Can you define the line where your business life ends and your family life begins? Do you have a clear goal in mind, or better yet a series of small goals that lead to an end goal? A very good friend of mine, Sally Kuhlman of Virtual Simplicity and Coach Sally, is very big on goals and boundaries. Here are just a few tidbits I’ve learned from her.

Setting definite boundaries between your home and business life is very important. As crucial as it is to set boundaries for your children or even pets. Boundaries help us to cope with the many “hats” we wear in our day-to-day dealings with family, clients, and business associates.

Boundaries are some of the most difficult things to establish when you work virtually. When you start a home or virtual business, you are no longer restricted to the 9 to 5 daily grind of the corporate world. However, you are also pressed to make enough money to make it worthwhile right away, leaving you with the feeling that you need to be “available” at any given moment. You spend hours every day building your business, prospecting for clients, and creating your marketing tools. In that first year it’s easy to find yourself drifting farther away from your home life and working 12 to 15 hours a day. In the end your family is feeling neglected and you feel discouraged and stressed out.

When speaking with Carrie Lower of CL Consulting and Administrative Services, she emphasizes to her business clients about the importance of scheduling time for work and family. The benefit of working from home is that you can adjust your work hours around your family activities. Carrie shares that her computer screen is turned off, or the laptop is placed in hibernation during key family times. This way she can dedicate these times to her kids. Meanwhile after dinner is served and kids are tucked into bed, she can use that time to put the finishing touches on projects, attend seminars, or returning phone calls and emails.

The first step to relieving some of that stress is to sit down and write out your goals. Include your personal goals with your business goals and try to be as clear as possible. If you have a huge goal, break it down into several definite steps that will lead you to that goal, something that can be measured in your eyes. The next step is to take those goals and set some realistic time values to them. It is important to prove to yourself that you are making progress. It’s all too easy to give into that panicked feeling that you are spinning your wheels and going nowhere fast prompting the urge to work that much harder and longer.

With goals firmly in mind you can start to budget your time. I would do this on a weekly or monthly basis, setting aside a specific number of hours for client time, business time, family time, errands time and “me” time. That last item is very important to your mental health believe me. Leave enough room in there for the unexpected and every month or so review your time budget and revise as necessary.

With clear goals and boundaries well in hand you will find your stress level decreasing, you will appear more professional, and your business will blossom.

Pam Sargant
Graphic Artist/Illustrator/Writer/Song-writer
Owner of Delaney Imaging
Author of Mother’s Survival Kit and Christmas Survival Kit (Coming Soon!)

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