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Running a business demands a lot of the owner's time and energy. To maintain a healthy, balanced life (and your sanity), it's important for you to make room on the schedule for your personal responsibilities and activities, but doing so is especially difficult for entrepreneurs who work out of a home-based office.
With no physical boundaries between work and play, it can feel like one half is constantly encroaching on the other. Baskets of laundry, kids' toys and workout equipment coexist with a desk full of business-related items. Phone calls from clients and vendors interrupt you when you're preparing lunch, and the dog always seems to bark when you're in an important video conference. Even if you're highly organized, it can still be difficult to successfully run a business and a household in the same space.
While it may not be possible for home-based business owners to fully separate the personal from the professional, there are ways to better integrate the different facets of your life. Four entrepreneurs shared a few secrets for improving work-life balance when you work at home.
Get dressed.When you work in an office, part of your normal routine includes changing out of your pajamas and into work-appropriate attire. In an effort to get a jump on the day, some home-based entrepreneurs skip this step and stay in their PJs or sweatpants while they work. But just because you can dress however you want, doesn't mean you should.
"Get dressed every day," said Sara Davidson, founder of online female entrepreneur school Hello Fearless. "Treat [your home] like a real work environment. It makes a huge difference when you feel like [it is]. It changes the culture."
"I'm not suggesting to put a suit on to work from home, [but] make a conscious effort to say, 'This is work, and I need to act and dress accordingly," added Justin Esgar, entrepreneur and author of Appitalize On Your Idea (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014).
Create (and maintain) a designated work space. Much like putting on a proper outfit, committing to only doing work in a defined space, like an office or other sectioned-off area of your home, can help to create a more productive work environment.
"It's critical to commute out of the bedroom to a dedicated workspace that separates work from personal space," said Bob Higgins, co-founder of board game Linknotize. "Once you've commuted to your work space, treat your day as if you've actually left the house. In addition to having a dedicated work area, it is also really important to keep at least one space in the house as a business-free zone."
Leave the house. Another obstacle to work-life balance for home-based entrepreneurs is the feeling of being "trapped" in your home. If you don't have any urgent errands to run, you could find yourself cooped up at home for several days at a time. Davidson encouraged these entrepreneurs to purposely schedule meetings and work time in places that aren't your house, such as a coffee shop, to give you an excuse to get outside and change your scenery.
Christopher Conner, president of Franchise Marketing Systems, noted that entrepreneurs who work at home should make time for personal activities outside the house, whether it's visiting a local museum or taking a short vacation.
"When you are doing something personal that makes you happy, that's when you get the inspiration and drive to start something new in business," Conner said.
Susan Berkowitz, Higgins' wife and Linknotize co-founder, agreed that personal activities should be a integral part of your regular schedule.
"We really find we need to take time away from our business and schedule time to do other things we also enjoy," Berkowitz said. "As an entrepreneur, it's simply too easy to be consumed by the business because success is completely related to commitment. One good tip is to buy tickets that can't be readily changed. This forces you to take a break."
Block out your time to focus on a specific task. Entrepreneurial parents often find it particularly challenging to balance family time and business time. Giving your full attention to a specific task, regardless of which side it falls on, can be tough with all the distractions that pop up throughout the day.
"I want to give so much to my family and I also want to give so much to my [business]," saidMelissa Holland, president and founder of maternity bra line BeliBea. "It can be challenging to divide time between those two loves, especially when working from home."
Holland said that the most helpful way to accomplish this is to set aside specific times on your schedule for personal and professional to-do's.
"Dedicating time to one area helps me stay focused during those moments and ensure I'm giving my all to the task at hand," Holland told Business News Daily. "It's also been extremely helpful for me to find tools to make everyday tasks in life a little easier. I do this with everything from housework to keeping my business organized."
Learn to "turn off" your business. Entrepreneur or not, many professionals struggle with the dilemma of constant connectivity: Mobile devices allow you to check in on work issues 24/7, but if you make a habit of it, others will expect you to be available all the time. As a home-based entrepreneur, one of the biggest challenges you'll face is knowing when to disconnect from your business.
"As an entrepreneur, I never want to miss an opportunity, so I'm always on my phone," Esgar said. "Maybe there's a tweet I should look for, or an article to read. It's hard to turn it off, and I find myself fighting with myself to do so. I have to consciously say to myself, 'Stop working.'"
It's almost impossible to completely shut off "work mode" when you're in charge of a business, but it's not healthy to work all the time. Conner advised creating a separate email address for after-hours issues that may arise, and tell your employees and professional contacts to only use this address for emergency situations. To put your mind at ease about missing anything urgent, check it just once after you decide to stop working for the day, Conner said.
Have a strong support system. When you're running a business out of your house, it's crucial that the people who live with you are supportive of your entrepreneurial endeavors. Whether it's a significant other/spouse, a relative or your children, everyone in your household needs to be on board. Davidson said setting expectations and boundaries for "work time" will help keep your relationships solid and minimize any resentment or misunderstandings.
Davidson also noted that hiring the right team will give you the right mindset and energy to be productive while you're on the clock.
"Hire amazing people who not only do incredible work, but are relentlessly passionate about the business you're building," Davidson said. "It's important to surround yourself with people who align with who you are."
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