It’s all about boundaries, baby.
Out-of-office memo: "I'm leaving the office for two hours to undergo kidney transplant surgery, I will be reachable by cell at any time."
Sound familiar? It may be a joke, but it's not that far from the truth. We are all so dedicated to our careers that we feel a responsibility to prioritize our professional obligations above all else. In small business, it sometimes feels impossible to step away even for a second to attend to personal matters. At Missoula Bookkeeper, one of our major values is work-life balance--doing what you love so you have the freedom to live life on your own terms. Here are a few ways you can set some healthy boundaries, maximize your time, and learn to create a balance between work and personal endeavors.
Set manageable goals: They say the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. Rather than feeling like everything needs to be FORWARD! FORWARD! FORWARD! set small milestones to work towards. Daily, weekly or monthly goals help keep things in manageable bites. Small steps lead to big gains, and keep you from feeling overwhelmed.
Take five: Set intervals throughout the day to take a damn break! Taking a couple minutes to move around, get a cup of coffee or text a friend can be just the reset you need to jump back into work. Set a timer so you don't get off track, but make it habit to periodically take five (or fifteen!) and then get right back to it.
Dont overcommit: It's SO HARD to say no. You want your business to succeed, you want to be a great friend, you want be a great parent, volunteer, and I'll bet you have 10 million projects and hobbies you'd like to dive into. Make it priority to set some healthy boundaries in all (YES, ALL) of these areas! When you overcommit, you end up half-assing all of it. Let's pick the stuff that's really important and give it our WHOLE ass, shall we?
Ask for help when you need it: If we've said it once, we have said it a million times--DELEGATE! It's tempting to try to handle it all, but there's no need to be Jill-of-all-trades. Outsource the stuff that simply isn't worth your time or bandwidth.
Compartmentalize: It's so easy to get sidetracked and feel like you have to answer emails and texts IMMEDIATELY, but it ends up pulling you away from tasks you need to accomplish. Put your notifications on silent and dedicate windows of time throughout the day to respond to them, rather than doing the constant checking and refresh. You will be SO MUCH MORE productive.
Unplug: Unplugging may take many forms. This may mean setting a "quitting time" and committing to stepping into civilian mode at a certain hour Additionally, this may mean stepping away from your phone or computer and not getting lost in in social media or other fun time wasters (lookin' at you, Tik Tok!). Focus on your family, your friends, your home...YOURSELF and enjoy the well deserved time off.
With practice and commitment, you can find a balance between your personal and professional life that feels right for you. Don't be shy about setting boundaries and sticking to them!
From your friendly neighborhood bookkeeper…
As we reach the end of the year and start preparing for 2022, we want to say some important things, so settle in for some monumentally sappy stuff.
Missoula Bookkeeper has grown so much this year, and we are honored that you are part of our journey. We look forward to serving you in bigger and better ways in the coming months, and we are absolutely on the edge of our seats to see what amazing things YOU have planned. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you. We sincerely appreciate you.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year…
Christmas is coming fast, and as we are all out rushing around to check things off our lists, let’s remember all the wonderful small businesses in our community. Obviously, shopping small is great, but there are lots of ways to show support that don’t cost a dime. Tell your friends about businesses you love, like and follow them on social media, sign up for their newsletter, and any other way you can think of to get their name out there! We are a big club of entrepreneurial superheroes, so let’s boost each other up!
