So nice before the winter sun sets in!
On Saturday we spent the day at SeaWorld – which was great and this time we took the kids on the Log Ride and the Bermuda Triangle ride – it is so good to get outside your comfort zone to invigorate and get ready for the pressures of small business.
Today we drove 2 hours west to take the boys motorbike riding at a secluded and beautiful spot that had nothing but nature. There is nothing like having nothing to do [no phones or computers] to get a REAL break from your small business.
The “remote brain” small business owner
How do you get work life balance?
Do you get away …. completely? Not just take the phone and check emails every 2 hours at the internet cafe … :-)
I have been there … only just last year we would have a holiday and take work with us … if we were lucky we would get a 2-3 hour break from the phone calls. Then check the emails, return the phone calls and you know what half the calls and messages were our employees wanting a “remote brain” – my name for not thinking for themselves!
It was at this time I decided I needed a plan after being nudged by various mentors for a while.
The Small Businesses Work Life Balance Plan
Now you might not need a quarterly break but I think it is absolutely essential to start with at least a 2-3 day break every 3-4 months.
You might need to start with something small like we did … letting the phone ring for 2-3 hours on silent – after telling the office that we will be unavailable for 2-3 hours – and increase up to a full day and then on to 3 full days with no unimportant messages.
If you don’t have employees and it is customers ringing and messaging you – set up an auto responder on your email and a professional and clear message on your phone.
Filling in the Time
After you have determined your small businesses work life balance plan you need to decide what you are going to do with your time.
I have found that I need to make a real effort to do things that I don’t normally do such as:
- getting outside because I work inside
- sitting in the sun
- exercising
- visiting new places
If you don’t find things to do you will automatically draw yourself back to the phone or your computer!
Finding work life balance is really difficult when you are a small business owner but if you find a really good plan that works for you I would love to hear about it … send me a message or leave a comment!
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